The city is launching a program to collect and recycle cigarette butts. Salem has become the first municipality in New England — and one of the first in the nation _ to team with
TerraCycle on the firm’s butt recycling initiative. Salem last week was set to begin installing dozens of cigarette receptacles in the city, primarily in the downtown. The waste will be collected regularly by city workers and shipped to TerraCycle.
Salem pioneers cigarette butt recycling program: “Whoever thought you could recycle cigarette butts? But you can, and Salem will soon become the first community in New England to do so by teaming with TerraCycle’s Cigarette Waste Brigade. Up to 200 receptacles bearing stickers that read “Recycle Your Butts Here” will be placed across the city in the coming weeks to provide an easy way to reduce a prolific form of littering, according to city officials, and help keep Salem’s streets a little cleaner."
As Phase One of the ’200 Stories’ project wraps up, Edge Environment is pleased to have engaged with 200 businesses in the Northern Beaches to reduce waste going to landfill. Over the last four months Edger’s have been out and about talking to local businesses about their current waste and recycling set up. The Team identified opportunities for businesses to not only reduce the amount of waste going to landfill but also save money by reducing their bin lifts or general waste collection. Some great stories have evolved from the 200 Stories project. A few are captured below.
The Shop Next Door: The Shop Next Door in Manly are recycling 100% of their used coffee grinds by re-bagging them and giving them to customers for their compost and worm farms. They have also signed up to the Terracycle Brigade and are recycling cigarettes from the Laundromat one shop down so the butts don’t end up in storm water and in the ocean. They have started to separate soft plastic packaging from the apparel and surfboards. They have reduced their general waste bin contents by half, and over 12 months this will equate to 13,000kg of general waste diverted from landfill.
Mitchel Bro’s 4X4: Aaron from Mitchel Bro’s has reduced his general waste collection significantly since the Bin Trim action plan was put in place. He has reduced his general waste collection from once per week to once a month by recycling plastic car bumper bars, soft plastic packaging/bubble wrap and engine oil filters. The plastic car bumper bars would take up 80% of the bins contents these are now being picked up by a bumper recycler who reconditions them or donates them to a recycler to create new products. Aaron is now saving $1500 on his annual waste bill’s and is recycling an additional 35,000 litres of waste annually but more importantly is really happy about increasing his business recycling efforts. ‘The plan is working really well, we’ve already had a couple of hard plastics collections and the team know exactly what they’ve gotta do now and it’s really saving us a heap of time, money and resources. We’ve found the biggest improvement so far in the removal of the soft plastics, I didn’t realise how much space they really consumed in the general waste.” Email Quote from Aaron Mitchell- Mitchel Bro’s 4×4
Edge Environment is proud to be working locally to provide long term sustainability solutions in the Northern Beaches. The next phase of the project involves supporting businesses to implement the Bin Trim Action Plans and then completing follow up waste assessments to determine the landfill savings.
Discarded butts are being turned into something useful. The first of 50 cigarette butt recycling receptacles was installed downtown Monday. Developers of the program say New Orleans is the first US city to participate in a large-scale recycling effort launched in Canada last year.
Tobacco products, mainly cigarettes, create a lot of litter. Terra Cycle has created Cigarette Wastage Brigade for composting and recycling the different components of cigarettes and using them in a more beneficial manner.
The new cigarette butler is part of the Cigarette Waste Brigade utilized by Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, I Corps to combat the tobacco related waste problem on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., Aug. 11. An estimated 195 million pounds of cigarette butts are improperly discarded in the United States annually.
An estimated 195 million pounds of cigarette butts are improperly discarded in the United States annually, which is equal to the weight of about 33,000 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles.
In an ongoing effort to eliminate left over tobacco products, a non-profit organization developed a program to recycle the waste.
“It is TerraCycle’s goal to eliminate the idea of waste,” said Emma Swanson, a TerraCycle public relations associate. “Cigarette filters (and other related tobacco waste) are the number one item recovered during the annual Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup Day, with more than 52 million cigarette filters collected from beaches in the past 25 years.”
TerraCycle is an international upcycling and recycling company that collects difficult-to-recycle packaging and products and repurposes the material into affordable, innovative products. The company works with more than 100 major brands in the U.S. and 22 countries worldwide to collect used materials otherwise destined for landfills.
In 2012, TerraCycle created the Cigarette Waste Brigade to encourage people who smoke to recycle their tobacco waste instead of discarding it through trash or litter.
Since the launch of the Brigade, cigarette recycle canisters can be found at more than 5,100 locations in the U.S.
At Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., the Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, I Corps is among the first Army units to utilize this conservation method.
"Most of the trash collected during police calls are cigarette butts,” said Master Sgt. Michael Lindsay, senior operations noncommissioned officer, HHB.
