A handful of pioneering brands are beginning to realise that our beauty products effect far more than our faces. These natural beauty brands use biodegradable or compostable packaging for their cosmetics to foster a shift in the beauty industry. Using these products could make your run-of-the-mill morning routine into a meaningful ritual that is mindful of the planet.

The Gaia hypothesis and natural beauty

  In 1995, maverick climate scientist James Lovelock and pioneering female evolutionary biologist Lynn Margulis published a book called the Gaia hypothesis. Their argument was that the entire global ecosystem – from the microbes we wash off our faces in the morning, to the river basins running to the sea the world over – should be considered as a single super-organism called Gaia. The popularity of the book wasn’t unfounded; it makes a lot of sense.   We humans flourish from natural ingredients, but haven’t always followed the ethics of mutual care (or as biologists would say, symbiosis).   This is essential for a healthy, functioning organic system. We are especially lacking when it comes to the ingredients we use in our beauty routines. In fact, the packaging and chemical content of a lot of beauty products have choked watercourses with pollutants and plastic for decades.   Tending to nature and putting on makeup?   It’s one thing to reduce the environmental impact inherent in the beauty industry by reducing plastic packaging. But many companies worldwide are going further. They look at the way that natural ingredients allow us to care for ourselves and ask how can we return the favour?   If we took as much time in the day to tend to these natural systems as we took in front of the mirror using the ingredients they produce, could we ensure their sustainability for the future?   Some brands believe adding such consideration to a beauty routine can make it a ritual; a meaningful practice that redefines the way we think about make-up so that the environment benefits as well.   Here are a handful of the most inspiring brands from around the world, working to change the beauty industry from the inside out.   They are seek to re-write every step of the beauty system, from the environment that produces the ingredients to the communities where they’re farmed, to us as consumers and back again to the soil.  

Natural brands are making beauty bio

  For the most part, these natural brands beautify the product cycle by being smart about packaging, using either compostable or biodegradable materials. And there is a difference between the two.   Compostable materials can be decomposed at home, and can benefit the soil in your garden.   Though biodegradable packaging doesn’t add nutrients to the soil it is better than the plastic alternatives that will hang around for hundreds of years in landfill or in the sea.   Depending on where you live and what recycling facilities you have access to, biodegradable packaging such as cardboard can be broken down quickly in commercial waste facilities. Check your local council or borough’s website.   Biodegradable packaging in the beauty industry   Here are a few steps you can take to make sure you’re dealing with packaging that is as green as the eco powder:  

• It’s important not to get ‘greenwashed’ by recycling claims so do a little bit of research.
• If you’ve purchased something in compostable packaging, make sure you actually compost it.
• Check if the packaging can be composted at home or if it has to go to an industrial composter.
• It’s best to put biodegradable packaging in your recycling and let the council take care of it.
• Of course, some packaging can be avoided altogether and you shouldn’t be afraid to ask about the packaging on your favourite products.

  On this last point, brands like Elate (mentioned below) are happy to accommodate those with a plastic free lifestyle with their postage. As many eco-conscious beauty brands only have online stores, this global selection might also help you to consider shipping distances.  

1. Seed Phytonutrients

The tour begins with an absolutely amazing brand called Seed Phytonutrients. It’s an incubator project from the US beauty giant L’Oreal. Their packaging is made at the Ecologic factory.   What makes Seed Phytonutrients a great natural beauty brand?   Its shower-friendly paper bottle is made from a 100% recycled material.   Seed take newspaper, paper bits, cardboard, etc and grind them up to create what is essentially paper mush. The paper mush then transforms into beautiful, recycled packaging.   Their partners at TerraCycle have ensured that everything from Seed’s bottle to their pump can be recycled, making for a zero-waste situation. The natural beauty brilliance doesn’t stop there.   Together with Hudson Valley Seed Company, they have developed a little surprise inside their paper bottles. After you’ve used up all of the product in your bottle, crack it open to discover a beautifully-designed packet containing a range of heirloom herb seeds that can be grown in your garden or on your windowsill.   What have seeds got to do with natural beauty?   All of Seed’s products are sourced from seeds grown by Barefoot Botanicals. So, why the emphasis on seeds?   Seed saving is extremely important because it creates diversity in plant species that help protect them from pests, diseases and changes in climate.   The over-commercialisation of seeds in modern farming practices has meant that global biodiversity has decreased, decimating plant resilience to pests and diseases and meaning that pollinators such as bees are declining.   Seed Phytonutrients are therefore committed to supporting the growth of organic, heirloom and open-pollinated seeds and sharing them with you to create more resilient plants across our planet.   The last step in the Seed cycle is to pay growers ahead of time for 100% of their products, regardless of harvest yields, ensuring that the farmers are truly put first. If that’s not a healthy beauty system, I don’t know what is.  

