• Making your office more eco-friendly can be achieved through simple adjustments.
• For example, updating antiquated HVAC systems that don't allow for seasonal fluctuations can save energy.
• Using digital files in lieu of paper memos is also generally safer and more secure.

Can your team make more sustainable choices without giving up in-office necessities? Can sustainable habits actually save you time and money, or is it all a hassle no matter how you slice it? These tips can go beyond simple waste reduction and eco-friendly practices to actually save your company money on recycling costs, simplify waste management, mitigate HVAC costs and so much more.

Tip #1: Go the digital route

Switch from paper documents to electronic and cloud management systems whenever possible. These options can often be more secure, easier to search through and access for remote and off-site workers, and they help reduce the need for physical filing cabinets and archival storage. Additionally, digital file exchange puts less of a burden on recycling and waste disposal efforts, none of which are free in a commercial setting. You can also order 100% recycled paper that is FSC-certified for remaining print-media needs.

Tip #2: Curb plastic promotional items

Limit the amount of cheap plastic promotional items distributed at events. You can also switch to paper-based and biodegradable alternatives for branded swag items like pens, binders and lip balms.

Tip #3: Switch to non-toxic cleaning products

There are now many greener commercial alternatives that you can ask your cleaning company to use instead of traditional chemicals that have been proven to taint water systems and reduce air quality.

Tip #4: Increase your organization's recycling efforts

You can start by providing plenty of clearly labeled bins throughout office spaces. One vendor called TerraCycle offers Zero Waste collection boxes for many standard office items such as batteries, ink cartridges, and presentation materials.

Tip #5: Revamp your HVAC systems

Update heating, cooling, and ventilation systems to optimize energy efficiency. Install timers and motion sensors to limit unnecessary lighting and energy use during low occupancy periods, like the weekends or statutory holidays. Between installing advanced HVAC technology and using it as intended, you can reduce your office's power grid usage as well as its emissions, all while saving the company money in a very real way.

“From cigarette butts to dirty diapers,” Szaky said. The problem with items like gloves and masks is that they can’t be recycled with more traditional items like cans and glass bottles. “It’s not economically profitable for waste management to bother recycling PPE, so it all ends up as garbage. And then unfortunately in a consumer use setting much of it can also end up as litter,” Szaky said. TerraCycle has a process for it. “Suddenly locations that were not using our services before like bars and restaurants and supermarkets...and educational institutions and offices started using TerraCycle to recycle the PPE,” he said. First, it gets collected. Then, it’s sorted. “We then sort out any macro contaminants,” he explained. “Then we take it, amalgamate it into large volumes and in the case of PPE it gets shredded, the plastics get melted into new raw materials.” All of this is done through a high-temperature process that decontaminates, and then the raw materials are sold to manufacturers. Recycling companies all over have seen an increase in PPE. “I have been amazed at how many gloves and masks and PPE-related items you see along streets,” Cory White, the chief commercial officer of Stericycle, said. Stericycle is a waste collection and recycling company. “We have seen a modest increase in the amount of PPE coming from hospitals and doctors' offices,” he said. That’s where most PPE is being used. “Over the course of the first year, we issued out and consumed approximately a million masks,” Matt Putman, the director of supply chain at UCHealth, said. He said they capitalized on recycling guidelines to make sure items that needed to be thrown away were thrown away, while other items were recycled. “We were able to divert a lot of items from landfills and incinerators because of those very careful plans,” he said. While it’s hard to put a number on exactly how much waste we’re talking about, an analysis done by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said if every healthcare worker in the U.S. used a new N95 mask for each patient they encountered in the first six months of the pandemic, 7.4 billion masks would be required. “PPE specifically does not render itself very well to recycling,” White said. As we continue to use masks, gloves, and other items, Szaky and Putman said there are ways to be more conscious of your waste. “Try to avoid things that are disposable and not recyclable in any way,” Szaky said. “You can go out and buy masks off of Amazon or other companies to be able to wear on your own and not always buy the consumable disposable product that's out there, so that's what we learned and we’re going to continue to learn,” Putman said.

