Tom Szaky is the founder and CEO of TerraCycle, a global leader in collecting and repurposing hard-to-recycle waste. The company also has played a big part in developing Loop™ – an innovative, online shopping concept challenging our reliance on single use packaging.  In this column, Tom looks below the surface of recyclability claims and highlights the gap between technical recyclability and practical recyclability. In the past 24 months, people have come to realize the scope and severity of the global waste crisis, be it from documentaries such as David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II or a striking image of a turtle with a plastic straw in its nose circulating on social media. In response, governments have started passing laws banning single-use items and mandating producer responsibility, and consumers are demanding change. As a result, many product manufacturers have publicly announced commitments to incorporate significantly more post-consumer recycled (“PCR”) content in their products, as well as the bold claim that all of their packaging will be recyclable. All this by 2025—only five years away. Communicating the vision is the easy part, executing a whole different matter. UK nonprofit WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) reports two-thirds of the Plastics Pact (127 companies representing a majority of all packaging produced globally) have shown no progress on the 2017 pledge to offset their contributions to plastic pollution. As one peels below the surface of commitments around recyclability, it becomes clear most signatories are promising technical recyclability and not practical recyclability. The former represents the ability for a package to be technically recycled without factoring in real world economics, including the question of whether the processing cost will be higher than its recovered value. Inversely, practical recyclability is the ability for a consumer to place that package in their recycling bin and have it actually recycled. This is dependent on not just the technical capacity to recycle a waste stream, but also a profitable and stable business model behind it. Those familiar with TerraCycle know we believe everything is technically recyclable, having proven items such as cigarettes, chewing gum, and even dirty diapers can be repurposed into material for new products. But those items are not accepted through conventional curbside programs and are thereby not practically recyclable outside specialty systems like ours. Noting here our systems rely on the financial support of brands, retailers, cities, and other organizations to function, the value of the recovered material is not enough to offset the logistics and processing costs of these waste streams in and of itself. Thus, it is imperative the clear distinction is made between technical and practical recyclability to avoid confusion, maintain transparency, and continue effective work towards measurable targets for materials recovery and waste reduction. Claiming 100% recyclability for an item that will only be recycled if the consumer must go out of their way to access a solution is a mismatch, as consumers only understand practical recyclability, not technical. Practical recyclability should be the only way we use the word recyclable. Everything else is confusing and misleading to consumers and even law makers, who are not waste management experts. Producers need to either focus on moving into reusable or recyclable packages with value to recyclers and produce highly separated material with a strong end-market, or pay the cost to collect and process them. Technical upgrades are not a silver bullet, but a fantastic start to better resource management. Providing individuals the choice of products they can actively keep in the materials economy requires clear and practical definitions. To that end, organizations that endorse recyclability, such as governments and industry coalitions, should demand proof that recycling is actually happening, in practice and in scale.