Lindsay was referred to the program by Shelia Martin, Recycling Outreach Coordinator with the JBLM Public Works Environmental Division.
“I asked him if he would be willing to follow the parameters of the program and he agreed,” Martin said. “There are so many different items that can be recycled and not recycled based of the market and industry and we are always trying to reduce our refuse bill and increase our diversion numbers.”
As of Aug. 4, Soldiers can now utilize any of the six medium sized gray plastic canisters and large green receptacles located in the Battalion area.
The plastics recovered from the filters are melted down into pellets for use in industrial products, such as shipping pallets. Prior to the filters being melted, the cigarette waste must be collected and shipped to TerraCycle. The company provides each organization or representative with free, pre-paid shipping labels for the waste to be sent to their warehouses.
Littered cigarette filters, with the assistance of human and natural forces, rarely stay in the place they first touched the ground.
“Contrary to popular belief, cigarette butts are not biodegradable and do not break down quickly,” said Swanson. “A study from San Diego State University states one cigarette butt can contaminate one liter of water and create threats to important parts of aquatic food chain. They’re made from cellulose acetate which never loses its toxicity and can poison essential links in the aquatic echelon.”
The environmental hazard of cigarette filters was another contributing factor for HHB to sign up for the Cigarette Waste Brigade.
“The filters not only affect the aquatic system, small animals and birds may mistake them for food and potentially choke on them or get sick,” Lindsay said. “Recycling cigarette waste not only keeps the environment and wildlife safer, but also reduces the amount of trash in the dump.”
Lindsay estimated the Soldiers in HHB who will be using the program will help keep roughly 15 to 20 pounds of waste from being deposited into the dump each month.
For each pound we recycle of cigarette waste, the unit receives a credit from TerraCycle to donate to any school or charity, said Lindsay.
TerraCycle also donates money to the Keep America Beautiful program. From the start of the program through the end of June 2014, TerraCycle has donated more than $15,000 said Swanson.
Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization that brings people together to build and sustain vibrant communities. They work with governors, mayors and other local government and community leaders including state recycling organizations to help create communities that are socially connected, environmentally healthy and economically sound.
“The Cigarette Waste Brigade is one of our most successful programs,” she added. “Our Brigade members have collected more than 14 million units of cigarette waste and the number of people collecting has steadily increased since the program’s inception.”
Martin said if the program achieves the desired effect, it may be implemented into JBLM’s waste management program.
“TerraCycle is excited that Joint Base Lewis-McChord is now a collector for the Cigarette Waste Brigade,” said Swanson. “The Brigade is now open in Canada, Europe and Japan and is also in the process of signing up stadiums, cities and more military bases.”
The new cigarette butler is part of the Cigarette Waste Brigade utilized by Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, I Corps to combat the tobacco related waste problem on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., Aug. 11. An estimated 195 million pounds of cigarette butts are improperly discarded in the United States annually.
An estimated 195 million pounds of cigarette butts are improperly discarded in the United States annually, which is equal to the weight of about 33,000 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles.
In an ongoing effort to eliminate left over tobacco products, a non-profit organization developed a program to recycle the waste.
“It is TerraCycle’s goal to eliminate the idea of waste,” said Emma Swanson, a TerraCycle public relations associate. “Cigarette filters (and other related tobacco waste) are the number one item recovered during the annual Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup Day, with more than 52 million cigarette filters collected from beaches in the past 25 years.”
TerraCycle is an international upcycling and recycling company that collects difficult-to-recycle packaging and products and repurposes the material into affordable, innovative products. The company works with more than 100 major brands in the U.S. and 22 countries worldwide to collect used materials otherwise destined for landfills.
In 2012, TerraCycle created the Cigarette Waste Brigade to encourage people who smoke to recycle their tobacco waste instead of discarding it through trash or litter.
Since the launch of the Brigade, cigarette recycle canisters can be found at more than 5,100 locations in the U.S.
At Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., the Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, I Corps is among the first Army units to utilize this conservation method.
"Most of the trash collected during police calls are cigarette butts,” said Master Sgt. Michael Lindsay, senior operations noncommissioned officer, HHB.
Lindsay was referred to the program by Shelia Martin, Recycling Outreach Coordinator with the JBLM Public Works Environmental Division.
“I asked him if he would be willing to follow the parameters of the program and he agreed,” Martin said. “There are so many different items that can be recycled and not recycled based of the market and industry and we are always trying to reduce our refuse bill and increase our diversion numbers.”
As of Aug. 4, Soldiers can now utilize any of the six medium sized gray plastic canisters and large green receptacles located in the Battalion area.
The plastics recovered from the filters are melted down into pellets for use in industrial products, such as shipping pallets. Prior to the filters being melted, the cigarette waste must be collected and shipped to TerraCycle. The company provides each organization or representative with free, pre-paid shipping labels for the waste to be sent to their warehouses.