As the United States turns a corner with the pandemic, workers are being asked to abandon their quarantine bubbles and return to the workplaces they left well over a year ago. However, many are returning to very different office environments as companies trash now unnecessary office equipment in response to either economic-related personnel cuts or employees’ widespread adoption of remote or hybrid schedules, as 44 percent of total U.S. workers are, according to Statista. Just as TerraCycle provided innovative recycling solutions for the surplus of otherwise unrecyclable personal protective equipment (PPE) produced during the pandemic, the international recycling leader is back again with convenient solutions to address this new influx of unwanted office supplies. TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Boxes provide a convenient recycling solution for nearly every conceivable piece of office waste, which generally is not recyclable through most towns’ conventional recycling facilities. When placed in high-traffic areas like breakrooms or kitchens, Zero Waste Boxes provide psychic income to eco-minded employees and deliver an environmentally-friendly alternative to landfilling in the form of recycling—all while discouraging clutter throughout any newly renovated office. To recycle common forms of unwanted office supplies, TerraCycle offers the following Zero Waste Boxes:

• Office Supplies Zero Waste Box – to recycle tape dispensers, desk organizers, card and document filers, binders, calendars, labels, staplers, hole punchers, dividers, paper cutters, correction supplies, pens/pencils/markers, fasteners, paper clips, staples, binder clips and sticker and label sheet backing. Not a solution for e-waste like electronic staplers and label making machines.
• Office Separation Zero Waste Box – to recycle art supplies, books and magazines, eye wear, cleaning accessories, fabrics and clothing, interior home furnishings, media storage, office supplies, paper packaging, pet products (non-food), plastic packaging, plastic cards and shipping materials.
• Media Storage Zero Waste Box – To recycle any object or device capable of storing data (ie. audio, video) in analog or digital format including records, 8-track tapes, cassette tapes, CDs and DVDs, Blu Ray discs, floppy disks, memory sticks and external hard drives.
• E-Waste Zero Waste Box – To recycle any household or office e-waste including home phones, cell phones, computer cables and accessories, keyboards, VCR/DVD players, hand-held computers, digital music players, pagers, radios, cameras, video recorders, TVs, laptops, desktop computers and monitors, printers and scanners, digital cameras, copiers, typewriters, fax machines, stereos, tuners and turntables and receivers and speakers.

When full, the boxes can be returned to TerraCycle for processing and the collected waste will be cleaned, melted and remolded to make new products. TerraCycle, the world’s leader in the collection and repurposing of complex waste streams, created the Zero Waste Box program to provide solutions for difficult-to-recycle waste that cannot be recycled through TerraCycle’s brand-sponsored, national recycling programs or via standard municipal recycling. “No matter if you’re implementing a hybrid schedule or if you’re planning to return to the office in full-force this fall, our workplaces will likely begin to look a lot different compared to how we left them,” says Tom Szaky, CEO and founder of TerraCycle. “TerraCycle’s goal is to make this transition as easy and as environmentally-friendly as possible by giving your business the power to divert waste from landfills through our turn-key Zero Waste recycling solutions.” TerraCycle works with major manufacturers and retailers to recycle products and packaging that would normally be thrown away. Learn more about TerraCycle and its innovative recycling solutions.

Streamlined user experience and additional features make it simple to implement sustainability solutions

• By Recycling Product News Staff
• August 04, 2021

Recognizing that busy business owners, facilities managers, and contractors may only have a few precious moments to spare for their sustainability programs on a daily basis, TerraCycle Regulated Waste (TCRW), a commercial recycling solution provider that specializes in the collection and repurposing of complex regulated waste streams, has launched a new and improved website to make it easier than ever to establish, implement and meet sustainability targets. In order to facilitate the effective and compliant management of regulated, universal and hazardous waste such as florescent lamps, batteries, aerosols and personal protective equipment, TCRW has implemented enhanced website functionalities for an improved e-comm experience with robust new features. TCRW customers can now enjoy guest checkout and QR code functionality on a new mobile-friendly website for quick, on-the-go recycling access. That, coupled with the new ability to track shipments in real time, ensures that they are never caught without a recycling solution. All of this, packaged in an improved and streamlined user interface, is ready to take the guesswork and headaches out of overseeing a sustainability program of any size. Added features on the new TCRW website include: •  Guest checkout implemented for quick purchases •  QR Code functionality added to EasyPak boxes so team members on the warehouse floor can scan a box with their smartphones and jump to the new website •  optimized for mobile use for on-the-go access •  General streamlining of user interface to ensure the most efficient experience •  Free shipping for all online EasyPak purchases. "TerraCycle Regulated Waste has always been committed to helping businesses meet their sustainability goals efficiently and without any of the guesswork," said Kevin Flynn, Global Vice President of TerraCycle Operations and Director of TerraCycle Regulated Waste. "This website refresh is our way of doubling-down on this commitment as we give our customers new powerful tools to help get the job done." To learn about TerraCycle Regulated Waste, visit the new website at tcrwusa.com.

