RICHMOND, Va. - A subsidiary of the nation's second-largest cigarette maker Reynolds American Inc. is funding a national recycling program to reward do-gooders for cleaning up tobacco waste and turn cigarette butts into pellets used to make items such as plastic shipping pallets, railroad ties and park benches.
New Mexico-based Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., the maker of Natural American Spirit cigarettes, is teaming up with TerraCycle Inc. for the program. It aims to snuff out one of the most littered items in the U.S. that yields about 135 million pounds of cigarette butts annually and get tossed on roadways, thrown in the trash or put in public ashtrays.
"You don't have to walk or drive very far to see that smokers often discard cigarette waste in ways that litter the environment," Santa Fe's head of sales and marketing, Cressida Lozano, said in a statement. The cost of the company's sponsorship that will be officially announced Thursday was not disclosed.
Through the Cigarette Waste Brigade program, organizations as well as people over the age of 18 can collect cigarette waste and send them to TerraCycle through a prepaid shipping label. Once received, participants will get credits that can be donated to various charities and causes. They'll receive about $1 per pound of litter, which equals about 1,000 cigarette butts.
TerraCycle, based in Trenton, N.J., will then recycle the filters into pellets used to make a number of items, including ashtrays. The paper and tobacco also will be composted. The company took nearly two years to develop the process to recycle cigarette butts, which are comprised of paper, tobacco, ash, and a filter made from cellulose acetate.
TerraCycle CEO and founder Tom Szaky said the program provides a solution for the filters that are properly disposed of in an ashtray or can, but still end up in a landfill.
Szaky said that the company is committed to "recycling waste that others deem worthless or unsavory." Recycling cigarette litter will promote the idea that "everything can and should be recycled," he said.
Cigarette waste accounted for 38 percent of all U.S. roadway litter, according to a 2009 study done by Keep America Beautiful, a nonprofit community action and education organization.
The study also found that cigarette butts were the most common litter item collected at sites including retail areas, storm drains, loading docks, construction sites and recreational areas.
Additionally, more than 1 million cigarettes or cigarette butts — enough to fill nearly 58,000 packs — were removed from American beaches and inland waterways in 2011 as part of the Ocean Conservancy's annual one-day International Coastal Cleanup. Cigarette litter represented about 31 percent of the total debris collected, making it the most-found item as part of those efforts.
"Trash is really too valuable to toss, so we need to find alternative ways to up cycle and change trash and repurpose it," said Nicholas Mallos, a marine debris specialist with group.
In 2003, Keep America Beautiful launched a cigarette litter prevention program, and it has grown to include more than 800 programs in 49 states and Washington, D.C. It was developed with funding from the nation's largest cigarette maker Philip Morris USA, which is owned by Richmond, Va.-based Altria Group Inc. The program also has received additional funding from Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Reynolds American, maker of Camel and Pall Mall cigarettes.
The new cigarette program builds on other recycling efforts by TerraCycle, which encourages consumers to collect difficult-to-recycle materials through programs funded by companies within specific industries. For example, Frito Lay Inc. funds a program to recycle used chip bags and Kraft Foods Inc. sponsors a program to collect plastic containers from dairy products.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A subsidiary of the nation's second-largest cigarette maker Reynolds American Inc. is funding a national recycling program to reward do-gooders for cleaning up tobacco waste and turn cigarette butts into pellets used to make items such as plastic shipping pallets, railroad ties and park benches.
New Mexico-based Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., the maker of Natural American Spirit cigarettes, is teaming up with TerraCycle Inc. for the program. It aims to snuff out one of the most littered items in the U.S. that yields about 135 million pounds of cigarette butts annually and get tossed on roadways, thrown in the trash or put in public ashtrays.
"You don't have to walk or drive very far to see that smokers often discard cigarette waste in ways that litter the environment," Santa Fe's head of sales and marketing, Cressida Lozano, said in a statement. The cost of the company's sponsorship that will be officially announced Thursday was not disclosed.
Through the Cigarette Waste Brigade program, organizations as well as people over the age of 21 can collect cigarette waste and send them to TerraCycle through a prepaid shipping label. Once received, participants will get credits that will be donated to Keep America Beautiful, a nonprofit community action and education organization. They'll receive about $1 per pound of litter, which equals about 1,000 cigarette butts.
TerraCycle, based in Trenton, N.J., will then recycle the filters into pellets used to make a number of items, including ashtrays. The paper and tobacco also will be composted. The company took nearly two years to develop the process to recycle cigarette butts, which are comprised of paper, tobacco, ash, and a filter made from cellulose acetate.
TerraCycle CEO and founder Tom Szaky said the program provides a solution for the filters that are properly disposed of in an ashtray or can, but still end up in a landfill.
Szaky said that the company is committed to "recycling waste that others deem worthless or unsavory." Recycling cigarette litter will promote the idea that "everything can and should be recycled," he said.