Lewes resident Jordan Woodall, one of the early customers of the Loop refillable product service in Delaware, shows some of the refillable containers and the reusable shipping tote in which the products are delivered. Companies are offering an in-home refillable product service to address growing trash and recycling problem As the world continues to confront a growing trash and recycling problem, some companies provide old-fashioned services with a modern twist. Like the milkman from days past, startups such as Loop, Blueland and others are rolling out e-commerce businesses that provide well-known name brand products to consumers’ homes in refillable containers. Loop debuted in several East Coast markets this past spring including Delaware. It started with the goal of reducing the solid waste these items would otherwise produce. Customers sign up online, and receive refillable containers for products they select in a reusable shipping tote, with a returnable cash deposit. When something runs low, they place an online order, and their refills arrive within 48 hours. Loop public relations manager Charlotte Maiden said they handle items from ice cream to toothpaste to cleaning products, with the goal of having numerous different brands on one platform. Loop’s parent company, New Jersey-based TerraCycle, has a few other programs for waste-conscious consumers, including one that recycles stuff most recycling centers don’t accept, Maiden said. “People are seeing the effects of excess garbage and climate change on a day to day basis,” Maiden said. “And we can’t recycle our way out of this problem.” For Lewes resident Jordan Woodall, signing up for Loop was done out of convenience, and concern for the environment. “I live kind of near the beach, so we tend to be careful about what could make its way into the ocean,” Woodall said. “I watch what I throw away and the garbage I generate.” Woodall drives an electric car and tries to reduce her carbon footprint whenever he’s able. Loop is part of that plan. They partner with UPS for deliveries instead of using an in-house logistics company, which would increase road traffic. For Woodall, who gets “a little bit of everything” from Loop, being consciously aware of the refuse and pollution issues is important in helping create a personal stake in the matter. “I am just more and more conscious of my use of plastics,” Woodall said. “And they’re so pervasive; everything is plastic or being shipped in plastic. I think this is the best way to minimize that.” Nationwide problem According to research and resource group Annenberg Learner, the U.S. generates roughly 230 million tons of trash per year – around 4.6 pounds per person per day. Less than one-quarter of that 230 million tons is recycled; the rest is incinerated or buried in landfills. In 2017, Delawareans disposed of 1,207,029 tons of solid waste, according to Michael Globetti, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control spokesman. They diverted 520,110 tons of material, giving the state a recycling rate of roughly 43 percent, which ranks Delaware high nationally, Globetti said. Recycling is mandatory in all three counties. In Delaware, solid waste is controlled and managed by the Division of Waste and Hazardous Substances through various programs on the regulatory side, and the Delaware Solid Waste Authority on the operational side. According to Globetti, DNREC regulates activities in accordance with the state’s Universal Recycling Law and Universal Recycling Regulations, which have requirements for haulers, multi-family property managers, and the commercial sector. The department issues permits for transporters moving waste to ensure that they operate in accordance with state and federal transportation standards, he said. Permits are also issued for solid waste activities. The treatment methods include recycling, composting, transferring, resource recovery, and disposal, he noted. “The permitting process is designed to ensure that facilities operate in a way to protect human health and the environment,” Globetti said. From an operations perspective, DSWA runs many facilities used by the public for solid waste disposal. There are three landfills and three transfer stations (one in each county), and a network of five convenience centers for drop-off throughout Kent and Sussex County.

After World War II, the world experienced a plastics boom, with production growing at an exponential rate thanks to the material’s versatility and durability. Plastic touches nearly every aspect of our lives, from the materials used to construct buildings and homes, vehicles, and technology, to household products, clothing, and shoes. It is estimated that we have produced more than 8.3 billion tons of plastic since this time, of which less than 10% is recycled. That’s where the plastic pollution problem comes in. Many countries in the Global North turned to China to recycle their plastics, but ever since China changed its policy, the United States and many other countries are forced to find other avenues for taking care of their plastic waste and address the plastic pollution crisis back home.

 

Who is responsible for the crisis and what is being done?

Plastic pollution activists and coalitions have emphasized the responsibility that the world’s largest brands play in addressing this global crisis. Civil society members from more than 80 countries hosted brand audits through clean-ups during the #BrandAudit2019 initiative, calling on these brands to change their practices of manufacturing and selling products in single-use plastic packaging. Some big brands have taken responsibility for their role in plastic pollution and have taken action. Coca-Cola announced its World Without Waste initiative with the goals to achieve 100% recycled packaging using 50% recycled materials, and by 2030 collect and recycle one bottle or can for every item sold. Unilever made a similar announcement, promising to cut its use of virgin plastics by 50%, and collecting and processing its plastic packaging.   One social enterprise is making it a little bit easier for big brands to shift their single-use plastic packaging practices. TerraCycle recently launched the Loop Store, a global circular shopping platform that allows customers to purchase products in zero waste packaging. Following the “milkman model”, products sold through the Loop Store are stored in reusable containers that are collected, washed, and reused again.

 

Innovations in tackling plastic pollution

Dutch inventor Boyan Slat founded The Ocean Cleanup, an ambitious project that aimed to collect the massive volume of plastic found in the oceans globally. At 2,000 feet in length, this plastic collection device has successfully collected plastic since its initial trials. Other entrepreneurs are developing products made from plant-based materials, such as utensils made from avocado seeds and creating faux leather using nopal, or producing products that do not require plastic packaging, in efforts to reduce our reliance on products made with plastic.   Consumers, recognizing the power they hold by their purchasing behaviors, are also raising their concerns with companies to change their practices. In a recent petition to Trader Joe’s, customers called on grocery chain to reduce their reliance on plastic packaging, garnering over 120,000 signatures. The company acknowledged this grassroots call for change, providing a status update since their announcement in late 2018.