TerraCycle’s zero-waste boxes offer recycling solutions for common office waste or unwanted supplies as more employees return to the office or adopt hybrid schedules TRENTON, NJ, August 3 2021 – As the United States turns a corner with the pandemic, workers are being asked to abandon their quarantine bubbles and return to the workplaces they left well over a year ago. However, many are returning to very different office environments as companies trash now unnecessary office equipment in response to either economic-related personnel cuts or employees’ widespread adoption of remote or hybrid schedules, as 44% of total U.S. workers are, according to Statista. Just as TerraCycle® provided innovative recycling solutions for the surplus of otherwise unrecyclable personal protective equipment (PPE) produced during the pandemic, the international recycling leader is back again with convenient solutions to address this new influx of unwanted office supplies. TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Boxes provide a convenient recycling solution for nearly every conceivable piece of office waste which are generally not recyclable through most towns’ conventional recycling facilities. When placed in high-traffic areas like breakrooms or kitchens, Zero Waste Boxes provide psychic income to eco-minded employees and deliver an environmentally-friendly alternative to landfilling in the form of recycling — all while discouraging clutter throughout any newly renovated office. To recycle common forms of unwanted office supplies, TerraCycle offers the following Zero Waste Boxes:

• Office Supplies Zero Waste Box – to recycle tape dispensers, desk organizers, card and document filers, binders, calendars, labels, staplers, hole punchers, dividers, paper cutters, correction supplies, pens/pencils/markers, fasteners, paper clips, staples, binder clips and sticker and label sheet backing. Not a solution for e-waste like electronic staplers and label making machines.
• Office Separation Zero Waste Box – to recycle art supplies, books and magazines, eye wear, cleaning accessories, fabrics and clothing, interior home furnishings, media storage, office supplies, paper packaging, pet products (non-food), plastic packaging, plastic cards and shipping materials.
• Media Storage Zero Waste Box – To recycle any object or device capable of storing data (ie. audio, video) in analog or digital format including records, 8-track tapes, cassette tapes, CDs and DVDs, Blu Ray discs, floppy disks, memory sticks and external hard drives.
• E-Waste Zero Waste Box – To recycle any household or office e-waste including home phones, cell phones, computer cables and accessories, keyboards, VCR/DVD players, hand-held computers, digital music players, pagers, radios, cameras, video recorders, TVs, laptops, desktop computers and monitors, printers and scanners, digital cameras, copiers, typewriters, fax machines, stereos, tuners and turntables and receivers and speakers.

When full, the boxes can be returned to TerraCycle for processing and the collected waste will be cleaned, melted and remolded to make new products. TerraCycle, the world’s leader in the collection and repurposing of complex waste streams, created the Zero Waste Box program to provide solutions for difficult-to-recycle waste that cannot be recycled through TerraCycle’s brand-sponsored, national recycling programs or via standard municipal recycling. “No matter if you’re implementing a hybrid schedule or if you’re planning to return to the office in full-force this fall, our workplaces will likely begin to look a lot different compared to how we left them,” says Tom Szaky, CEO and founder of TerraCycle. “TerraCycle’s goal is to make this transition as easy and as environmentally-friendly as possible by giving your business the power to divert waste from landfills through our turn-key Zero Waste recycling solutions.” TerraCycle works with major manufacturers and retailers to recycle products and packaging that would normally be thrown away. To learn more about TerraCycle and its innovative recycling solutions, visit www.terracycle.com. About TerraCycle TerraCycle is an innovative waste management company with a mission to eliminate the idea of waste. Operating nationally across 21 countries, TerraCycle partners with leading consumer product companies, retailers and cities to recycle products and packages, from dirty diapers to cigarette butts, that would otherwise end up being landfilled or incinerated. In addition, TerraCycle works with leading consumer product companies to integrate hard to recycle waste streams, such as ocean plastic, into their products and packaging. Its new division, Loop, is the first shopping system that gives consumers a way to shop for their favorite brands in durable, reusable packaging. TerraCycle has won over 200 awards for sustainability and has donated over $44 million to schools and charities since its founding more than 15 years ago and was named #10 in Fortune magazine’s list of 52 companies Changing the World. To learn more about TerraCycle or get involved in its recycling programs, please visit www.terracycle.com.

• By Recycling Product News Staff
• August 03, 2021

By Tom Szaky, TerraCycle

In college, one of my professors taught a popular theory of economics that a company’s sole purpose is to deliver profit to shareholders. Since then I’ve found that, yes, of course you want a company to be profitable so it can continue to exist. But the purpose of business to me is what it does — what service it provides, what product it makes, and how it helps people, society, and the planet. In the pursuit of purpose, I resolved to create businesses that put those things first. Twenty years later, I stand at the helm of companies that do just that. Today operating in 22 countries, TerraCycle® is known for creating first-of-its-kind recycling solutions for nearly everything the world would consider trash: empty writing utensils, plastic litter collected off beaches, even dirty diapers, cigarette butts, and used chewing gum.

