TERRACYCLE NEWS

ELIMINATING THE IDEA OF WASTE®

Candy papers transformed into benches

TerraCycle Include Canada (English) ZWB
Your Halloween candy wrappers could be turned into park benches or flower pots thanks to the initiative of a Sherbrookoise.   "Refuse, reduce and recycle are basic rules of zero waste. There is a limit to refusing and reducing sweets to children on Halloween. So we looked for a way to recycle, "says Hélène Boissonneault, instigator of a project that aims to recover all the candy packaging instead of throwing them in the trash.   The company she co-founded, PH Effect, offers lectures and workshops for a minimalist lifestyle, zero waste and decluttering.   To reduce the environmental impact of this holiday that is ranked third in terms of spending behind Christmas and back to school, the entrepreneur decided to do business with the company Terra-cycle. The latter is responsible for recovering waste that is not normally recycled in municipal collections.   The company recovers, in twenty countries in the world, packaging, pens, coffee capsules, latex gloves or even shoes.   50 collection points   The operation is simple: just buy a Terra-cycle box online depending on the type of products you want. The garbage is dumped - in this case the candy wrappers - and the box is returned to the company.   The latter then takes care of sorting the waste, according to the materials, and sending them to companies that reuse and transform them.   "They take the waste and bring it back to a raw material that they send to the right places so that it can be used to produce other objects [such as park benches]," explains Ms. Boissonneault.   This is the first year that the entrepreneur has set up this project specifically for Halloween and she was surprised by the interest aroused by her initiative. Daycare centers and schools in Estrie, as well as businesses from as far as Rouyn-Noranda, contacted her.   "We had 4 or 5 collection points initially in the Sherbrooke area, in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and on the North Shore of Montreal. We were happy, but the interest is so great that we are now at a [50] pickup locations throughout Quebec, "rejoices Ms. Boissonneault.   All but cardboard   The packaging of candies, chocolate, gums and even small bags of potato chips can be collected.   Only small cardboard boxes, such as the Smarties, are not allowed since they are already recycled in the municipal recycling system.