Conclusions and the future for tackling plastic pollution

While there is hope hearing the world’s biggest brands acknowledge the role they play in and their plans for curbing plastic pollution, it is evident that is not enough. It takes more than a few companies to set green goals in order to move the needle forward. We need to continue holding big brands accountable, foster and support new ideas that open new horizons for plastic packaging and waste, and change our own behaviors to start addressing the global plastic pollution crisis.

Disposability was sold as a convenience in the post-war years of the 1950s, but it’s become a plague of plastic and nonrecyclable trash that now pollutes every corner of the world. It’s enough to make one nostalgic for the milkman—that reliable delivery person who not only dropped off milk in convenient glass bottles, but also picked them up again to be refilled and reused. Ah, those were the days… and we may see those days again. Loop—an online “circular shopping platform”—aims to revive the image and model of the milkman on a larger scale, offering customers door-to-door delivery of brand-name grocery store products in durable packaging that Loop will collect and use again.

Reusability: Back to the future

“Loop is a very utopian idea,” says Tony Rossi, Loop’s Philadelphia-based vice president of business development. “About three years ago, our CEO challenged us and himself to really solve the idea of waste at its core.” For Loop, this means enabling brands and retailers—the heart of our “take, make, dispose” linear economy—to move away from single-use packaging into durable, multiuse containers. Ultimately, the idea is to spark a wider movement to a circular economy, an economic model based on getting us much use out of the products and resources that are already in circulation, and thereby reducing both consumption and waste. The image of the milkman is a perfect embodiment of the circular economy. “One of the things that we found with the milkman model was that the milk bottle was an asset that was owned by the milk company,” Rossi explained. This made it desirable for the milk company to invest more in its milk bottles, to ensure that they would be long-lasting and durable.

From laundry detergent to ice cream

Häagen-Dazs container Much more than milk, you can buy a grocery list of goods from Loop: tea, laundry detergent, shampoo, even ice cream, all in reusable containers. Loop is working with some of the world’s biggest brands to test this back-to-the-future idea of selling products in reusable containers. The list Rossi gave of some of Loop’s early partners was impressive: Procter and Gamble, Unilever, Nestle, Clorox, Mars, and Danone, to name a few. The containers Loop uses to ship these products aren’t your run-of-the-mill Ziplocs or Tupperware containers. Just as the milkman model would suggest, there is significant investment in high-quality, durably designed containers for Loop’s products. “For me one of the most innovative and kind of jaw-dropping products so far has been the Häagen-Dazs ice cream container,” says Rossi. “It’s double-walled.” Loop’s Häagen-Dazs container is not only designed to have the longest lifespan possible—it is also designed to keep your ice cream deliciously frozen, all the way from the Loop warehouse to your door. But Loop’s containers aren’t just utilitarian; they are also beautifully designed. “There is a counter- or shelf-worthiness to the package, where you as a consumer are proud to put that on your counter,” said Rossi. Loop is trying to make sustainability “irresistible.”

How it works

Loop has no storefront. Instead, customers visit loopstore.com and place an online order, which Loop ships to their door via courier. When they are done with their products, customers can schedule a Loop courier to come pick up the empty containers. Loop has even designed a reusable shipping tote to be used for both delivery and pick-up, thus avoiding the Styrofoam and bubble wrap waste nightmare of most online purchases. Loop works on a deposit system, in which customers pay a deposit on the packaging of the products they order. You would, for instance, be required to pay a five-dollar deposit on your Häagen-Dazs ice cream container on top of the cost of the ice cream itself. Once you return the empty container, however, you would be reimbursed for the amount of the deposit.

Coming soon!

Before you get too excited, note that Loop is currently in its pilot phase, with test markets operating in the eastern United States and in Paris, France. Each test market has 5,000 participating households, but demand is high. There are currently waiting lists in these markets, with people itching to give Loop a try. With so much demand, Loop is working on launching the platform directly through retailers, as well as expanding the platform globally. Loop plans to launch new markets in the western United States, Germany, Japan, and Australia next year. Canada can expect to see Loop in the Greater Toronto Area in fall 2020. A sampling of Loop products in reusable containers.