Littered cigarette filters, with the assistance of human and natural forces, rarely stay in the place they first touched the ground.
“Contrary to popular belief, cigarette butts are not biodegradable and do not break down quickly,” said Swanson. “A study from San Diego State University states one cigarette butt can contaminate one liter of water and create threats to important parts of aquatic food chain. They’re made from cellulose acetate which never loses its toxicity and can poison essential links in the aquatic echelon.”
The environmental hazard of cigarette filters was another contributing factor for HHB to sign up for the Cigarette Waste Brigade.
“The filters not only affect the aquatic system, small animals and birds may mistake them for food and potentially choke on them or get sick,” Lindsay said. “Recycling cigarette waste not only keeps the environment and wildlife safer, but also reduces the amount of trash in the dump.”
Lindsay estimated the Soldiers in HHB who will be using the program will help keep roughly 15 to 20 pounds of waste from being deposited into the dump each month.
For each pound we recycle of cigarette waste, the unit receives a credit from TerraCycle to donate to any school or charity, said Lindsay.
TerraCycle also donates money to the Keep America Beautiful program. From the start of the program through the end of June 2014, TerraCycle has donated more than $15,000 said Swanson.
Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization that brings people together to build and sustain vibrant communities. They work with governors, mayors and other local government and community leaders including state recycling organizations to help create communities that are socially connected, environmentally healthy and economically sound.
“The Cigarette Waste Brigade is one of our most successful programs,” she added. “Our Brigade members have collected more than 14 million units of cigarette waste and the number of people collecting has steadily increased since the program’s inception.”
Martin said if the program achieves the desired effect, it may be implemented into JBLM’s waste management program.
“TerraCycle is excited that Joint Base Lewis-McChord is now a collector for the Cigarette Waste Brigade,” said Swanson. “The Brigade is now open in Canada, Europe and Japan and is also in the process of signing up stadiums, cities and more military bases.”
NEW ORLEANS – In New Orleans, discarded butts are being turned into something useful.
The first of 50 cigarette butt recycling receptacles was installed at a downtown intersection Monday. Developers of the program say New Orleans is the first U.S. city to participate in a large-scale recycling effort launched in Canada last year.
Trenton, New Jersey-based recycling company TerraCycle Inc. developed the program in 2012. The first citywide receptacles were placed in Vancouver, B.C., in November 2013.
“Globally we have collected 25 million butts since November of 2012,” said company spokesman Albe Zakes, adding that the company is in talks with officials in Toronto, Sydney, Tokyo, Phoenix and Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Officials with the New Orleans Downtown Development District said joining the program was a no-brainer. Smokers flock to curbside trash bins and public benches for nicotine fixes, and smoking is still allowed in bars that do not serve food. The downtown area is just blocks from the French Quarter and is home to the huge Harrah’s Casino.
That adds up to a lot of cigarette butts.
Kurt Weigle, district president and CEO, said a one-day sweep in 2011 turned up nearly 7,000 cigarette butts downtown.
According to TerraCycle, New Orleans will be paid $4 for each pound of cigarette waste collected.
The organic materials, such as tobacco and paper, are composted.
Cigarette filters, though they look and feel like fiber, are made of cellulose acetate, a plastic. Once collected, they are shredded and bio-toxins removed with the use of gamma radiation, Zakes said.
“It’s the same exact process used on fish and other meats to assure there are no bio-contaminants, so it is very safe,” Zakes said.
The filters are then melted into plastic pellets for industrial use in the same way a plastic bottle would be recycled, Zakes said.
“We only use the pellets for industrial applications, such as plastic lumber and plastic shipping pallets,” he said. “We don’t make any consumer products from this material, mostly because of the stigma around butts.”
Outside a patio bar and restaurant about a block from where the first receptacle was installed Monday, 23-year-old Ryan Schumacher puffed on a cigarette and said the receptacles may help break some “bad habits.” Schumacher said he’s among many smokers guilty of throwing cigarette butts on the ground.
“I’m happy that we have somewhere to put our cigarette butts, now,” he said, but added that there will be smokers who just don’t care. “There’s still going to be the people who are stubborn about it and just throw it on the ground because that’s what they’re used to doing.”
Weigle said he is hopeful the receptacles will get used to help keep downtown clean, improve the quality of life for residents and visitors alike and promote environmental awareness.
“That’s something that’s important to us and our stakeholders, so every chance we get to become a greener downtown, we grasp it,” he said.
NEW ORLEANS – In New Orleans, discarded butts are being turned into something useful.
The first of 50 cigarette butt recycling receptacles was installed at a downtown intersection Monday. Developers of the program say New Orleans is the first U.S. city to participate in a large-scale recycling effort launched in Canada last year.