2. Zao

  Next up, we go to Italy. The group of friends who founded Zao were convinced that a line of certified organic makeup must use natural packaging and the elegance and modernity of bamboo asserted itself as an obvious answer.   Why does bamboo go well with beauty?   Bamboo is really a miracle plant.  

• Its exceptional growth rate makes it a carbon capture champion during its life-cycle, without the use of fertilisers and pesticides, and allows Zao products to display a reduced carbon footprint.
• Unlike most timber, bamboo is a self-regenerating natural resource, meaning new shoots appear annually to ensure production continues after individual culms are harvested.
• It needs only four to five years to regenerate compared a minimum of 30 years for a tree.

  The bamboo Zao uses grows in endemic forests in protected areas. Their bamboo products are sold in cotton pouches to further protect them. Though less sustainable than bamboo, these pouches can be reused. As a natural material, it also biodegrades in landfills. Zao’s research and development programme is currently looking to replace their cotton pouches with bamboo fibre pouches from the end of 2018.  

3. Elate Cosmetics

  On we go to Canada, where Elate Cosmetics also use bamboo for all of their compacts, tools, and palettes. They offer discounted refills with an extra incentive in the form of special seed paper enclosed in every refill purchased. All you need to do to grow this sweet little care package is to wet, plant and water it before you step in front of the mirror to nourish yourself too.   Elate also embrace imperfect products in order to tackle waste and offer a range for their bamboo capsule products with minor flaws. Their tube products, such as the gorgeous creme blush, come in completely biodegradable paper that the DIY enthusiast in you will love, as they make perfect little seed planters!  

4. Sulapac

  We end across the border in France with some motivating news. Last year, iconic luxury house Chanel invested in Sulapac, a Finnish start-up that has produced a sustainable alternative to conventional plastics.   Sulapac products use a biodegradable and microplastic-free material made of FSC-certified wood chips and natural binders. They have all the benefits of plastic, biodegrade completely and leave no microplastics behind.   Even better, they’re designed to be immediately replaced by manufacturers using plastics, because they are compatible with existing machinery.   Biodegradable beauty is big news   There’s reason to be excited about this kind of news. Applying pressed powder from a cute compact may not feel like a revolutionary act, but big changes are happening from within the beauty industry and you can be a vital part of its transformation.   If there’s one thing that Lovelock and Margulies can teach us, it’s that the Earth is a complex system, but actions at every scale have their impacts on the total functioning of this huge, beautiful organism.   So, let the revolution begin on your skin.   Dora Young is a freelance writer and geographer with a background in sustainable food systems and a passion for finding out how to do things differently.