Companies work with us to sponsor collection programs for their own products, as well as entire categories of waste, to bring solutions at no cost to customers. To fill in the gaps, the Zero Waste corner of our business allows anyone to recycle everything else through turnkey, pay-as-you-go solutions that can be used to reduce waste at home, the office, in public and community spaces, and at events. Corporations, municipalities, small businesses, and individuals bring TerraCycle’s programs to life, while manufacturers use our collection infrastructure to source unique materials for new production, driving value through this story. So far this model has diverted nearly 8 billion pieces of traditionally non-recyclable material away from landfills and towards a new supply chain of recycled content. We also offer large-scale recycling and compliance services for facilities across the United States through our Regulated Waste division. Handling items such as batteries, fluorescent lamps, and e-waste as regulated by the EPA, we’re able to help businesses remain compliant while saving money on storage and labor costs and improving workplace safety for their employees and staff. Simply put, the main function of our business is to solve problems related to waste. For example, it was estimated global waste increased 30% in the first year of the global pandemic. As part of our efforts, TerraCycle scaled and adapted its existing solutions for PPE (personal protective equipment, such as disposable masks, gloves, and face shields) to address the flurry of these discarded items. The actions of individual consumers and citizens of course have an impact, but our main target is businesses: retailers, manufacturers, and service facilities providing a product. It is through partnership that we are able to help companies offer a better alternative to their customers, the individuals that collectively steer the market through their choices. A couple years ago TerraCycle launched Loop, a reuse engine for brands and manufacturers to reimagine their single-use packages as durable, refillable containers. Similar to TerraCycle, companies big and small partner with us to offer a way for customers to enjoy their products without the packaging waste. Ulta Beauty, the leading beauty chain, is one brand in partnership with Loop to bring its personal care shelf into the no-waste space. Loop is today in an exciting growth phase as it launches in new markets around the world (most recently Japan), and building upon the success of in-store space at Carrefour in Europe, will soon pilot at retail locations across the United States. Guests will soon be able to purchase products and drop off their empty containers at participating stores. The spirit of where TerraCycle started twenty years ago — in my college dorm room as a submission to a business competition, feeding food waste to worms to make fertilizer — carries through in our work today. We saw the value and opportunity in the things people throw away, and today use our business to change perspectives about waste, allowing businesses to drive change. As we continue to grow, we’re launching new models and are fortunate to have the world’s biggest brands and retailers as clients, all the while staying true to a mission to eliminate the idea of waste, which in turn furthers a circular economy. Aligning human consumption with nature’s activities, the circular economy keeps resources in use and cycling around as long as possible, reducing the strain on the Earth’s finite cradle of resources and impacts on the environment. Recycling, reduction, and reuse are elements of a circular economy. This is in contrast to the linear economy; simply put, it’s a take-make-waste model that extracts new resources for production and sends them in one direction: the trash. The linear economy has long done well to drive profits, create jobs, and inspire innovation, but not only this is not sustainable from an environmental perspective, there is a real business case for being the ones to change the paradigm towards one that is regenerative and keeps responsibility for products and their impacts with the companies that produce them. Consumers are looking to the brands they buy to make it easy for them to lighten their footprint while still enjoying the products they’ve come to know. They want it to be convenient, cost-effective, and socially valuable for them to make that switch. They already report being willing to pay more or switch brands for ones doing this work for them. We help brands do this work. This is our purpose, to drive this change, and we cannot do it alone. Our ability to be profitable has allowed us to seek out new partnerships, strengthen the core revenue streams of our business, and incubate entirely new lines of business. Our profitability is what supports and frees us in our initiative to address the changing needs of our customers. The world is waking up to the great problems with waste and the companies that produce it, and we’re here to help them all be a part of the solution.   Article by Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle, a global leader in collection and repurposing of complex waste streams. TerraCycle operates in over 20 countries, working with some of the world’s largest brands, retailers and manufacturers to create national platforms to recycle products and packaging that currently go to landfill or incineration. Through TerraCycle, Tom creates circular solutions for hundreds of difficult waste streams such as cigarette butts, dirty diapers and used chewing gum. TerraCycle operates the largest supply chain for ocean plastic in the world, partnering with companies to integrate this material into their packaging. In May 2019 TerraCycle launched Loop, a circular reuse platform that enables consumers to purchase products in durable, reusable packaging. Loop is available in Paris, France, Canada, the UK, Japan and the 48 contiguous U.S. states, and is a key step in helping to end the epidemic of waste that is caused by ‘single- use’ consumption. In 2022, Loop will become available in Australia. Tom and TerraCycle have received hundreds of social, environmental and business awards and recognition from a range of organizations including the United Nations, World Economic Forum, Fortune and Time Magazines, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Tom is the author of four books, “Revolution in a Bottle,” “Outsmart Waste,” “Make Garbage Great” and “The Future of Packaging” and created, produced and starred in TerraCycle’s reality show, “Human Resources” which aired from 2014-2016 and is syndicated in more than 20 foreign markets on Amazon and iTunes.