Better for the environment?

While Loop’s circular economy model does a tremendous job of reducing packaging waste, the shipping and the materials used to make their new, durable containers must still be taken into account. According to Rossi, Loop has done multiple life cycle analyses of the impact of its reuse model as compared to that of single-use models. These analyses take into account eight different environmental factors, including carbon emissions, water usage, and impact on air and water quality—and reuse consistently comes out on top. “On average, it takes about three reuses of that durable package to have the same environmental footprint as three single-use packages,” Rossi explained. If a package is used between three and seven times, it performs 51 per cent better than single-use packaging in terms of environmental impact. If used more than seven times, this improvement increases to 70 per cent.

Waste not! Change is coming

Waste and other environmental issues are all over the news and social media these days, whether it be microplastics, plastic bags, or Greta Thunberg’s climate strikes. For Rossi, this increase in public attention and awareness of the environmental impact of our current lifestyles can mean only one thing: change is coming. “People aren’t content with the way that things are today. And everybody acknowledges the fact that we need to change. And I think that’s a powerful message. And that is forcing the hands of anybody who makes products, or is in business, to think about their environmental footprint.” Indeed, change is desperately needed. As Rossi said, “We realistically can’t fast forward 30 years into the future and continue to behave the way we’re behaving today.” He hopes Loop can play a role in spreading the gospel of the waste-not circular economy. Loop is a company owned and operated by TerraCycle, a social enterprise based in the United States that specializes in collecting and repurposing hard-to-recycle waste and operates in 20 countries. We interviewed Rossi after he presented on Loop at the Recycling Council of Alberta Sea Change conference held in Jasper, Alberta, October 2–4, 2019.

