Griffith University’s EcoCentre has joined forces with global recycling powerhouse Terracycle to launch an innovative waste management program at the Nathan campus.

PUBLIC spaces in Rhodes and Concord are looking cleaner and greener thanks to Council's Bin your Butts project, says Mayor Angelo Tsirekas.

"HOW far will you go?" asks an espresso-sipping George Clooney in the Nespresso television commercial. He's talking about lengths we would go for good coffee, but it's a question coffee pod drinkers of all brands should ask themselves.

Anna Minns and the small local team that form TerraCycle are pulling off a ‘David & Goliath’ type feat in tackling the waste associated with major brands operating in Australia, writes Paula Wallace. It’s simple; it’s ingenious; and it seems to be working. Anna Minns told WME about how the start-up was collecting and storing massive amounts of waste in a Victorian warehouse that would have gone into landfills or otherwise entered the environment.

Recycling company Terra Cycle, in Sydney's Surry Hills, is an office full of rubbish. Literally. The organisation's mission is to "eliminate the idea of waste" so they decided to lead by example. Lamps are made of Colgate toothpaste tubes or water bottles, clocks are made from coffee capsules and tin cans, mug holders are made from old windows and cushions are upcycled from old Qantas uniform print fabric.

It's a common excuse litterbug smokers use when ditching their cigarette butts: 'it's ok, ciggies are bio-degradable'. Well it turns out that is a big old myth. According to Clean Up Australia, 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered every year, representing a massive headache not only for the people who clean them up but also for the wider environment. Despite popular misconceptions, cigarette butts do not breakdown over time and actually have adverse effects on the environment for years to come. Cigarette butts or filters are made up of thousands upon thousands of cellulose acetate fibres which, although bad for your health, are actually recyclable. Now Brisbane City Council, in conjunction with private business Terracycle, will be collecting the cigarette butts from 100 bins across the CBD in the trial of a new recycling program. Hamilton Ward Councillor David McLachlan said that cigarette butts alone make up 30 per cent of the rubbish Brisbane City Council picks up every year. "Out there down in Moreten bay, through our drains and gutters, it is our most littered item and they don't break down, they're not bio-degradable, they're mainly plastic and they'll stay in the environment for a couple of years at least." If this trial is successful, these butts in Brisbane's CBD at least will be recycled and reused while leftover papers and tobacco will be made into compost. "We're always looking at those products that currently aren't recyclable [and] finding a way to get them recycled." Cigarette butts is the latest."

AN ITEM commonly littered throughout Brisbane’s parks and streets is set to find new life through a Brisbane City Council trial. Cigarette butts will be taken from council bins and recycled by TerraCycle during the six-month program announced at the council’s meeting (Tuesday, June 9). Hamilton ward councillor David McLachlan said the trial aimed to curb the environmental impact of used cigarettes. “Cigarette butt litter accounts for about a third of all littered items and we are looking at reducing this litter in landfill with the added benefit of recycling these materials,” Cr McLachlan said. “This trial is being conducted at 100 bins across the CBD and each of these bins has a sticker about the trial. “After the cigarette butts are collected from the bins when they are emptied, the cigarette butts will be sent to an external specialised plant for recycling.” Cr McLachlan said it was possible to recycle them into useful household goods. “Recycling includes stripping the organic materials from the main part of the cigarette and extracting the plastic from the filters,” he said. “Organics are then processed into composts and fertilisers with the plastics re-used as either outdoor furniture plastics or pallets. “We do look forward to the results of this trial and we will continue to encourage recycling and re-use wherever we can.” The council hands out fines of $227 for general littering and $455 for dangerous littering. TerraCycle launched the world’s first cigarette butt recycling program in Canada in 2012.