Pack Rat sets high bar for businesses to follow Many businesses reside in buildings several stories high, but Packrat Outdoor Center in Fayetteville operates out of a building with a different kind of story — a mission-driven story of sustainable design. In an interview through email with Faebyan Whittle, director of sustainability at Packrat, that behind-the-scenes story emerged as an inspirational beacon that other businesses could follow.   Built in 2002 by co-owner couple Scott and Carolyn Crook, the huge log cabin is constructed of Loblolly pine trees killed in a forest fire in Kootenai National Forest in Montana. Because of their love for the outdoors, the owners didn’t want to cut down living trees for their building. Scott also hired mules to haul the logs from the forest without destroying the new growth emerging after the fire. According to Whittle, “our wood floors are made from second-grade cabin wood that would have normally been thrown away, and most of our wood fixtures are also constructed from reclaimed wood.”   Electricity usage was another concern. “Along with natural lighting from the skylights, we have energy efficient lighting throughout the building and water saving faucets.” Carolyn researched various options for solar panels and hired local company Richter Solar in 2014 to install 348 solar arrays. “Pack Rat has saved 300,000 kg of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the air from coal plants. That’s the equivalent of removing 45 vehicles off the road for an entire year!”   While the pond and small island were originally built to provide a place for customers to test out kayaks and canoes, it’s also a filter for runoff water from the non-porous pavement. Since the early 2000s, the pond and island have been a nesting ground for families of geese. Usually just one goose family occupies the territory, but occasionally two families will share it. Whittle has seen six goose family generations hatched on the island since she’s worked at Packrat. “When Scott and Carolyn were designing the green space for our location, they were inspired to leave as much of the natural environment as possible, cutting down only the bare minimum of trees, and planting new ones to provide natural habitat for the animals that already live here.”   Through a partnership with TerraCycle and Adventure Subaru, anyone can recycle snack wrappers (from foods like energy bars frequently consumed by hikers) and disposable cups, lids and straws at Packrat. Ask at the front desk if you’re not sure if your items can be added to the bin. Whittle explained that Packrat has an “in-store waste diversion rate of nearly 90% because we work first to reduce the waste we create (we don’t need a waste solution if the waste stream doesn’t exist), then we figure out how to keep it out of a landfill through composting, recycling, and up-cycling.”   Shipping products is a huge part of the problem, and Packrat strives to address it. “A big environmental impact in the outdoor retail industry is the No. 4 plastic bags each item is shipped in from overseas — the amount can be staggering. Just this year we have recycled nine football fields of this plastic.” The packaging for products designed to help people enjoy the outdoors ultimately becomes composite decking material upon which people can spend more time outdoors, a happy ending to the cycle. With this model, competing businesses are collaborators, not enemies. “We have also partnered this year with Gear Head on Dickson Street to recycle their plastic bags.”   Sadly, Scott passed away this summer, leaving a legacy of sustainability. The store is now 46 years old and continues to put people and planet before profit, hosting trail maintenance and cleanup events and fundraisers. Since 2016, the store has raised over $75,000 for local nonprofits. Do a “green” approach and charity work make the store less profitable? The answer is no. “Our store is sustainable and profitable,” Whittle said. To be both is necessary; on the one hand, businesses that don’t make a profit aren’t businesses, but businesses that aren’t sustainable will eventually cease to exist once the natural resources are depleted.   Packrat is hosting its second annual fundraiser, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, next weekend. Tickets are $25 and benefit the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance. On Oct. 12 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Fayetteville Town Center, attendees can enjoy films that “inspire advocacy, conservation, preservation and environmental awareness” as well as live music, free food, a silent auction and art gallery. For more information, contact Packrat Outdoor Center at 521-6340.   Amanda Bancroft is a writer, artist, and naturalist living in an off-grid tiny house on Kessler Mountain. She and her husband Ryan blog about their adventures and offer tips to those wanting to make a difference at www.RipplesBlog.org.

Colgate designs the first recyclable toothpaste tube. “Our ultimate goal here is to convert the tube industry,” says Tom Heaslip, worldwide director of global packaging at Colgate-Palmolive, headquartered in New York City. Colgate is the first company to successfully design a recyclable toothpaste tube. The tube has gained Critical Guidance Recognition from the Washington-based Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), making it the first oral and personal care tube to earn this APR recognition.   Colgate used APR’s high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottle-to-bottle protocol to evaluate the effects of adding a new item to the HDPE bottle recycling stream. Although meeting the bottle-to-bottle protocol was not mandatory to receive the recognition, it provided additional data and displayed Colgate’s confidence that the tube would perform well in the recycling stream, says John Standish, APR technical director.   “This is a groundbreaking activity,” says Steve Alexander, president of the APR. “This is a seminal event in potentially [creating] recyclable tubes across the spectrum. [Colgate is] taking historically nonrecyclable packaging types and setting a standard for others to follow.”   Colgate spent five years redesigning the tube, and now it can be recovered through municipal recycling programs.  