Trenton, New Jersey-based recycling company TerraCycle Inc. developed the program in 2012. The first citywide receptacles were placed in Vancouver, B.C., in November 2013.
“Globally we have collected 25 million butts since November of 2012,” said company spokesman Albe Zakes, adding that the company is in talks with officials in Toronto, Sydney, Tokyo, Phoenix and Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Officials with the New Orleans Downtown Development District said joining the program was a no-brainer. Smokers flock to curbside trash bins and public benches for nicotine fixes, and smoking is still allowed in bars that do not serve food. The downtown area is just blocks from the French Quarter and is home to the huge Harrah’s Casino.
That adds up to a lot of cigarette butts.
Kurt Weigle, district president and CEO, said a one-day sweep in 2011 turned up nearly 7,000 cigarette butts downtown.
According to TerraCycle, New Orleans will be paid $4 for each pound of cigarette waste collected.
The organic materials, such as tobacco and paper, are composted.
Cigarette filters, though they look and feel like fiber, are made of cellulose acetate, a plastic. Once collected, they are shredded and bio-toxins removed with the use of gamma radiation, Zakes said.
“It’s the same exact process used on fish and other meats to assure there are no bio-contaminants, so it is very safe,” Zakes said.
The filters are then melted into plastic pellets for industrial use in the same way a plastic bottle would be recycled, Zakes said.
“We only use the pellets for industrial applications, such as plastic lumber and plastic shipping pallets,” he said. “We don’t make any consumer products from this material, mostly because of the stigma around butts.”
Outside a patio bar and restaurant about a block from where the first receptacle was installed Monday, 23-year-old Ryan Schumacher puffed on a cigarette and said the receptacles may help break some “bad habits.” Schumacher said he’s among many smokers guilty of throwing cigarette butts on the ground.
“I’m happy that we have somewhere to put our cigarette butts, now,” he said, but added that there will be smokers who just don’t care. “There’s still going to be the people who are stubborn about it and just throw it on the ground because that’s what they’re used to doing.”
Weigle said he is hopeful the receptacles will get used to help keep downtown clean, improve the quality of life for residents and visitors alike and promote environmental awareness.
“That’s something that’s important to us and our stakeholders, so every chance we get to become a greener downtown, we grasp it,” he said.
NEW ORLEANS – In New Orleans, discarded butts are being turned into something useful.
The first of 50 cigarette butt recycling receptacles was installed at a downtown intersection Monday. Developers of the program say New Orleans is the first U.S. city to participate in a large-scale recycling effort launched in Canada last year.
Trenton, New Jersey-based recycling company TerraCycle Inc. developed the program in 2012. The first citywide receptacles were placed in Vancouver, B.C., in November 2013.
“Globally we have collected 25 million butts since November of 2012,” said company spokesman Albe Zakes, adding that the company is in talks with officials in Toronto, Sydney, Tokyo, Phoenix and Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Officials with the New Orleans Downtown Development District said joining the program was a no-brainer. Smokers flock to curbside trash bins and public benches for nicotine fixes, and smoking is still allowed in bars that do not serve food. The downtown area is just blocks from the French Quarter and is home to the huge Harrah’s Casino.
That adds up to a lot of cigarette butts.
Kurt Weigle, district president and CEO, said a one-day sweep in 2011 turned up nearly 7,000 cigarette butts downtown.
According to TerraCycle, New Orleans will be paid $4 for each pound of cigarette waste collected.
The organic materials, such as tobacco and paper, are composted.
Cigarette filters, though they look and feel like fiber, are made of cellulose acetate, a plastic. Once collected, they are shredded and bio-toxins removed with the use of gamma radiation, Zakes said.
“It’s the same exact process used on fish and other meats to assure there are no bio-contaminants, so it is very safe,” Zakes said.
The filters are then melted into plastic pellets for industrial use in the same way a plastic bottle would be recycled, Zakes said.
“We only use the pellets for industrial applications, such as plastic lumber and plastic shipping pallets,” he said. “We don’t make any consumer products from this material, mostly because of the stigma around butts.”
Outside a patio bar and restaurant about a block from where the first receptacle was installed Monday, 23-year-old Ryan Schumacher puffed on a cigarette and said the receptacles may help break some “bad habits.” Schumacher said he’s among many smokers guilty of throwing cigarette butts on the ground.
“I’m happy that we have somewhere to put our cigarette butts, now,” he said, but added that there will be smokers who just don’t care. “There’s still going to be the people who are stubborn about it and just throw it on the ground because that’s what they’re used to doing.”
Weigle said he is hopeful the receptacles will get used to help keep downtown clean, improve the quality of life for residents and visitors alike and promote environmental awareness.
“That’s something that’s important to us and our stakeholders, so every chance we get to become a greener downtown, we grasp it,” he said.
