AMSTERDAM - Amsterdam 11 oktober 2016 – De Nicolaas Maesschool is geen gewone school, maar een bijzonder groene school. Veel scholen zijn gelukkig al actief op gebied van duurzaamheid, maar het team van de Nicolaas Maesschool gaat een stap verder. Betrokkenheid van alle leerlingen staat hierbij centraal. Een van de nieuwste programma’s op de school is de BIC Schrijfwaren Brigade. Dit programma is een Europees programma waarbij docenten en scholieren alle verbruikte pennen recyclen. De Nicolaas Maesschool heeft dit goed aan gepakt. Het begon met bewustwording. Een week lang werd al het schoolafval verzameld en opgeslagen in de aula. Alle docenten en leerlingen, geconfronteerd met dit afval probleem, staken de koppen bijeen en brainstormden hoe deze berg afval kan worden voorkomen. Verschillende creatieve projecten werden opgezet en sindsdien komen de leerlingen op reguliere basis bijeen om nieuwe groene projecten te bedenken. Een van de laatste initiatieven die de school startte was het pennen recyclen. Ronald Meyer, docent en lid van het duurzaamheidsteam, is de motor achter deze pennen inzameling. Door de hele school te betrekken en elke vrijdag langs te gaan bij de klassen om pennen op te halen wist hij binnen ongeveer een jaar iets meer dan 20 kilo aan verbruikte pennen, stiften, markers en ballpoints in te zamelen en naar TerraCycle te sturen. Uiteraard blijft het voor de school hier niet bij en wordt er druk doorgespaard. Elke pen die de school namelijk opstuurt is geld waard. Met de opbrengst wil de school in andere duurzame projecten investeren waaronder GFT bakken, zonnepanelen en het goeie doelen. Maar dat is niet het enige daarnaast weren ze plastic zakjes en pakjes drinken op de school, ontdoen ze eens per kwartaal de buurt van zwerfafval, zamelen en oude elektrische apparaten en batterijen in. De BIC Schrijfwaren Brigade, zoals het pennen recycling programma heet, maakt deel uit van de reeks innovatieve recycling programma’s die TerraCycle consumenten wereldwijd biedt. Via deze programma’s kunnen deelnemers traditioneel niet-recyclebaar afval eenvoudig recyclen en ontvangen de deelnemers bovendien een vergoeding voor het afval dat wordt opgestuurd. Deze vergoeding kunnen de teams vervolgens doneren aan een school of non-profit van eigen keuze. Zo leveren scholen en hun leerlingen een concrete bijdrage aan het milieu en de maatschappij. TerraCycle verwerkt al het ingezamelde afval tot nieuwe grondstoffen en duurzame producten. TerraCycle hoopt uiteindelijk het idee dat men van afval heeft, voor goed te veranderen.

French environmental management giant Suez has bought 30 percent of TerraCycle’s operations in Europe. The acquisition will allow Suez to expand its recycling services for challenging materials in Belgium, Finland, France, the Netherlands, the UK and Sweden. Earlier reports value a 30 percent stake in TerraCycle at about $30 million, the Telegraph reports. TerraCycles develops recycling collection systems for more than 100 hard-to-recycle waste streams. This includes disposable items, flexible packaging, office supplies, beauty products, toothpaste tubes, used coffee capsules and cigarette butts. The New Jersey-based firm partners with companies, brands and municipalities in more than 20 countries to implement recycling programs tailored to these post-consumer products and their packaging. For example, Staples sells TerraCycle’s “zero waste boxes,” which allow offices, factories and households to collect a range of items — candy and snack wrappers, cleaning supplies and accessories, writing utensils, e-waste and mailing, shipping and packaging supplies — and mail it back to TerraCycle to be recycled. TerraCycle says it currently works with about 60 million collectors. Suez, which focuses on waste management and water treatment around the globe, says the partnership will divert waste from landfills by reusing or recycling “even the most complex” waste.

http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2473425/suez-teams-up-with-terracycle-to-tackle-hard-to-recycle-waste

MÅLSELV: Foran kaffehylla på Coop Prix Olsborg står det en gjenvinningsstasjon for brukte kaffekapsler. Her kan du bidra til en pengedonasjon til Mental helse Målselv bare ved å kaste dine brukte Tassimokapsler. Les mer her: Slår et slag for mental helse

Coop Prix på Olsborg og innbyggerne på Moen sørger for at deres Tassimo-kapsler og folieembalasjer blir gjenvunnet. Det fører til penger i kassa for Mental Helse Målselv. Les mer her:Gjenvinning fører til helsepenger i kassa  

