Ainda assim, podemos citar empresas e designers que utilizam a ideia por aqui. A TerraCycle, por exemplo, é uma empresa que atua em 20 países, inclusive no Brasil. A proposta da empresa é eliminar o lixo, incentivando a reciclagem de materiais não recicláveis, como esponjas. Um dos trabalhos da TerraCycle consiste na confecção de mochilas e materiais escolares a partir de embalagens de salgadinho.

At a time when many corporations and individuals are trying to lower their carbon footprint and produce less waste, only a small percentage of the world’s waste is recycled. Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson talks with Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle, about how we can recycle more and why we should reduce consumption. Interview Highlights On why some companies like airlines aren't recycling more "It seems crazy on the surface, but just to put this all into global perspective, today only 2 percent of the waste in the world is recycled. And the main reason for this not about the technical ability to recycle something. In fact, everything — from diapers to cigarette butts — are all technically recyclable. It simply costs more to collect and process that material than the results are worth. And so the reason your airline... some rare airlines do, but most airlines would just dispose everything, because the cost to train the flight attendants to deal with the logistics, then to actually process it, is not enough to make it all make economic sense. It just costs too much." On how much we should be recycling "Well, technically, truly, everything in the world is recyclable, so we'd be at close to 100 percent. The only things today that are prohibited from being recycled are where the law prohibits us. So certain things like medical waste must be incinerated for health and safety reasons. If you take that airline example, when airlines fly internationally, they are not allowed by law to recycle anything due to contamination, but domestically, they could, they just choose not to because of economics. And that's the same in cities and any other situation beyond something as exotic as an airline." On whether Americans are recycling more than they used to "We may feel like that, but if you take it from a global point of view, America's recycling is actually declining. And the real reason for this is because two macro issues have occurred. One is that China used to be where America exports most of its recyclable material, because that's where the factories are. And China recently put up a 'green fence,' is how they termed it, and basically made it very difficult to export waste materials to the country, which killed a lot of markets. "In addition to that, oil is at a very cheap price, and recyclers, traditional recyclers, compete against the price of oil with their recycled materials, and companies are buying less of this material, because recycled materials are now more expensive than virgin materials. So in fact, America's recycling rates have been decreasing recently." On the consequences of not recycling "Twenty-five percent [of the world's waste] ends up in our oceans, which is a monumental issue — it's not just the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch' that gets quite a lot of attention, but every other ocean gyre is a garbage patch. The site of our rivers, whether inland rivers or estuaries, are all covered in waste. It's not just a litter issue, or it just makes the natural environment not look good. But if you eat a big-bodied fish today, maybe at your favorite sushi restaurant, you are eating micro-plastics already. And it's a monstrous pollutant that we could solve. "This is the key thing — garbage is a very modern idea. It only really came about in the early-1950s with two things: the advent of complex materials, and the invention of consumerism. Someone alive in the 1940s bought 10 times less physical objects than someone alive today. And all those objects are made now from things that nature has no systems to handle, things that are really cool like plastics and so on, but nature doesn't know what to do with them, when those objects 100 years ago were made from woods and metals, things nature had absolutely adequate systems to handle. That's what needs to change. Recycling is a good solution, but more of a reaction, it doesn't solve the systemic issue that is present."

Have you ever found yourself facing your recycling bin, completely befuddled about whether or not you can put a particular item in it? You’re not alone. According to Planet Ark, nearly half of Australians find recycling confusing. The Conversation Australia’s recycling rules can seem horrendously complicated, but fortunately they are becoming more simple. What about things that can’t be recycled at home? Just because something can’t be recycled through kerbside collections, that doesn’t mean it can’t be recycled at all. New channels for recycling more complex items have been pioneered by organisations such as Planet Ark and TerraCycle, as well as by local councils, industry and government under schemes such as the Australian Packaging Covenant and the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme. Free Terracycle recycling programs. Adapted from TerraCycle (http://www.terracycle.com.au) Recycling is vital to reducing resource use and waste to landfill, and so getting it right is crucial.

As more recycling programs pop up around the country it’s important to keep up to date.  So in the second part of this article we look at seven more items that most Australians could be recycling - but probably aren’t. See Part One of the article for the first seven items.