Anna Minns and the small local team that form TerraCycle are pulling off a ‘David & Goliath’ type feat in tackling the waste associated with major brands operating in Australia, writes Paula Wallace. It’s simple; it’s ingenious; and it seems to be working. Anna Minns told WME about how the start-up was collecting and storing massive amounts of waste in a Victorian warehouse that would have gone into landfills or otherwise entered the environment. But the big news is not the waste being diverted that had previously been considered unrecyclable but, instead, the programs TerraCycle is putting together with corporates to recycle/re-purpose it. “Virtually everything is recyclable,” TerraCycle general manager, Australian and New Zealand operations Anna Minns said. “The whole purpose for this business is to create markets for these materials ... so that eventually people aren’t throwing away chip packets because they’re actually worth something.” It’s true that companies have it within their power to take a greater stewardship role in the lifecycle of their products. It could even be argued that some progress has been made through industry-led initiatives focusing on packaging. But it has taken an innovator such as TerraCycle to disrupt the business-as-usual approach and show big brands how to close the loop on difficult-to-recycle materials. While many have complained about the blight of cigarette butts on the Australian landscape few have been able to make much of a difference, until now. Thanks to TerraCycle and its ‘Brigades’ program model, little parcels have been arriving from all around Australia, containing hundreds of thousands of butts – in fact six tonnes worth to date. Australia Post has partnered with TerraCycle to transport a range of waste items, including a new program launched at the end of May that will operate via specially created postal ‘bins’. TerraCycle is also gradually building up a national network of materials drop-off points that range from interested business, to the dentistry industry and other businesses. But back to the butts: Minns has achieved a first with the cigarette brigade program even for TerraCycle, which now operates in more than 20 countries, as she managed to get the three big brands to work together – British American Tobacco Australia, Philip Morris Limited and Imperial Tobacco Australia. “The entire tobacco industry is our partner,” Minns said. “They came together as a industry to fund the program and it’s a great example of industry funding a voluntary product stewardship scheme.” For every kilogram of cigarette waste that participants send in to TerraCycle they receive 200 TerraCycle points ($2.00), which can be redeemed for a payment of $0.01 per point to the charity of their choice. Shipments must contain a minimum of one kilogram of cigarette waste in order to receive a TerraCycle point donation. The postage is offered free and the whole program is underwritten by the tobacco industry. TerraCycle hopes that in the future it can work with established organisations such as the Australian Packaging Covenant to develop similar programs with major product suppliers. TerraCycle has similar programs operating for Dolce Gusto and Nespresso brand coffee capsules, toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes with Colgate, and triggers, sprays and pumps used in Natures Organics’ product range. “We don’t do any of the processing or manufacturing, that’s all third party suppliers ... we like to rely on existing technologies,” Minns said, adding that TerraCycle’s team of designers and scientists conducted the research and development on extracting resources from waste streams – IP which they share with local processors. According to Minns the lifecycle analysis that TerraCycle has conducted on various waste streams have all found conclusively that it’s a better environmental outcome to recycle than to landfill or incinerate. “Transporting is only a small part of the footprint, especially because we work through existing transport networks. We work with Australia Post so it’s just the extra weight on the truck,” she said. Creating markets What seems most remarkable about the TerraCycle story is that the Australian operation received no start-up funding from its US parent and no other forms or capital or government funding. TerraCycle is a private US small business headquartered in Trenton, New Jersey. It makes consumer products from pre-consumer and post-consumer waste and by re-using other waste materials. Minns, who previously worked in the legal field, worked at TerraCycle’s headquarters in the US for six months prior to bringing the business model to Australia. She worked unpaid for the first 12 months, managing in that time to devise programs with the tobacco industry and companies Colgate-Palmolive, Nestle and Nature’s Organics. The start-up’s marketing activities are primarily targeting companies and individuals, face-to-face presentations, online marketing and word of mouth. Minns said that recycled products would develop over time as they were able to build demand for the materials. “We pelletise the materials and sell them into an open market, we have a whole team that is focused on materials sales. That’s the overarching driver and purpose behind it all,” she said. “We collect so many chip bags in the US we are now able to sell that material. There’s a company in the US that buys the chip bag plastic for their decking products. She added that markets would not develop “overnight”. TerraCycle most recently launched its first user-pays program using Zero Waste Boxes, distributed through retail outlets for $100-200 each. Similar to programs running in the US and Canada which have seen two million pens collected in just one of the waste streams, the program will target businesses and households. Some of the materials accepted include coffee and tea capsules; office stationery such as pens, pencils and markers;  batteries;  mail room supplies;  binders; plastic gloves;  beardnets and hairnets; and snack wrappers. “We’re hoping to launch some new programs soon,” Minns said. “We’re working with councils on a cigarette programs with some councils already trialling bins around cities, hospitals and universities”.

WHO knew you could make bags out of toothpaste tubes and turn toothbrushes into pens? Students at Mary Help of Christians Primary School were delighted to discover the concept of 'upcycling' when TerraCycle general manager Anna Minns visited their school recently. TerraCycle is an innovative company that tackles difficult to recycle waste streams, turning 'unrecyclable' waste into new sustainable products. Year 6 students and environment ministers Isabella Treleaven and Jake Hicks were amazed to learn you could turn waste items into nifty, new products. "It's so interesting," Jake said. "They even turn babies' nappies into new stuff." The students got to take home items like fruit punch poppers-cum-pencil cases and cleansing wipe packages-cum-bags. In the lead up to World Environment Day on June 5, TerraCycle is calling on Coffs Coast residents to recycle their used toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and floss containers. The primary school is participating in the nationwide program to save used oral care items from landfill, collecting these items from the community, sending them to TerraCycle to be recycled and getting two cents for every piece of waste in return. Principal Liz Watts said they are excited about starting the program and look forward to a big collection drive. Visit www.terracycle. com.au to learn more.