Building a better tube

  Although traditional toothpaste tubes are made of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), a recyclable plastic, Heaslip says it is nearly impossible to recycle them because an aluminum layer is present. “The layer that is a problem is an aluminum foil core to the laminate that is then surrounded by plastic materials. The combination of the aluminum and the plastic render this nonrecyclable under any normal streams of recycling.”   Designing a recyclable toothpaste tube is not as straightforward as removing the aluminum layer and creating a tube made completely from plastic. Heaslip says all-plastic tubes already exist, but Colgate needed to create tubes that could be recycled within existing recycling streams.   “All-plastic tubes do exist in the market today,” he says. “It’s the challenge of using plastic resins that are compatible with existing recycle streams.”   In the U.S., Heaslip says, that means using polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or HDPE.   “We did try PET tubes in the past, but they are not very tube-like; it ends up being more like a very thin bottle than an actual tube,” Heaslip adds. “That is why we settled on HDPE, because it is more naturally made into a tube. The characteristics of the HDPE stream are much more friendly toward performance attributes like consumer hand feel.”   Using LDPE to make tubes ensures the tube is soft and pliable; Colgate was looking for an alternative material that would be able to retain these positive attributes.  

A sustainable future

  Colgate, New York City, works with other companies and organizations that prioritize sustainability to accomplish its own sustainability goals, garner support for recycling and strive for a circular economy.   Ann Tracy, vice president of global sustainability, environmental and occupational health sciences and supply chain strategy at Colgate, says, “We’re committed to using less plastic and more recycled material in our packaging. We’re helping to strengthen recycling by supporting the Closed Loop Fund and other efforts. And we’re exploring new ingredients and models, including TerraCycle’s Loop initiative, for reusable, refillable packaging.”   TerraCycle, Trenton, New Jersey, and Colgate have created a free recycling program for oral care product packaging, including toothpaste cartons, toothbrushes and floss containers. The products are recycled into new eco-friendly products, such as playgrounds and picnic tables.   Closed Loop Partners, New York City, is an investment firm that focuses on building a circular economy. Its Closed Loop Fund provides capital to cities and companies that want to achieve their sustainability goals. In 2014, Colgate became one of the initial investors in the fund.   By supporting these companies, as well as other companies and initiatives, Colgate says it aims to promote a sustainable future.   Because HDPE normally is not compatible with Colgate’s performance standards, Heaslip says the company experimented with different formulas before finding one that provided the necessary elements for consumers to use the product comfortably and for the tube to be recycled successfully.   “The trick was getting the right recipe of resins in order to end up in a structure that felt like a normal toothpaste tube,” Heaslip says. “The first tube we are putting out is nine layers. We are already working on the second generation, which will be 13 layers. As we optimize, we will probably stick between a seven-to-13-layer range. The initial launch will be with a nine-layer laminate.”   Changing the number of layers of HDPE affects the level of protection for the product, the performance of the tube-making and tube-filling equipment and the aggregated resin specifications, which was the basis for the APR recognition.   “Using more layers allows for a greater level of fine-tuning toward optimal performance against our specifications,” Heaslip says.   Although Colgate switched from LDPE to HDPE, he guarantees the product will be just as functional. “When it comes to performance attributes of the tubes, we maintained all of our existing test standards. That was a goal and a priority from the beginning. We did not want to see any negative trend, whether that was in physical performance or consumer reaction to it.”  

Tracking results

  Outside of choosing which resin should be used to create the tubes, Colgate took several other steps to achieve the recyclability standard. Colgate worked with the APR and followed its Design Guide.   “There were several partners that we were actively involved with,” Heaslip says. “First and foremost, the APR, making sure that we fully understood and met all their guidance. Without their partnership and guidance on this, it would have been very difficult to do on our own.”   Alexander explains APR’s role in helping Colgate achieve its recyclable tube. “It is the same role we play for the industry as a whole. If companies are serious about making their packaging recyclable, the APR Design Guide is really the industry standard. If you want your packaging to be recyclable, that is the document you need. We play that role for many companies.”   Colgate worked with the APR for five years to attain its goal. “What [the Design Guide] has allowed Colgate to do over the years, because this was a five-year effort on their part, was give them a benchmark upon which to refer as they developed the package. If they were trying to develop a package so it is recyclable, they would do some work on it and then refer back to the guide,” Alexander says.   Standish says the five years it took Colgate to achieve its goal of a recyclable toothpaste tube was “not unusually long.” He explains, “Technical innovation can be challenging and complex. A consumer packaging product has to meet many demanding criteria to satisfy 100 percent of the technical and consumer requirements.”   To track the tubes throughout the sorting process, Colgate used radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. This allowed the company to know if the tubes got sorted properly at material recovery facilities (MRFs). The tagged tubes were tested at three MRFs in North America. “We tested our two main sizes of our tubes via the APR Size Sortability Protocol. [The tubes] were deemed ‘Preferred,’ requiring a rate at 90 percent or above,” says Anne Bedarf, packaging sustainability manager at Colgate.   “When optically sorted, our tubes were sorted and baled successfully with colored HDPE,” Bedarf continues. “We saw the same with manual sorting systems but also learned that some sorters removed the tubes thinking they were a contaminant. We recognize the need for widespread education and partnership with MRFs and their recycling supply chains, and we are partnering with several organizations to address that need.”   Following the sorting tests, the tubes were reprocessed at an APR-approved lab. “The tubes were reprocessed at up to a 50 percent level—50 percent tube flakes and 50 percent control HDPE bottle flakes—with the yield close to 100 percent,” she says.  

