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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Colgate es una de las marcas que más ha avanzado en el tema de responsabilidad social empresarial, prueba de ello es su programa ‘Make every drop of water count’ que trata sobre la correcta utilización del agua. Algunos de sus objetivos son promocionar la conservación del agua entre sus consumidores y asociarse con organizaciones para llevar agua de calidad a zonas vulnerables del mundo.
En México, los productos elaborados por Colgate-Palmolive son donados y repartidos a más de mil instituciones y al DIF Nacional se le entrega un donativo de crema dental y cepillo de dientes.
Colgate está comprometida con el medio ambiente y realiza diversas acciones en pro de su sostenibilidad. A través de la brigada de cuidado bucal, en alianza con TerraCycle, ha reciclado alrededor de 718 mil 197 desechos.
En el programa participan cientos de ciudadanos recolectan cepillos de dientes, tubos de crema dental, cajas de cartón de los tubos de crema dental y empaques de cepillos de dientes, para después enviarlos a TerraCycle. Tras esto, cada recolector recibe puntos por sus envíos que puede canjear por dinero para donarse a diversas escuelas, asociaciones civiles y fundaciones. Con la brigada de Colgate se ha logrado donar alrededor de 190 mil pesos.
Además del programa de reciclaje con TerraCycle, Colgate reciclaje la mayoría de los residuos sólidos generados en sus diversas plantas, como cartón, papel, plásticos y diversos metales.
Rider has been ranked in the Princeton Review’s top most sustainable schools in the country and one of the greenest universities in the world by the UI GreenMetric World University Ranking. But what has Rider done to get where it is today?
The university has implemented a number of programs that have quickly moved us up in the ranks. One of those programs occurs in every dorm and has a high percentage of Rider’s residential students participating: the amazing Terracycle health and beauty brigade. Terracycle started as a local company based out of Trenton and now operates globally.
The health and beauty brigade, in particular, collects difficult-to-recycle plastics that are commonly found in the packaging of beauty and personal care products and either upcycles or recycles them into new products. Shampoo bottles, for instance, are a perfect example of what Terracycle likes to reuse and recycle. When asked what she thinks of the Terracycle health and beauty brigade,
Resident Advisor Talauria Wright says, “I love the health and beauty brigade, it’s super easy. Hill Hall always does a fantastic job recycling. The green bucket is always full of stuff.”
With these materials, Terracycle takes the shredded and melted down plastics and either makes amazing new packaging for companies like Garnier, Febreze and Colgate or creates outdoor furniture, garden supplies and tote bags. Rider has sent over 27,300 items to Terracycle through the health and beauty brigade so far.
Not only does Rider benefit from the health and beauty brigade, but also from Terracycle’s cigarette waste recycling program. Terracycle upcycles cigarette waste into fertilizer and packing peanuts. Rider has sent a whopping total of 24,000 butts to Terracycle so far. Thanks to the cigarette waste recycling program, the university safely disposes of the toxic materials commonly found in cigarettes.
Rider is gearing up to begin a new brigade, the writing utensil brigade, thanks to senior Eco Rep Ambria Dell’Oro. With the writing utensil brigade, students will have a safe and sustainable way to dispose of their used writing utensils. It is estimated that over 2 billion mechanical pencils are sold in the United States alone. Terracycle has begun a program to safely recycle all the different writing utensils students use that typically end up in the garbage at the end of their useful life.
When asked why she thought Terracycle’s writing utensil brigade would be a good fit for Rider, Ambria Dell’Oro said,“ If you really think about it, not all that much plastic goes into making a pen or mechanical pencil, but 2 billion pens and mechanical pencils in the trash equals a lot of plastic that will never biodegrade. I wanted to start this program at Rider to ensure that students knew about this unknown problem and to make sure students had a way to dispose of these writing products sustainably.”
Thanks to Terracycle, Rider is able to properly dispose of difficult-to-recycle materials. Students and faculty alike can rest easy knowing that they have the opportunity to make a difference.
TerraCycle ofrece programas de reciclaje para brindar una nueva vida a los residuos.
Michael Waas, Vicepresidente Global de Asociaciones de Marca de TerraCycle, impartió una conferencia magistral sobre el valor de los residuos en el Tecnológico de Monterrey el pasado lunes.
La conferencia inició con la jerarquía de los residuos, en donde Michael mencionó que en el nivel más bajo están los sistemas lineales como los rellenos sanitarios y la incineración. Mientras que en los niveles altos están en el reciclaje, que valora el material del residuo; el upcycle, valora el material y la forma de los residuos; y el reuso que se centra en el material, forma e intención de la basura.
Los niveles altos de la jerarquía corresponden al concepto de economía circular que propone reducir el uso de las materias primas y energía, y que el valor de los productos, materiales y recursos se mantengan en la economía durante el mayor tiempo posible.
Las empresas han intentado encontrar modelos más sustentables para su operación, sin embargo Michael dijo que “el problema es que están usando los materiales incorrectos”. TerraCycle ha creado diversas aplicaciones para los residuos que anteriormente han sido considerados como “no reciclables”, prueba de ello son los programas de reciclaje de bolsas de botana, de pan y pan dulce; empaques de galletas y jabones, y productos de higiene bucal.
La empresa encontró la forma para que los consumidores puedan comprar directamente la solución de reciclaje para el producto que consume con la caja cero desechos. Esta caja permite reciclar casi cualquier tipo de residuos, como cápsulas de café, desechos electrónicos o de laboratorios, etc.
“¿Por qué reciclamos? Porque es el único aspecto de la sustentabilidad que puedes tocar físicamente”, dijo Michael
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.
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.
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.
Australia's recycling rules can seem horrendously complicated, but fortunately they are