Cigarette waste accounted for 38 percent of all U.S. roadway litter, according to a 2009 study done by Keep America Beautiful.
The study also found that cigarette butts were the most common litter item collected at sites including retail areas, storm drains, loading docks, construction sites and recreational areas.
Additionally, more than 1 million cigarettes or cigarette butts — enough to fill nearly 58,000 packs — were removed from American beaches and inland waterways in 2011 as part of the Ocean Conservancy's annual one-day International Coastal Cleanup. Cigarette litter represented about 31 percent of the total debris collected, making it the most-found item as part of those efforts.
"Trash is really too valuable to toss, so we need to find alternative ways to up cycle and change trash and repurpose it," said Nicholas Mallos, a marine debris specialist with group.
In 2003, Keep America Beautiful launched a cigarette litter prevention program, and it has grown to include more than 800 programs in 49 states and Washington, D.C. It was developed with funding from the nation's largest cigarette maker Philip Morris USA, which is owned by Richmond, Va.-based Altria Group Inc. The program also has received additional funding from Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Reynolds American, maker of Camel and Pall Mall cigarettes.
The new cigarette program builds on other recycling efforts by TerraCycle, which encourages consumers to collect difficult-to-recycle materials through programs funded by companies within specific industries. For example, Frito Lay Inc. funds a program to recycle used chip bags and Kraft Foods Inc. sponsors a program to collect plastic containers from dairy products. For most programs, participants receive credits that can be donated to various charities and causes.
Vil Utvide: Siden i fjor høst har over 75 000 kaffekapsler av merket Tassimo blitt samlet inn av norske forbrukere
gjennom miljøorganisasjonen TerraCycle. Nå vil de utvide engasjementet i Norge, med blant annet sneiper og
bleier. Les artikkelen i
Handelsbladet FK.
I have been in love with Terracycle items for a LONG time now. They have been “in the works” since 2001, but major sales began in 2004, with items being sold at The Home Depot and WalMart in Canada. They made their way to the US in 2005 with fertilizer and plant food. They grew quickly, and in 2007 they started making the items that I have fallen in love with, recycled waste everyday use items, such as backpacks, binders, pencil cases and folders.
In January of 2008, TerraCycle met with Kraft Foods and by February, Capri Sun signed on as the leading sponsor in the Drink Pouch Brigade, and this is where the items that I received for review come in.
While eating lunch with her children at school, Tracy Romzek was shocked to see how much of the meal was thrown out. Not just the food, but the things that could be recycled, like milk cartons.
Romzek, 38, a Town of Menasha mother of two who has a master’s degree in environmental engineering, decided to research the best way to recycle the materials.
Then, she talked to the school principal and school district officials.
“I just saw something that could be done and chose to take action,” she said.
Romzek admitted she didn’t know what it would take to get a milk carton recycling program started. But once she took action at Clayton, it opened the door to other recycling possibilities and, ultimately, other schools in the district.
“It started as a carton thing but what it really turned out to be was cafeteria recycling,” she said, noting the program is currently implemented in all but one of Neenah’s elementary schools and at Horace Mann Middle School. She hopes to bring the program to Jefferson Elementary and Fox River Academy in Appleton.
She signed up for recycling brigades with TerraCycle, a free waste collection program for hard-to-recycle materials. Clayton now collects dairy containers like yogurt tubs, drink pouches, Scotch tape dispensers,
paper products, Solo cups, granola bar wrappers, cheese packaging and Lunchables containers, among other items.
“That is waste being upcycled,” she said. “These are things that are not traditionally recycled.”
Romzek also was awarded an environmental education grant from SCA Tissue, which allowed her to purchase containers and things needed for the recycling programs.
She hopes to encourage the schools to get away from bagging the recyclables. The milk cartons, she noted, cannot be tied up in a plastic bag or they will rot. She also sought a local facility, Fox River Fiber in DePere, to take away the materials.
“It’s pretty cool we have a local company that wants them,” she said.
She sees recycling as a cost-saving measure for the district.
“A third of the lunchroom waste is going into recycle rather than the garbage,” she said. “Recycling is cheaper to pick up than the garbage.”
Andrew Thorson, director of facilities and an engineer in the district, said he appreciates all Romzek has done.
“She’s very dedicated and she has a lot of energy to handle these things,” he said. “It’s very helpful to us that she can spend her time on that. We have the need but not necessarily the ability to do as much as she does.”
Romzek also thinks the recycling programs educate the children.
“A lot of these kids, once I showed them what can be recycled, they love it and they really try and they want to do the right thing,” she said, noting that by getting them “involved early on, they will care later.”
Norton — Through fundraising the Solmonese Parent Organization (SPO), of the J.C. Solmonese Elementary School, has been able to fill budget gaps and provide the school with necessary support over the years.