Seeking wider adoption

  Alexander explains that Colgate’s recyclable tube creates the opportunity for other companies to follow suit. Prior to Colgate’s accomplishment, no precedent had been set.   Now, other toothpaste tube manufacturers can follow the same steps Colgate did. “There is no more excuse for people to say that they are making tubes that are not recyclable,” he says.   “The full intent is that this is not just a Colgate project, but we are working to get all tubes converted,” Heaslip says. “We are fully engaged with the industry with the full intent on working with our competitors in a precompetitive nature to evolve the whole industry to get to this point.”   Even though Colgate has set a standard, other brands and companies might not be ready to take that step. Therefore, Alexander says, it is crucial to alert consumers that not all tubes are recyclable.   “We certainly applaud and encourage what Colgate has done, but we have to make sure the message gets out that not every tube is recyclable. Otherwise, you are going to be throwing tubes in, and it will be contaminating the stream even more. And that is what recyclers don’t need; they don’t need more contamination,” he says.  

Expanding its plans

  Going forward, Heaslip says Colgate plans to continue its sustainability efforts. “For 2020, we have three commitments. One is 100-percent-recyclable packaging in three of our categories: personal care products, home care products and pet nutrition products. We will have 50 percent recycled content. We will be using zero PVC (polyvinyl chloride),” he says.   By 2025, Heaslip says Colgate’s oral care packaging will be added to its 100-percent-recyclable goal, expanding it to the company’s entire business.   The author, based in Cleveland, interned with the Recycling Today Media Group.

Stock Offering

TerraCycle, 121 New York Avenue, Trenton 08638. 609-393-4252. Tom Szaky, CEO. www.terracycle.com.   Terracycle, the Trenton-based company that recycles unusual products and creates reusable containers for consumer products, has raised $10 million from a stock offering, according to its latest quarterly report. The company hopes to raise $20 million to fuel growth through a “regulation A” offering that allows the general public to invest (U.S. 1, July 4, 2019).   The company also reported $11.2 million quarterly revenues.   As part of the stock offering TerraCycle has attracted investment in its Regulation A offering from ITOCHU Corporation, a 100-year-old, $50 billion revenue Japanese trading company. According to a press release, ITOCHU, one of the largest brokers of plastic worldwide, will work with TerraCycle to expand the market for post-consumer plastics, and in particular to develop and sell plastics that come from products that are usually not recycled.   The company also expanded its workforce by 10 percent.   “Our mission at TerraCycle has always been to eliminate waste, recycle the unrecyclable, and use our innovative business solutions to minimize human impact on the planet,” said TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky. “During the course of our 18-year history we’ve successfully translated our passion for what we do into an established company built on a strong financial foundation with sustained earnings and growth.”

Such a daring initiative, the new Loop shopping platform is all about reusable/refillable packaging. In June, TerraCycle CEO and Loop inventor Tom Szaky enthralled a standing-room-only audience during EastPack 2019 with his insights into the consumer dynamics fueling sustainability today—and Loop’s answer to circular economy challenges. Since its launch, Loop activities continue as it rolls out to new locations and welcomes new partners. At MinnPack 2019, on Thurs., Oct. 24, from 2:15 to 3:00 p.m., Anthony Rossi, vp, global business development at Loop, will give us another update in his presentation “Consumer Packaging: Why Big Brands are Revisiting the Milkman Model.”