8. Light Globes - Light globes come in a few different types which differ in composition as well as means of disposal. Fluorescent tubes, compact fluoros (CFLs), HIDs and metal halides all contain mercury and need to be recycled through council, commercial or community programs that safely separate the different elements. Incandescent globes and halogens can be recycled through some of these programs or can simply be wrapped in paper and disposed of in the garbage bin. They are made from low value and non-toxic materials which makes recycling them very difficult.
9. Mailing Satchel - If your workplace uses lots of Australia Post mailing satchels you can sign up to the free Mailing Satchel Recycling Program run in conjunction with TerraCycle. Once you’ve signed up you just bag up your satchels, download a shipping label and post them off to be recycled.
10. Paint - Under the new PaintBack scheme 15 cents is added to the price of each litre of paint which is used to establish collection points and recycling processes for un-used paint. PaintBack locations are beginning to appear around the country. Many councils, state-run clean out programs and the Community Recycling Centres in NSW also collect paint. Find a site near you.
11. Ink and Toner Cartridges - Whether you use ink jet cartridges at home or toners at work recycling them is easy though 'Cartridges 4 Planet Ark'. There are collection boxes in over 4,000 retail outlets and your workplace can apply for your own box. And better still it’s completely free to the user as the participating manufacturers – Brother, Canon, Epson, HP, Konica Minolta and Kyocera - cover the costs.
12. Pizza Boxes - An increasing number of councils accept pizza boxes for recycling. They just need to be free of solid food and too much oil. If the base it too soiled, you can tear it off and dispose of it in the garbage bin and recycle the top.
13. Soft Plastics - You can drop your used soft plastics including bread, cereal, pasta, lolly and dry cleaning bags off at participating (metro) Coles and some Woolworths stores where REDcycle will recycle them into new products like furniture for schools. The basic rule is that if you can scrunch it you can recycle it. (Residents in some councils like those around Perth, plus Ballina, Lismore, and Moreland can recycle soft plastics in the council bin.) Make sure you follow council advice re soft plastic as it can cause problems if it ends up in the wrong system.
14. Toothpaste Tubes and Brushes - These are tricky and definitely can’t go in your home recycling bin but can be recycled though TerraCycle’s Oral Care Recycling Program. The program is ideal for workplaces or schools as it also operates as a fundraiser.

Leumeah High School was among six local schools to receive grants of up to $1,000 to develop an environmental project as part of the Schools for Sustainability program, a partnership between Campbelltown City Council and Western Sydney University. Schools for Sustainability was launched at a two day forum in August 2016. The idea is to provide students with the opportunity to explore global and local environmental issues through a series of engaging workshops. Through the forum, students were equipped with the knowledge and inspiration to develop a project idea that could be implemented within their school or the local community. Council is currently designing the 2017 Schools for Sustainability program that will again invite high schools to participate in a two day forum. This year’s forum will see a range of sustainability pioneers inspire the students, including Tim Silverwood from Take 3, Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Terracycle and the team of student engineers that designed and built WSU’s Solar Car, Unlimited.

At a well-attended forum overlooking a beautiful Sydney harbour setting (despite the rainy weather), aerosol industry delegates from around the globe gathered to share insights and expertise on what lies ahead for this vibrant packaging sector, and how it will meet the challenge of staying relevant to today's consumer. After the scene was suitably set by Jackson and Lo Russo, a full day of presentations followed, including subjects as varied as recycling [Gemma Kaczerepa, TerraCycle], compressed gas and bi-compartmental aerosols [Paul Sullivan, DH Industries]; safety and quality [Richard Cooper, Emerson]; legislation [Alain D'Haese, European Aerosol Federation] and how technology advances can enhance the customer relationship [Ben Smith, Engagis].

Thank you to Jo from Fonterra who popped in to school for morning tea today and gave all of our students (and staff) a delicious yoghurt. TerraCycle and Fonterra have partnered to create the Fonterra Pouch Recycling Programme, a free recycling programme for Anchor Uno pouches, Fresh ‘n Fruity pouches or any other yoghurt pouches.

The average household with children amasses its share of broken, trash-bound toys. For Earth Month, Tom’s of Maine has partnered with recycler TerraCycle to help prevent broken toys from ending up in landfills. The natural personal care product manufacturer says its Less Waste Challenge toy recycling program is part of an initiative to educate consumers and their children about the amount of waste their household sends to landfills. "Knowing what to do with broken toys is a challenge because as parents we don't want to be wasteful and throw them away. We want to show our kids there are better solutions," said Susan Dewhirst, goodness programs manager at Tom's of Maine, in a statement. "The act of recycling a toy together can be a way for parents to start a conversation with their kids about what we can all do to take care of the planet for generations,” Dewhirst said.

Collected, donated, recycled

The number of broken toys sent to landfills is significant, says Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle. In fact, a recent study found that 55% of parents frequently throw out toys to reduce clutter in their homes. The companies hope to divert broken or unwanted toys from landfills by collecting, donating, and recycling them. To get in on the program, consumers can print out a free shipping label, load up an old box with up to 10 pounds of unwanted toys, and ship the box to TerraCycle. Toys that can be recycled include:

• Dolls
• Discarded toys or toy pieces
• Cards
• Dice
• Game boards
• Packaging from board games
• Books with sound
• Handheld electronic games and players
• Remote control vehicles
• Electronic stuffed animals
• Baby toys
• Building sets
• Stuffed animals
• Puzzle pieces
• Game pieces
• Action figures

Trash to treasure

By taking part in the recycling initiative, “Parents can feel good knowing that broken toys can be 100% recycled or reused, which helps planet Earth,” Szaky said.   Beyond donating old toys, families can help the earth by taking Toms' #LessWasteChallenge pledge to reduce their household waste by one pound per week. Additionally, visitors to the Tom’s of Maine website can find environmentally-friendly DIY projects that can be done using items that might otherwise be tossed in the trash.

A campanha foi desenvolvida para integrar o Programa Nacional de Reciclagem de Esponjas Scotch-Brite, que proporciona um destino adequado às esponjas descartadas.

A campanha foi desenvolvida para integrar o Programa Nacional de Reciclagem de Esponjas Scotch-Brite, que proporciona um destino adequado às esponjas descartadas. Todos os tipos de esponjas de uso doméstico são aceitos, independentemente da marca, cor ou tamanho.