Annually the group raises approximately $15,000 it puts towards different projects at the school, according to SPO co-chairman Jill Bercovitch-Blake.
...
The SPO hosts two major fundraisers annually, a cookie-dough sale in the spring and the Muffin Meadow Contest, held at the JCS Fall Festival this past weekend.
Other ways the group raises funds is through recycling juice pouches in conjunction with
www.terracycle.net. They receive two to three cents for each pouch.
El ecocapitalismo en México va por buen camino. A principios de año, Reporte Indigo habló de aquel joven empresario de origen húngaro que desde hace dos años sentó las bases en el país para revolucionar la idea que los mexicanos tenemos respecto a la basura: Tom Szaky, fundador y CEO de la multinacional TerraCycle.
Mediante el proceso de “upcycling” (o súper reciclaje), el “negocio nada sucio” de Szaky hace posible transformar materiales de difícil reutilización en productos sustentables e innovadores.
Esto, en alianza con empresas como Frito-Lay, Kraft Foods y Nestlé, y a través de las llamadas “Brigadas”, programas nacionales con los que más de 25 millones de personas a nivel global recolectan toda clase de desechos, como empaques de alimentos y cepillos de dientes, por ejemplo, para darles una segunda vida.
Mes con mes, cada desecho que ha sido recolectado y enviado a TerraCycle se convierte en “puntos” que las Brigadas reciben en su cuenta de la empresa, que posteriormente se traducen en donativos a organizaciones no lucrativas.
Hasta hace unos meses, la empresa ecocapitalista trabajaba de la mano con cuatro programas de Brigadas en México: Cuidado Bucal Colgate (pastas y cepillos de dientes), Botanas Sabritas (bolsas de papas), Botanas de Galletas Gamesa-Quaker (empaques) y Bebidas en Polvo (sobres de Tang).
Hoy, se suma la Brigada de Pan Bimbo, el primer programa de recolección de empaques de pan en México, con el que TerraCycle robustece su “catálogo” de unidades recolectadas.
“En México, tenemos 1.2 millones de personas que están recolectando (basura) y cada mes estamos recolectando entre 200 y 400 mil residuos en el país”, dice Tom Szaky en entrevista para Reporte Indigo.
Nuevos programas
Y va por más. Tres nuevos programas de Brigadas que marcan un hito en la era del ecocapitalismo y el upcycling han sido lanzados a nivel mundial y, adelanta Szaky, espera que los mismos pongan pie en México en 2013.
Chicles masticados
En Brasil, el equipo de recolección de TerraCycle se encarga de tomar chicles masticados, la materia prima para fabricar productos de plástico.
“Ahora podemos hacer productos a base de 35 por ciento de chicle masticado y 65 por ciento de bolsas de papas”, señala el joven emprendedor.
Pañales usados
A los pañales usados, tanto de bebé como de personas de la tercera edad, también se les dará una segunda vida en un programa que, dice Szaky, será lanzado en Estados Unidos a fines de este año.
Pero “con los pañales sucios (el reciclaje) es aún más complicado”, expresa el empresario, quien recientemente asistió a la EGADE Business School, en Monterrey, para compartir su visión de negocio a directivos, líderes empresariales, alumnos y egresados en la conferencia “Empresa Social: Capitalismo del Mañana”.
Szaky comenta que los pañales tienen que pasar por un proceso de radiación gamma, que ataca bacterias como la E.coli, salmonella y otros agentes patógenos.
A partir de este primer paso, el pañal se tritura y se separa en sus partes componentes, que consisten en plástico, el material interior que absorbe la orina conocido como “polímero superabsorbente” (SAP, en inglés) y la celulosa, que se obtiene de la pulpa de madera.
Esto hace posible convertir el plástico de los pañales en madera, muebles de jardín o una banca, por ejemplo.
Colillas de cigarro
En verano se lanzó el primer programa de recolección de colillas de cigarros en Canadá.
A decir de Szaky, los cigarros “(…) pasan por el proceso de radiación gamma y después se separa y se destroza el material orgánico, que es la ceniza, el tabaco y el papel, y se convierte en abono (…)”, explica Szaky.
Lo que se recicla son los filtros de cigarro (o las colillas), que están hechos de acetato de celulosa, para transformarse en materiales industriales, como palets (bandejas de carga) de plástico.
“Estos programas son muy emocionantes para nosotros porque representan flujos de residuos muy complicados, así como nuestra capacidad para resolverlos”, apunta el empresario.
TerraCycle México
Para más información, visita su sitio web
Tom Szaky asistió a la EGADE Business School donde compartió su visión de negocio a empresarios y estudiantes en la conferencia “Empresa Social: Capitalismo del Mañana”.
