The meteoric rise of online commerce and its profound effect on Australia Post’s fortunes are usually couched in terms around the rapid decline of paper mail and corresponding revenue. But internet shopping and its reliance on single-use waterproof plastic satchels to post millions of parcels have created a new dilemma – how does a thriving parcel business cope with the environmental challenge of keeping packaging out of landfill and on a sustainable footing?

Nestled within the market for consumer plastics is an ever-growing industry for bioplastics -- plastics made from plant biomass, such as corn. In an increasingly sustainability-driven world populated by more conscious consumers and green-minded individuals than ever before, this growing focus on plant-derived plastics should come as no surprise.

Just over a year after introducing the service in Canada, Staples in the US is offering TerraCyle’s zero-waste recycling solution. Just over a year after introducing the service in Canada, Staples in the US is offering TerraCycle’s zero-waste recycling solution. More than 40 TerraCycle zero-waste boxes are now available on Staples.com, enabling customers to recycle things such as snack wrappers, cleaning supplies and accessories, writing instruments, light bulbs, coffee capsules and packaging supplies.

L’école Maternelle des Ormes à Saint-Cyr-sous-Dourdan participe à deux programmes de collecte de déchets non-recyclables solidaire, organisés par l’entreprise TerraCycle.

Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore has installed 15 recycling receptacles to encourage smokers to properly dispose of their used cigarettes in Harbor East as part of its Healthy Harbor Initiative. Cigarette litter collected will be sent to TerraCycle for recycling, eliminating cigarette litter from Baltimore’s streets, waterways and landfills. “Every year, millions of cigarette butts are tossed on the ground in Baltimore. When it rains they get washed into our storm drains, which flow directly into our streams and Harbor,” said Adam Lindquist, director of Waterfront Partnership’s Healthy Harbor Initiative.

The lobby of TerraCycle’s global headquarters is far from what might be expected for a company that reported $18.7 million in revenue in 2014. Mismatched couches and a row of aged bowling alley chairs surround a shipping pallet-turned-coffee table. The company’s logo on a wall is created from recycled juice packets. Above, light fixtures are enlivened with used product containers and bottles. The floor is covered in used artificial turf.

From zero waste supply chains, zero waste blogs, and products that facilitate a zero waste lifestyle, the concept of zero waste has taken the world by storm. But is zero waste actually an achievable goal? The fact is that there is no such thing as true zero waste. Even in a closed-loop system, waste is created in some capacity (e.g. emissions from transportation, energy wasted during the creation or repurposing of goods, etc).

Acompanhe de perto o processo de reciclagem das esponjas e veja como a Scotch-Brite e a TerraCycle estão eliminando a ideia de lixo.