“Sheet masks are trash,” Lauren Singer announces. We’re chatting about the sustainability of the single-use skin-care products, and I start to laugh at her play on words—but Singer speeds right past the joke. “They’re unnecessary, they’re superfluous,” she rattles off. “They come wrapped in plastic.” To the environmental activist and founder of Package Free Shop, sheet masks are, quite literally, pre-packaged piles of glorified garbage.   Harsh, maybe—but as the news cycles through stories on climate change and carbon emissions and what to do about the planet’s compounding pollution problem, I can’t help but understand where she’s coming from. Entire cities have banned plastic straws and plastic bags. Extinction Rebellion protested at London Fashion Week while Greta Thunberg petitioned for political involvement at the United Nations Climate Action Summit. Fashion houses are pledging carbon-neutrality. And beauty? While clean beauty is a growing category, and many brands are implementing sustainable practices, single-use items are a special cause for concern.   “Beauty products made to use once and throw out, like makeup wipes and sheet masks, create a lot of unnecessary refuse,” Susan Stevens, the founder and CEO of Made With Respect, tells Vogue. “In the case of sheet masks, there’s a pouch, the mask, and sometimes the mask is wrapped in a plastic sheet.” Usually, none of the components are recyclable and all of them end up in the trash post sheet-masking session, making it one of the more wasteful things one can do in 20 minutes or less.   “The pouches that hold sheet masks are often a combination of aluminum and plastic, which cannot be recycled,” Stevens explains. Singer adds that the stiff, inner plastic sheets likely can’t be processed in recycling plants either (as is the case with a surprising amount of plastics). At best, these materials end up in a landfill; at worst, they end up in the ocean.   “We know plastic can take hundreds of years to decompose, breaking down over time into harmful microplastics—pieces of plastic less than five millimeters long that are manufactured using different toxic and carcinogenic chemicals,” Stevens says. “Research has proven that microplastics are abundant in water, air, and the food we eat.” Besides the potential health hazards of consuming microplastics, the particles release methane as they break down. “Methane emissions contribute to global warming, and global warming affects our climate, creating more severe and unpredictable weather patterns that impact entire ecosystems,” says Stevens.   Then, of course, there’s the mask itself. Most are made with a blend of synthetic materials (nylon, plastic microfibers, polyester), which—as Beauty Heroes founder Jeannie Jarnot so bluntly and beautifully puts it—“equates to laying saturated molten plastic over your face.” As appealing as that sounds, there’s a downside: These “cannot be composted and must go in the [garbage] bin,” says Stevens.   Recent “hydrogel” versions are either made of synthetic polymers—essentially, plastic—or eco-friendly biocellulose, but biodegradable sheet masks aren’t always better. Some come soaked in serums thick with silicones, a class of ingredients that leaves a thin, plastic-y film on the skin’s surface to create the illusion of a “glow.” This film is bioaccumulative, and prevents the “biodegradable” biocellulose or bamboo base from fully breaking down. Instead, silicone-coated sheet masks join their synthetic counterparts in “leaking toxins into the soil” for years, per Stevens. The same goes for under-eye masks, makeup wipes, and daily toning and exfoliating pads.   When you zoom out to consider the effort and emissions that go into producing the product in the first place (one organic cotton mask could require thousands of gallons of water) and the shipping materials associated with online orders, that’s a massive mountain of waste for a momentary thrill. Yet, the single-use sector continues to thrive. “The usage of wet wipes is increasing by 15% each year and the face mask market is expected to grow to over $50 billion by 2025,” Stevens says. “Ongoing production of non-recyclable, non-compostable, and non-biodegradable products will have a considerable impact on the environment.” (On a superficial note: Pollution particles will also have a considerable impact on your skin, hence the popularity of antioxidant beauty products. So technically, cutting down on waste isn’t only better for the earth—it’s better for your face.)   Is this to say that skin-care is single-handedly polluting the planet? Not at all. Rather, tracing a sheet mask’s face-to-waste-bin journey should highlight just how easy it is to reduce your environmental footprint.   Choose Compostable Sheet Masks “At Beauty Heroes, we started a zero-waste beauty section on our website because we know that our customer is a conscious consumer and genuinely wants to do better for the planet, they just need the tools,” Jarnot says. One of those tools is the Orgaid Organic Sheet Mask, which is 100% biodegradable and compostable, made with organic ingredients, and packaged in recyclable cardboard. “When you’re done with the mask, you can place it right in your compost bin,” she says, where it leaves no evidence of its existence behind (besides your dewy, hydrated skin).   Refuse, Reduce, Reuse “It’s great if it’s in cardboard, and recyclable packing is awesome,” Singer agrees, “but it’s still an unnecessary single-use product.” Recycle, after all, enters into the equation after reduce and reuse for a reason. The zero-waste pioneer actually prefers another “R” word altogether: Refuse. “It’s not even having the product in the first place,” she explains. “I like to ask myself: Does this make me feel beautiful? Does this make me feel happy? Is the trash that this is going to create worth the moments of joy that I’ll feel from it? Usually, the answer is no.” Singer opts to DIY her own face masks instead, using natural ingredients like French green clay and honey.   Balance Your Beauty Habits If you absolutely cannot bear the thought of a self-care Sunday or cross-country flight sans sheet mask, there’s no need to shame-spiral. “I always like to say, if sheet masks are that one thing in life that make you super happy, more than anything else, then don’t try to get rid of your sheet mask—look for other ways to reduce your waste first,” Singer says. Her Package Free Shop (which just closed a $4.5 million seed round led by Primary Venture Partners) is a great place to start.   Eliminate Bioaccumulative Ingredients Cross-check your products with the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database. It rates ingredients in terms of ecotoxicology and personal health, making it pretty easy to eliminate bioaccumulative substances—like silicones, triclosan, and triclocarban—from your routine.   Outsource Your Recycling Most products’ caps, pumps, droppers, and plastic bottles—especially those of the squeeze-y variety—aren’t recyclable on a local level. However, TerraCycle, Credo, and Ayond have programs in place to collect and properly recycle these items for you.   Swap Your Single-Use Products Ahead, discover 10 sustainable (and super-luxe) skin-care products to replace your single-use sheet masks, makeup wipes, and more. As Singer says, “You don’t ever want to have reducing your waste feel like giving something up—it’s always a positive thing.”