For the past two weekends, volunteer crews with Cape Fear River Watch have fanned out across downtown Wilmington's Northside, cleaning up trash left by crowds attending concerts at the new Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park. Cape Fear River Watch — a non-profit environmental group that aims to protect and improve the water quality of the Cape Fear River Basin — says the volunteer-led efforts aren't sustainable. But the group, and some of its volunteers, have also said they believe that Live Nation Entertainment, which manages the concert venue for the city of Wilmington, will step up its efforts to clean up after future shows. A minor controversy erupted last week after multiple people posted accounts to Facebook about trash left by concert-goers in and around the park and amphitheater after three consecutive concerts by the band Widespread Panic. When Cape Fear River Watch posted an Aug. 1 event called "Riverfront Amphitheater Cleanup," many commenters wondered, pointedly, why a non-profit group and its volunteers were cleaning up instead of the city, which owns the park, or Live Nation, a for-profit company. In response to the comments, CFRW posted, "We acknowledge that asking people to volunteer their time to do the work of a corporation is NOT a viable long-term solution. In principle, we totally agree that the people (both individuals and entities) responsible for pollution should clean it up. That being said, in practice, there may be times that groups like ours can take action more quickly to remove a threat to the environment when waiting for those responsible, who might take longer than necessary." The post went on to say that "we have spoken with the Sustainability Director at Live Nation, and they assured us that this would not happen again and that they are taking steps to prevent large-scale littering in the future. We told them that we were happy to help with this cleanup but also serious about preventing this from happening again." On Sunday morning, around four dozen volunteers, many of them wearing bright orange safety vests, could be seen picking up trash in the area, working alongside members of the Live Nation "sustainability" crew, who were separating trash into recycling and compost bins. Cape Fear River Watch volunteer Sue Allen said "there were some bad spots" Sunday morning but that the overall situation "wasn't too bad." Saturday's concert with electronic pop artist GRiZ — scheduled to be his second in two nights — was actually canceled due to weather, although crowds had gathered as they waited for the venue's gates to open. In cleaning up trash, volunteers focus not just on the park itself but on the roads leading to it, paying particular attention to areas around storm drains as a way of keeping trash out of the river.

Cape Fear River Watch volunteer Anne Terry said she wasn't there after Widespread Panic but had heard from other volunteers that "this weekend wasn't as bad." "I have faith that Live Nation wants to do the right thing," Terry said, but that in her opinion neither the city nor Live Nation was fully prepared for the amount of trash left in and around the park. "But they will get there," Terry said, adding that she'd like to see some highly visible Live Oak Bank employees out there volunteering — "their name is on this" — and that she thinks the city needs to "come down hard" by writing tickets to people who litter. In an email, Jennifer Dandron, media manager with city of Wilmington, wrote that "Live Nation is responsible for clean-up within the park and city crews are responsible for the public areas outside of the park. Cape Fear River Watch reached out to Live Nation with a proposal to volunteer to enhance clean-up efforts – not replace work being conducted by Live Nation or city crews. The proposal aligns with Live Nation’s sustainability goals and ongoing 'Green Nation' program." "We appreciate the community’s efforts to help keep downtown clean and the shared commitment of everyone involved," Dandron said. Also on site Sunday was Virginia Holman of Island Wildlife, a chapter of the N.C. Wildlife Federation serving the Cape Fear Region. She was there because she was told Cape Fear River Watch "wanted some help cleaning up." Holman said her group is also "really concerned about wildlife" and wants to prevent animals from ingesting or getting entangled in various types of plastic and debris. All told, according to CFRW, 45 volunteers "diverted 485.7 pounds of trash and recycling from draining into our waterways" on Sunday. The cleanup was also a "Trees4Trash" event, which means that the N.C. Wildlife Federation will plant 19 trees as a result of Sunday's cleanup. Other groups active at the event were Keep New Hanover Beautiful (KNHB), which will send hundreds of cigarette butts collected on Sunday to TerraCycle US for recycling, and the Plastic Ocean Project, which provided supplies. Contact John Staton at 910-343-2343 or John.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com.