http://www.packagingnews.co.uk/news/environment/suez-buys-share-in-terracycle-to-boost-collections-and-recycling-21-10-2016

http://www.converternews.com/suez-buys-share-in-terracycle-to-boost-collections-and-recycling/

Did you know you could recycle used pens, pencils and markers? Two Oshawa boys have set up Operation Eco-Pen with drop boxes set up across the region. Luke Nguyen, 10, says he and his brother Derek, 12, saw their mom collecting used pens and thought they’d get more people on board.

Problem: Laboratories and research organizations generate millions of nonhazardous lab disposables per year. International science journal Nature (http://www.nature.com/nature/index.html) estimates that lab plastics waste accounted for 5.5 million tons in 2014, roughly the combined tonnage of 67 cruise liners—and this estimate only speaks to one of the many types of waste created by labs. The quantity and variety of waste generated depends on the type of lab, as the lab and research industry can be broadly defined to include hospitals, universities, pharmaceutical corporations and regulatory agencies. Every lab is different and creates a mix of natural and synthetic materials, which may include glass, plastic, hybrid material lab garments, and nitrile and rubber gloves. Laboratory disposables have been fated to linear disposal methods like landfilling and incineration because there is no comprehensive recycling solution for them in the current waste management infrastructure. The economics of recycling (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-szaky/the-economicsof-waste_b_9616522.html) creates little incentive to employ alternative recycling solutions for discarded lab disposables, as the cost of collection, separation and processing for these mixed items is far greater than what the materials are worth. Thus, many labs do not offer well-managed systems for waste disposal, doing nothing for their internal sustainability numbers. However, labs have the ability to employ customizable, regenerative waste solutions for their lab disposables. Solution: Considering the reasons why waste is difficult to manage in labs and research facilities is the first step in finding solutions. As mentioned, the current recycling infrastructure does not support alternative recycling solutions for items like lab disposables because the process is too expensive. A private lab or research facility does not stand to gain any sort of monetary return on footing the potentially high cost of specialized recycling services, and must be presented with additional incentives to bring a perspective of value to recycling opportunities. Many lab employees may also believe that all laboratory waste is unrecyclable, which is not the case. Lab managers can facilitate staff training and sustainability courses for employees and building personnel to build morale around green awareness and improvements in lab processes, such as the integration of new in-house recycling solutions. One regenerative waste solution to consider when evaluating and setting internal sustainability goals in the laboratory is the Zero Waste Box, a premium recycling option from TerraCycle, an international recycling company. Major distributors and suppliers of laboratory equipment and accessories such as Krackeler Scientific, VWR, and Thomas Scientific have partnered with TerraCycle to offer Zero Waste Boxes through their website, allowing labs and other research facilities easy access to a turnkey waste solution for more than one type of lab disposable. Excluding food waste, sharps, hazardous materials, and other federally regulated items, the Zero Waste Box platform offers a solution for nearly every type of waste, without the need for corporate or municipal sponsorship. This innovative waste solution can be used by labs in conjunction with a lab’s own zerowaste strategies and participation in curbside collection programs, or as a primary waste solution. Separating waste is the key to making everything recyclable. For example, nitrile and latex gloves are comprised of different materials. Category specific Zero Waste Boxes for each type of waste stream keeps them separate at the capture phase, creating no need to work in the cost of that separation process. Labs and research facilities that use both types of gloves can either buy two types of Zero Waste Box for the respective items, or go a size up to include both for increased convenience. Labs can also increase internal sustainability by using Zero Waste Boxes to recycle other traditionally unrecyclable items. Waste created by building management (batteries, air fresheners, cleaning wipe packaging, trigger heads from cleaning spray bottles), researchers and scientists (binders and presentation materials, books, and magazines), and every person that walks through the door (coffee pods, chip bags, food storage containers) can be solved through TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Box platform.