Do you have a digital camera? Do you still use it, or does it sit quietly in a desk drawer, overshadowed by your iPhone’s camera lens? With the rate at which technology advances these days, chances are we all have old gadgets that are now obsolete or that we just don’t use anymore. But before you throw old tech into the trash (don’t do it!), check out the following tips for how to properly dispose of old electronics.   The first question to ask yourself is: Is this item still usable? If it is, consider giving it someone who can still genuinely enjoy it. Perhaps you can donate it to a charity or sell it online on a website like Facebook and make a couple of extra bucks.   If the device is no longer usable, then it’s time to recycle that e-waste. Your local Best Buy or Staples both have free electronic recycling programs at all of their US stores. Should you not have one of these in your area, many municipalities also offer occasional electronic recycling; and the recycling experts at TerraCycle offer some options as well.

As part of its ongoing quest to re-purpose materials and create environmental benefits around the world, Trenton-based international recycling leader TerraCycle has teamed up with Thema Optical, an Italian manufacturer of high-end and custom-made eyewear to launch a new recycling program.   During production of Thema Optical products, some acetate waste is leftover in the manufacturing process. With the help of TerraCycle, Thema will recycle the excess acetate so that it can be processed into sheets and used to make new acetate products.   “Thema is a global company that respects the importance of sustainability and the major role each of us plays as stewards of our Earth,” said Giulia Valmassoi, chief executive officer of Thema Optical’s North America branch. “Partnering with TerraCycle has made it possible to implement this new recycling program in our facility.”   TerraCycle specializes in collecting and re-purposing hard-to-recycle waste through a variety of platforms, including large-scale recycling, which helps manufacturing facilities like Thema recycle large volumes of waste.   “At TerraCycle, our mission has always been to eliminate waste, recycle the unrecyclable and use our innovative business solutions to minimize human impact on the planet,” said TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky. “It’s through partnerships like the one we enjoy with Thema that allow us to fulfill our objective and help preserve the environment for future generations.”      

Thema Optical, an Italian manufacturer of high-end and custom-made eyewear with a U.S. factory in Miami, has announced a new recycling program in partnership with international recycling leader TerraCycle^®. Thema manufacturers made-to-measure, bespoke eyewear through its patented 3D Acetate Technology where every design is “sculpted” like an art piece.   Revolutionizing the eyewear industry, Thema creates unique and exciting collections that reflect the consumer’s personality without compromising sustainability. During production, some acetate waste is leftover in the manufacturing process. With the help of TerraCycle, Thema will recycle the excess acetate so that it can be processed into sheets and used to make new acetate products.   “Thema is a global company that respects the importance of sustainability and the major role each of us plays as stewards of our Earth,” ,” said Giulia Valmassoi, chief executive officer of Thema Optical’s North America branch. “Partnering with TerraCycle has made it possible to implement this new recycling program in our facility.”   TerraCycle specializes in collecting and re-purposing hard-to-recycle waste through a variety of platforms, including large-scale recycling, which helps manufacturing facilities like Thema recycle large volumes of waste. “At TerraCycle, our mission has always been to eliminate waste, recycle the unrecyclable and use our innovative business solutions to minimize human impact on the planet,” said TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky. “It’s through partnerships like the one we enjoy with Thema that allow us to fulfill our objective and help preserve the environment for future generations.”  

For more information, visit www.igreenwear.com.

