Isabel Malsang with Eleonore Sens in Trenton, New Jersey, and Andrew Leeson in Sydney

Researchers in Australia want to transform single-use Covid masks into road material. In the United States, the protective gear is recycled into benches. And in France, they are reborn as floor carpets for cars. Used to curb the spread of Covid-19, masks are exacerbating another pandemic: plastic pollution. Around 129 billion disposable masks are used every month around the world, according to the American Chemical Society. Made out of polypropylene plastic material, elastic and metal, used masks are usually thrown out in garbage bins, destined for landfills, or incinerated. They are also littering streets, rivers and oceans, harming wildlife. But researchers and companies are looking for ways to put masks to good use, though it is not a very profitable venture at the moment. - Garden chairs - In Britain, several hospitals have acquired a compactor made by Cardiff-based Thermal Compaction Group which melts protective gowns and surgical masks into blue slabs. The material is then used to make garden chairs or tables. In France, Tri-o et Greenwishes, a recycling company, picks up masks tossed in special bins used by some 30 customers, including Parisian hospitals, TV network TF1 and building materials giant Saint-Gobain. "We had a lot of demand from our clients" to offer mask recycling services, said company president Matthieu de Chanaleilles. The company charges fees starting at 250 euros ($300) per month to collect the trash. At its recycling plant, staff wearing protective gear stand behind plexiglass to sort through paper tissues, gloves and cups that are thrown in mask bins by accident. Afterwards, the workers are sprayed down with disinfectant. The sorting area is sterilized with ultraviolet lamps. Masks are kept in quarantine for a week before being handled. Two companies based in northern France then shred the masks, disinfect them and extract the polypropylene, which is transformed into pebbles that are used to make floor carpets or other plastic parts in a car. Tri-o et Greenwishes has recycled one tonne of masks so far and hopes to have processed 20 tonnes by the end of the year. It's a drop in the ocean of masks. Some 40,000 tonnes of masks were binned in France last year, without a recycling option, according to a January parliamentary report. - Long road - Making the venture profitable is a challenge. In Trenton, New Jersey, TerraCycle sells a "zero waste box" for disposable masks for $88. The masks are then sent to partner facilities to be recycled into plastic granules that are sold to manufacturers that make other products such as benches, flooring surfaces or shipping pallets. TerraCycle chief executive Tom Szaky said recycling personal protective equipment is costlier than aluminium. "Why is, say for example, a dirty diaper, or PPE not recyclable? It's because it costs much more to collect and process and the results are worse. So no one would bother doing it because there's no money to be made," Szaky told AFP. "So Terracycle's business says 'Well, if someone's willing to pay those actual costs, then we can perform such a service'," he said. In Australia, researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology are experimenting with other solutions after being inspired by the sight of masks littering the streets. Once disinfected and shredded, masks can be mixed with processed building rubble to create a flexible and robust material to help build roads, according to the scientists. The researchers are now investigating their use in construction cement. Three million masks are need to make one kilometre (half a mile) of road. "The facemask have a good tensile strength; they can provide tensile strength to the concrete, which is very important," Mohammad Saberian, a post-doctoral research fellow at RMIT University, told AFP. "We're currently looking for partners to use the face masks in real-world applications and to make kind of a pilot road," Saberian said. Since publishing the research earlier this year, several industries have expressed interest, and the team was now applying for funding to further investigate the findings, which could take one to two years, he said. im-ode-bur/ico/lth/tgb

A TerraCycle, cuja missão é eliminar a Ideia de Lixo, ficou em terceiro lugar na eleição da Fast Company, publicação americana, que acaba de eleger as 10 empresas mais inovadoras do mundo na promoção do bem social.