Programa de Reciclaje logra recolectar 700,000 unidades de diferentes productos Colgate Con la ayuda de Colgate ®, TerraCycle México ha logrado recolectar 700,000 productos de cuidado bucal. Monterrey, Nuevo León (6/07/2016).- El programa de Reciclaje de Cuidado Bucal Colgate®, ha logrado recolectar 700,000 productos de cuidado bucal, dentro de los que se encuentran cepillos de dientes, tubos de crema dental y sus respectivos empaques. Este programa no solamente busca beneficiar el medio ambiente, también ha logrado donar $168,327.75 pesos que han sido destinados a distintas causas sociales. Algunos de los beneficiados por este y otros programas de TerraCycle son la fundación APANICAL (Asociación de Padres de Niños con Cáncer y Leucemia), la Escuela Secundaria 20 Juan Escamilla ubicada en la ciudad Monterrey, Nuevo León y la Escuela Francisco I. Madero en la ciudad de Mezquitic, Jalisco. Jardín de Niños Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez- Huejuquilla El Alto, Jalisco Actualmente TerraCycle México, maneja distintos programas de recolección logrando reciclar; envolturas de jabón, bolsas de pan, empaques de galletas, bolsas de botana y envolturas de pan dulce. El programa de Reciclaje de Cuidado Bucal Colgate® acepta cualquier marca de productos de cuidado bucal y él envió de los empaques recolectados es totalmente gratis. Contenido proporcionado por TerraCycle Acerca de TerraCycle TerraCycle fue fundada en 2001 por Tom Szaky, un estudiante de la Universidad de Princeton en el momento, su misión era Eliminar la Idea de la Basura ®. Desde inicios de TerraCycle, ha crecido a ser el líder global en recolección y reutilización de desechos difíciles de reciclar operando en más de 20 países, acercándose a más de 50 millones de personas y reciclando billones de piezas de desecho a través de varias plataformas innovadoras. TerraCycle ha ganado más de 200 premios por el emprendimiento social y ofrece programas nacionales de reciclaje fundados por marcas, manufactureros y tiendas alrededor del mundo ayudando a recolectar y dar solución a los desechos que antes eran considerados imposibles de reciclar.

A través de su programa Nacional de Reciclaje Terracycle recolecta en México casi dos millones de kilogramos de residuos al mes y han donado más de 10 millones de dólares a la caridad, pues comercializan los productos peletizados y fabricados a partir de los residuos. Por Luis Salazar ¿Imaginas unos tenis hechos con envoltorios de Tang, una banca hecha con colillas de cigarro y bolsas de mano echas con películas de fotografía? Ahora, imagina que no sólo su fabricación es real sino que sólo recolectando una parte de esas 100 mil toneladas de basura doméstica que se producen al día en México podrías ayudar a la organización civil que tú quieras. A eso es a lo que se dedica la empresa Terracycle, con sede aquí en Monterrey, de la cual es gerente general Christopher Rullán. La empresa tiene un programa nacional de reciclaje, el cual consiste en invitar a los consumidores a registrarse, escoger algún programa de recolección (por ejemplo envoltorios de frituras o pastas de dientes), organizar un equipo de recolección, enviar desde casa la basura recolectada, ganar puntos que serán destinados a una asociación civil o de beneficencia pública, y ver que los desechos recolectados se convirtieron en un nuevo producto. Terracycle es una empresa donde participan 60 millones de personas de 20 distintos países alrededor del mundo. En México recolectan casi dos millones de kilogramos al mes de residuos, y participan un millón 700 mil personas distribuidas en 26 mil equipos que cuentan con un líder de recolección. “La basura no existe en la naturaleza porque el residuo de un organismo es el alimento del siguiente. Pero nosotros consumimos materiales más complejos que la naturaleza no sabe cómo reciclar”, comentó Rullán en entrevista con Vida Universitaria, desde la sede de Terracycle ubicada por Avenida Garza Sada. Según el gerente de la empresa en México, yendo de lo más hasta lo menos sustentable, lo primero es dejar de comprar. “Para qué quieres ocho pares de zapatos”, expone. Lo segundo es comprar usado. La tercera franja es procurar objetos e insumos que tengan una buena durabilidad y evitar los productos desechables. La cuarta opción es comprar conscientemente productos que puedan ser reutilizados en el mismo o en otro fin para el que fueron hechos (y cuando es para otro fin le llaman upcycling; como los vasos de mole Doña María). La quinta y sexta franja es quemar o enterrar la basura, pero, insisten, ellos no creen en esas últimas dos. “Consideramos que el papel, aluminio, el vidrio, el PET y el propileno de alta densidad, que en número de plástico es el 1 y 2, son productos reciclables. Y como el resto no se considera reciclable, ahí es donde trabaja Terracycle”, explicó. Para su empresa sí son útiles los deshechos de las bolsas de frituras, los pañales o los váuchers reciclados. Ellos trituran los desechos y con un sistema de inyección de calor rehacen el plástico en diminutas esferas, a eso llaman peletización. Esas esferas peletizadas sirven como insumo para fabricar productos de plástico casi hasta donde la imaginación nos lo permita. Otro de los aspectos que destaca Rullán es que además de ayudar a descontaminar los subsuelos o los desechos sanitarios, el reciclaje otorga terrapuntos, los cuales, en dos ocasiones al año, se convierten en dinero que debe ser destinado a una organización de la sociedad civil o de beneficencia pública. “Algo interesante es que los terrapuntos reunidos pueden ir para fondos, por ejemplo, de la misma Universidad, facultad o escuela que el líder del grupo de recolección nos indique. El beneficio es para los mismos que reciclan”, planteó. Finalmente, comentó que cualquiera puede inscribirse en el programa. Y puede participar recolectando lo que dejen sus vecinos, compañeros de clase o simplemente en su casa. Sólo tienen que ingresar a terracycle.com.mx, llenar un breve perfil, escoger el o los programas donde se desee participar, organizar a su equipo de recolección, esperar a llenar la caja de terracycle, imprimir y pegar en la caja una guía de envío que se descarga desde cualquier computadora y, finalmente, esperar desde su domicilio al transporte que se llevará el residuo.