By: ISABELLE BARELLI   Landish is a young Montreal-based company dedicated to improving the nutritional health and fitness of people swept away by the whirlwind of long working hours, where poor nutrition, lack of energy and good nutrients sneak into the agenda. . Its name comes from outlandish (strange, unknown) and which, unlike the latter, would mean "familiar, not so strange as that".   This name perfectly describes the brand new Landish products coming on the market, namely protein bars and powders, a range of natural products, nutrient dense and containing beneficial ingredients such as insects, algae and certain varieties of mushrooms. as many high-performance foods that have been consumed for ages in many parts of the world. That's how six bars and five protein powders are offered to meet the needs of people in a hurry and overworked, whether for a quick breakfast, the small cravings in the middle of the day when the energy is on the decline, when traveling between two appointments, and even before or after training. In fact, all the reasons are good to eat with a Landish product, especially when the snack is both good for the taste and for health! A question of balance and well-being at work ... The Landish team is made up of dynamic and dedicated people, who are very aware of the importance of maintaining a good balance between a healthy and varied diet and physical exercise, despite the heavy workload in the office. With this in mind, they organize a series of outdoor activities every month that they offer to various businesses in downtown Montreal with the goal of getting their employees moving. Landish is also sensitive to the future of our planet and is constantly looking for solutions to reduce its environmental impacts. The young company relies heavily on responsible food and sustainable development. And it makes it a priority! It has therefore decided to tackle two problems: food packaging waste and deforestation. The company spares no effort to reduce the impact of its bar wraps, which are made of rolled aluminum to maximize the freshness of the product, like most of these products on the market. Recycling of this type of packaging is not offered by municipalities. Landish has partnered with Terra Cycle, a company specializing in the recycling of "non-recyclable". The latter transforms difficult to recycle materials and makes them park benches, garbage cans, chairs, etc. To find out how to participate in this eco-responsible movement, simply register on the Landish site.   In addition, for each online order made on the Landish site from Quebec, the company planted a tree in the province, in partnership with the organization One Tree Planted.   We encourage you to discover the range of products of this avant-garde company that we particularly appreciated.   www.landish.com

Thema Optical, an Italian manufacturer of high-end and custom-made eyewear with a U.S. factory in Miami, has announced a new recycling program in partnership with international recycling leader TerraCycle^®. Thema manufacturers made-to-measure, bespoke eyewear through its patented 3D Acetate Technology where every design is “sculpted” like an art piece. Revolutionizing the eyewear industry, Thema creates unique and exciting collections that reflect the consumer’s personality without compromising sustainability. During production, some acetate waste is leftover in the manufacturing process. With the help of TerraCycle, Thema will recycle the excess acetate so that it can be processed into sheets and used to make new acetate products. “Thema is a global company that respects the importance of sustainability and the major role each of us plays as stewards of our Earth,” ,” said Giulia Valmassoi, chief executive officer of Thema Optical’s North America branch. “Partnering with TerraCycle has made it possible to implement this new recycling program in our facility.” TerraCycle specializes in collecting and re-purposing hard-to-recycle waste through a variety of platforms, including large-scale recycling, which helps manufacturing facilities like Thema recycle large volumes of waste. “At TerraCycle, our mission has always been to eliminate waste, recycle the unrecyclable and use our innovative business solutions to minimize human impact on the planet,” said TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky. “It’s through partnerships like the one we enjoy with Thema that allow us to fulfill our objective and help preserve the environment for future generations.” For more information about Thema Optical, visit iGreenEyewear.com or call 786-803-8881. About Thema Optical Thema Optical was founded in 1993 by engineer and eyewear designer Giorgio Valmassoi in Domegge di Cadore, Italy, a small town located just north of Venice. His daughter, Giulia Valmassoi, expanded the company to North America in 2013 and, as chief executive officer of Thema’s North American branch, has since grown the company’s presence in the United States to more than 1,000 retailers nationwide with annual revenues of $2.5 million. Thema opened a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Miami in 2017, where it now manufactures four of Thema’s best-selling brands: iGreen Hi-Tech, O-Six, Giorgio Valmassoi 1971, and Philosopheyes. Connect with the company on Facebook @ThemaFamilyFactory and @iGreeneyewear, on Instagram @thema_a_family_factory and @igreeneyewear, and on LinkedIn @Thema - A Family Factory. To learn more, visit thema-optical.com or send an e-mail to ThemaUSA@thema-optical.com. About TerraCycle TerraCycle is an innovative waste management company with a mission to eliminate the idea of waste^®. Operating nationally across 21 countries, TerraCycle partners with leading consumer product companies, retailers, cities, and facilities to recycle products and packages, from dirty diapers to cigarette butts, that would otherwise end up being landfilled or incinerated. In addition, TerraCycle works with leading consumer product companies to integrate hard to recycle waste streams, such as ocean plastic, into their products and packaging. TerraCycle has won over 200 awards for sustainability and has donated over $44 million to schools and charities since its founding 18 years ago. To learn more about TerraCycle or get involved in its recycling programs, please visit terracycle.com.