Babybel® and TerraCycle® Partner to Award a New Garden to a Local Community TORONTO, May 11, 2021– Bel Group today announced the Babybel® Garden of Goodness Contest in partnership with international recycling leader, TerraCycle^®. The national recycling initiative calls upon Babybel customers to recycle their Babybel® cheese wrappers and help win a garden bundle for a local community. How to enter the Babybel® Garden of Goodness Contest: 1. Sign up to join the Babybel Recycling Program at https://www.terracycle.com/en-CA/brigades/babybel-en-ca. 2. Collect Babybel® cheese wrappers. 3. Ship the collected packaging to TerraCycle using a free, prepaid shipping label. 4. Earn recycling credits for each unit^ϯ of eligible Babybel packaging sent to TerraCycle. 5. Encourage friends and family to vote for your community to earn additional contest credits. The top two participants who receive the most recycling credits and votes by the end of the contest period will win a community garden bundle including a bird feeding table, large flower planters, planter boxes, bird nest boxes and a composting bin. “Through our partnership with Babybel, we are providing a free, easy way for consumers to enjoy their favorite snacks while responsibly disposing of their wrappers,” said Tom Szaky, CEO, TerraCycle. “By participating in the Babybel Garden of Goodness Contest, consumers have the unique opportunity to spread some joy in their community and teach future generations about the importance of being good to the planet.” Concluding on August 2, each unit^ϯ of Babybel® packaging sent to TerraCycle will earn five recycling credits. Participants can also invite their network to vote for them once per day per person. Each vote will earn one garden credit for the participant. The top two participants with the highest combined totals of recycling and garden credits will be named the winners and each will receive a garden bundle made from recycled waste. The Babybel® Recycling Program is open to any interested individual, school, office, or community organization. For each piece of packaging sent in using a pre-paid shipping label, participants earn points that can be translated into charitable prizes or cash donations to the school or charity of their choice. For more information on TerraCycle’s recycling programs, visit www.terracycle.ca. Ϯ A unit is defined as 4.5 grams of used, post-consumer Babybel® packaging. About Bel Group and Bel Canada Bel is a global family-run company piloted by its fifth generation of family leadership. Now over 150 years old, Bel is the world’s top player in the cheese portions category and a major player in the healthy snacking market. Bel wishes to contribute to building a positive agro-industrial model with all its stakeholders, one that favours healthy, sustainable and inclusive eating. Through its portfolio of iconic and international brands, such as The Laughing Cow®, Mini Babybel®, Boursin® and more than 20 other brands that are leaders in their local markets, Bel offers consumers in more than 120 countries a range of healthy snacks and culinary solutions, enabling everyone to enjoy the benefits of dairy and fruit products. The Bel Canada subsidiary was established in 2005 to promote the development of the Group’s activities in Canada. Two of its main brands—Boursin® and The Laughing Cow®—are produced in Canada through subcontracting partnership agreements with local dairy processors. The Mini Babybel® plant in Sorel-Tracy is the first production facility operated directly by Bel in Canada. For more information, visit www.bel-canada.ca. About TerraCycle TerraCycle is an innovative waste management company with a mission to eliminate the idea of waste. Operating nationally across 20 countries, TerraCycle partners with leading consumer product companies, retailers and cities 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. Its new division, Loop, is the first shopping system that gives consumers a way to shop for their favorite brands in durable, reusable packaging. TerraCycle also sells Zero Waste Boxes that are purchased by end users to recycle items in offices, homes, factories and public facilities. TerraCycle has won over 200 awards for sustainability and has donated over $44 million to schools and charities since its founding more than 15 years ago and was named #10 in Fortune magazine’s list of 52 companies Changing the World. To learn more about TerraCycle or get involved in its recycling programs, please visit www.terracycle.ca.

As cadeias de fast-food há muito tempo baseavam seus modelos de negócios na “extrema conveniência”. Ou seja, uma combinação de serviço ultra rápido com embalagem descartável que sempre ofereceu aos clientes uma refeição instantânea, sem nada para limpar depois – as sobras vão para o lixo sem pensar duas vezes. Mas o jogo parece estar mudando. As marcas estão buscando opções reutilizáveis à medida que os impactos ambientais se tornam mais importantes para os consumidores. Um estudo recente da Nielsen – que coletou opiniões em 60 países –  descobriu que a maioria das pessoas está disposta a pagar mais por fast-food vendido e servido em materiais mais ecológicos. Algumas das maiores redes de comida rápida do mundo entenderam o recado e estão liderando a indústria em seus esforços de sustentabilidade.

Você já pensou sobre como descartar corretamente embalagens de chocolate ou de salgadinho? Esses e tantos outros produtos como biscoitos, barrinhas de cereais, sopas instântaneas, batata palha e misturas para bolo são embalados em um tipo de plástico metalizado chamado BOPP (Polipropileno Biorientado).

Nesse Dia Internacional da Reciclagem, data instituída pela Unesco (Organização das Nações Unidas para a Educação, a Ciência e a Cultura) para estimular a reflexão sobre o descarte correto dos resíduos, Nestlé e Cataki anunciam a ampliação do app para um total de 1.303 municípios brasileiros em 2021, um aumento de 20,5% em relação a 2020.

O Dia Mundial da Reciclagem é uma data instituída pela Organização das Nações Unidas para a Educação, a Ciência, e a Cultura (Unesco), sendo comemorada mundialmente no dia 17 de maio. A celebração foi instituída como forma de conscientizar a sociedade para os benefícios da redução e reciclagem de resíduos.

“Acreditamos que toda ação conta para um mundo mais sustentável. Nós, enquanto consumidores, temos um papel de extrema relevância em relação a questões socioambientais e uma atuação assertiva pode tornar o tema prioridade para a indústria de bens de consumo”, comenta Renata Ross, gestora de Marketing e Relacionamento da TerraCycle, líder global em soluções ambientais de resíduos de alta complexidade

As cápsulas de café expresso mudaram a forma de consumir essa bebida tão famosa no Brasil e no mundo. Em poucos minutos, e muito praticidade, qualquer pessoa pode ter a sua disposição um cafezinho delicioso.