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Monterrey, NL.- • Hace una década el joven universitario Tom Szaky emprendió un proyecto ecológico, comenzó a reciclar desechos como los empaques de los polvos Tang, de dulces, pan y galletas, para elaborar productos sustentables desde bolsas, estuches y lapiceras.
Su empresa TerraCycle avanzó, y en 2008 experimentó un crecimiento internacional en lo que llama ecocapitalismo, a través del upcycling. Hoy, la firma se ha convertido en una micro multinacional de 120 empleados, con presencia en 22 países.
La compañía, del estudiante de la Universidad de Princeton, ha estableciendo alianzas con conglomerados como Kraft Foods, Colgate-Palmolive, Grupo Bimbo, PepsiCo y United Parcel Service (UPS).
La fórmula de TerraCycle ha sido convocar a la sociedad, a escuelas, iglesias y empresas a recolectar empaques de alimentos, incluso hasta residuos de cigarros para reciclar; involucrando al día de hoy a más de 32 millones de personas en el mundo, de las cuales 1 millón 500 mil se ubican en México. Esa brigada manera mensual recolecta más de 200 mil empaques vacíos de Tang.
El empresario Tom Szaky, CEO de TerraCycle, llegó hace dos años a México, instalando sus oficinas centrales para el país en Nuevo León, logrando crecer su presencia. En tanto que su planta recicladora se sitúa en Aguascalientes.
Tom Szaky asistió a la EGADE Business School donde compartió su visión de negocio a empresarios y estudiantes en la conferencia “Empresa Social: Capitalismo del Mañana”.
En entrevista Szaky, en compañía de Isaac Arjona Alvarado, director general de México y Centroamérica, indicaron que están trabajando para establecer inversiones que les permitan crecer, aproximadamente al doble de su operación actual para inicios de 2014 en este país.
Actualmente un 20 por ciento del reciclaje lo realizan en el Valle de México, otro 20 por ciento corresponde a Nuevo León, y el 60 por ciento corresponde al resto del país.
Tom Szaky adelantó que próximamente ingresarán a Colombia, mientras que en 2013 se preparan para llevar su concepto a Europa del Este.
“Ser sustentable es un negocio perfecto”, asintió el CEO de TerraCycle, negocio que inició con crecimientos de 20 por ciento anual, hasta alcanzar niveles de crecimiento de 100 por ciento anual.
Tom Szaky asistió a la EGADE Business School donde compartió su visión de negocio a empresarios y estudiantes en la conferencia Empresa Social: Capitalismo del Mañana.
Monterrey, NL.- Hace una década el joven universitario Tom Szaky emprendió un proyecto ecológico, comenzó a reciclar desechos como los empaques de los polvos Tang, de dulces, pan y galletas, para elaborar productos sustentables desde bolsas, estuches y lapiceras.
Su empresa TerraCycle avanzó, y en 2008 experimentó un crecimiento internacional en lo que llama ecocapitalismo, a través del upcycling. Hoy, la firma se ha convertido en una micro multinacional de 120 empleados, con presencia en 22 países.
La compañía, del estudiante de la Universidad de Princeton, ha estableciendo alianzas con conglomerados como Kraft Foods, Colgate-Palmolive, Grupo Bimbo, PepsiCo y United Parcel Service (UPS).
La fórmula de TerraCycle ha sido convocar a la sociedad, a escuelas, iglesias y empresas a recolectar empaques de alimentos, incluso hasta residuos de cigarros para reciclar; involucrando al día de hoy a más de 32 millones de personas en el mundo, de las cuales 1 millón 500 mil se ubican en México. Esa brigada manera mensual recolecta más de 200 mil empaques vacíos de Tang.
El empresario Tom Szaky, CEO de TerraCycle, llegó hace dos años a México, instalando sus oficinas centrales para el país en Nuevo León, logrando crecer su presencia. En tanto que su planta recicladora se sitúa en Aguascalientes.
Tom Szaky asistió a la EGADE Business School donde compartió su visión de negocio a empresarios y estudiantes en la conferencia Empresa Social: Capitalismo del Mañana.
En entrevista Szaky, en compañía de Isaac Arjona Alvarado, director general de México y Centroamérica, indicaron que están trabajando para establecer inversiones que les permitan crecer, aproximadamente al doble de su operación actual para inicios de 2014 en este país.
Actualmente un 20 por ciento del reciclaje lo realizan en el Valle de México, otro 20 por ciento corresponde a Nuevo León, y el 60 por ciento corresponde al resto del país.
Tom Szaky adelantó que próximamente ingresarán a Colombia, mientras que en 2013 se preparan para llevar su concepto a Europa del Este.
"Ser sustentable es un negocio perfecto", asintió el CEO de TerraCycle, negocio que inició con crecimientos de 20 por ciento anual, hasta alcanzar niveles de crecimiento de 100 por ciento anual.
Verónica Sandoval