In today’s world, the basic model for the production of goods is linear: natural resources are extracted and turned into products that are used for a limited time. While some of these products are recycled, most eventually end up in the world’s landfills. This model is becoming increasingly unsustainable and expensive for businesses. Commodity prices rose more than 150 percent between 2002 and 2010 and an additional three billion middle-class consumers are expected to enter the global market by 2030. This unprecedented demand for goods and services coupled with increasing resource scarcity and price volatility is causing companies to move from a traditional “take-make-dispose” model to a more circular strategy. Beyond the cost, there is increasing awareness of the impact of the linear model on the well-being of the planet, and a growing sense of urgency as we see the ultimate ramifications on society and the environment.   Closing the Loop with Innovative Logistic Solutions In recent years, I’ve seen companies like Dell, Patagonia and TerraCycle focus their sustainability efforts on implementing seamless take-back programs that make use of turnkey packaging, pickup services and pre-paid return labels. With approximately 97 percent of business leaders listing logistics as important to transitioning to a circular economy, partnering with intelligent logistic providers will be crucial for companies to implement cost-effective circular strategies. UPS teamed up with Nespresso to help the company ensure their single-serve coffee capsules are properly recycled. Nespresso offers pre-paid recycling bags for consumers to mail back used capsules by dropping them off at one of the 88,000 UPS drop-off locations across the U.S., or by giving them to any UPS driver. The aluminum from the capsules is then melted down and used in new products, and coffee grounds are composted into high-quality soil amendments that go to landscapers, garden centers, municipalities and homeowners. This is one example of many where partnerships are critical to closing the loop. The Future of the Circular Economy I recently had the opportunity to participate on a panel at GreenBiz VERGE 2016 with Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle and Kevin Zweier, VP of Transportation Practice at Chainalytics, to discuss trends shaping the future of the circular economy. In addition to the critical role of logistics, major takeaways from the collaborative discussions included: Tailoring the Solution. Companies trying to implement circular strategies face a “first mile” challenge when it comes to reusing products and resources for future use. Each product in a company’s supply chain must be analyzed based on its unique characteristics from raw material to end-of-life. Circular planning must then be used to determine whether reclaimed products and resources should be transported back to a central hub facility or dealt with on a local level. Education is Key. To help build mainstream acceptance and support for a realized circular economy, governments and businesses alike should prioritize educating consumers about circular principles, including which products can be reused, recycled or upgraded. By helping customers make easy decisions when they are done using a product, we can ensure valuable materials don’t end up in landfills. We All Have a Role to Play. While companies are investing in innovative partnerships and creating more sustainable solutions, there is also a need for customers and consumers to take advantage of these offerings so that these investments can be supported by a strong business case. 

... As esponjas serão enviadas juntamente com os outros materiais recicláveis que já fazem parte do projeto, para a empresa TerraCycle...