Eit eige innsamlingspunkt for brukte kaffikapslar og folieemballasje i Joker Luster kan gje pengar i kassa til Luster Røde Kors.

http://www.edie.net/news/5/Suez-and-TerraCycle-to-boost-waste-management-for--tricky-to-recycle--products/

Dive Brief:

• French waste management company Suez Environment has purchased a 30% stake in New Jersey-based TerraCycle's European operations, which has been previously valued at approximately $30 million, as reported by the Telegraph.
• This deal will allow Suez to expand recycling options for challenging materials in Belgium, Finland, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Sweden.
• TerraCycle is already active in 20 countries and this will give it the opportunity to further develop a presence in the European market.

Dive Insight: Under the proposed Circular Economy Package, which was adopted by the European Commission last year, the goal is to recycle 75% of packaging waste by 2030. As has been seen in countries such as England, recycling contamination remains an issue and expanding options for diverting these common but challenging materials will be an important step toward reaching this goal. Since it started in 2002, TerraCycle has grown to nearly 60 million collectors through a range of programs that cover about 100 hard-to-recycle materials. The company has taken on pens, coffee pods, cigarette butts, adhesive containers and more by finding ways to convert them into new products. Some of these programs are sponsored by companies or municipalities and TerraCycle's "zero waste" mail-in boxes are also available through Staples. The company has been working in the U.K. since 2009, though the new partnership with Suez will open up new access to recycling technology and opportunities. The French giant employs more than 82,000 employees across five continents and reported nearly $16.9 billion in revenues last year. 

A total of 11,846 pounds of litter, or 5.9 tons: That’s the amount of debris collected during Ventura County’s Coastal Cleanup Day last month. This year's campaign highlighted the problem of cigarette-butt litter to raise awareness of the harm it poses to the environment and motivate proper disposal. Since 1989, cigarette butts have been the No. 1 item collected during cleanups. During the three-hour cleanup this year, 19,020 cigarette butts were collected in Ventura County alone; more than 5,000 were from a single beach site. Other top items collected were plastic bags, food wrappers, straws, plastic bottles and bottle caps. What makes cigarette filters an especially egregious form of litter is their persistence and toxicity. Cigarette filters are made of a plastic called cellulose acetate, and they do not biodegrade. They slowly break into smaller and smaller plastic pieces, but they never completely disappear from the environment. Cigarette butts are also loaded with toxic chemicals, including known carcinogens that can leach into the environment. They pose a choking and poisoning hazard to young children and to wildlife that may mistake the filters for food. In 2013, American poison control centers received 5,582 reports of poisoning from ingestion of cigarettes or cigarette butts in children 5 or younger. Butts and other litter found at beaches usually don’t usually originate there. Litter washes in from city streets through creeks and storm drains and eventually ends up on our beaches. The Coastal Commission estimates that 80 percent of marine debris comes from land-based sources. This waste has also drawn the attention of local activist group Surfrider. “The Ventura Surfrider chapter launched their ‘Hold on to Your Butt’ campaign in June this year to reduce or eliminate the environmental impact of cigarette butts through education and activism,” said Juli Marciel, a Surfrider member and the site captain for Ventura Promenade Park. At their regularly hosted cleanups, Surfrider members collect butts, track totals and recycle them through Terracycle, a cigarette butt recycling program. Surfrider uses data to advocate for better enforcement and implementation of littering and smoking laws and extended producer responsibility. More information and ways to get involved can be found at www.ventura.surfrider.org.

We live in a world of packaging. Unless you buy every single food item in bulk, never buy pre-made snacks or meals, and never grab a snack on a whim at a nearby bodega, there’s a very good chance you have a decent amount of packaging in your house. While some things, like cardboard cereal boxes, Tetrapacks, and glass bottles, are a bit easier to sort, there are other items like chip bags, juice pouches, and bar wrappers that don’t seem to belong in any particular recycling bin. With this problem in mind, TerraCycle was born. This innovative recycling program allows consumers to send in material they can’t recycle on their own and allow TerraCycle to take care of it. While TerraCycle has programs that require consumers to purchase special boxes where they can send waste in, the company also partners with different brands and companies to offer free recycling programs. Pretty much what this entails is TerraCycle sending a packing box or envelope to your home, you filling it up with the waste from a particular brand, sending it back for free, and subsequently feeling good about helping bring down the amount of trash that ends up in landfills. Then TerraCycle finds better uses for the material. Pretty good deal for all! Want to participate? Check out these 12 brands that have partnered with TerraCycle to get started. Happy recycling!