Reducing landfill waste is the focus of the annual Keep Golden Isles Beautiful 2019 School Recycling Challenge and the public is invited to support local schools in this Oct. 7-18 endeavor.   Partners in Education, PTAs, businesses and members of the public are invited to take part in the challenge as well by collecting and donating used oral care products, pens/highlighters/markers and cereal bags to participating local public, private and home schools and institutions of higher education. Simply contact Keep Golden Isles Beautiful to verify a school’s challenge participation and then arrange to drop collected items by the school Oct. 7-18.   The collected items will be recycled via TerraCycle, an organization focusing on non-traditional recycling and eliminating the idea of waste.   The challenge is made possible by a Hello GoodBuy community grant.   For challenge information, to verify school participation or to register for the 2019 School Recycling Challenge, contact Keep Golden Isles Beautiful at info.kbgib@gmail.com or 912/279.1490.

Dear Elizabeth, What kind of juice containers or boxes can I recycle?   Dear Reader, There are a few types of juice containers that are recyclable, and a few that are not depending on the types of plastic or liquid packaging board they are made out of. Juice boxes are recyclable with the curbside container recycling. They are made of aluminum, layers of paper, and plastic. Juice bottles made of plastic and glass are also recyclable.  Juice pouches such as Capri Suns are not recyclable at our local recycling facility. They should be placed in the trash or can be collected and mailed to TerraCycle, a company that takes hard to recycle items. Please remember to dispose of the straws in the trash and empty completely.

RECYCLING, TERRACYCLING, CONSUMER CONVENIENCE, AND AWARENESS

One of the biggest problems toymakers face — and that is noticed by parents — is the difficulty in recycling both toys and their packaging waste. The massive popularity of surprise-and-reveal toys certainly lit a fire under parents to call for better waste management, and for MGA Entertainment (MGAE) — makers of L.O.L. Surprise! — the solution was a partnership with a company that already had experience tackling hard-to-process toys: TerraCycle.     The vast difference in materials used to create certain toys presents a problem when it comes to sorting and processing. TerraCycle can solve that, processing toys to be recycled into new creations, such as park benches, flower pots, and play spaces. The Hasbro Toy Recycling Program launched last year as a way for families to send well-loved toys and games to TerraCycle for processing.   Following partnerships with Hasbro and MGAE, ZURU inked a deal this spring to make its Bunch O Balloons 100% recyclable thanks to TerraCycle. Now, perhaps the biggest issue is consumer awareness and action, as parents will have to box their waste materials — both packaging and toys — and print shipping labels from the TerraCycle website before dropping their boxes off to be shipped back.  

By Sandi Schwartz   Getting dressed up in silly costumes and indulging on tasty treats is a blast at any age, but all that fun comes with an environmental price each year when we celebrate Halloween. Have you ever stopped to notice all the plastic involved with Halloween? Plastic trick-or-treat bags. Plastic pumpkins. Plastic decorations. Plastic costumes. Plastic candy wrappers. All of that plastic can surely add up. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 30 per cent of municipal solid waste in the U.S. comes from packaging, including those pesky Halloween candy wrappers.   Fortunately, by tweaking a few of our Halloween traditions, we can reduce the amount of plastic used and wasted during this time of year. These tips give you the opportunity to get creative and show others how Halloween can be celebrated minus all of that petrifying plastic.   Costumes   If you head over to a party store or those pop-up Halloween shops to search for the perfect character to dress up as, you will be inundated by cheap plastic costumes wrapped in plastic bags. Although it may be easy to just grab one, these costumes are wasteful and require resources that increase carbon dioxide emissions. Check out some of these much greener ways to dress up.  

• Borrow from family and friends. Many families have a bin filled with costumes and accessories that are just collecting dust. Get some family members and friends together in the beginning of October and do a costume share. Before you know it, you will be mixing and matching some unique pieces into inventive costumes. Besides saving money, you will be reusing items and giving old costumes a new life.
• Make your own. Just think how meaningful it will be if you design your own costume for yourself and kids. This doesn¹t have to be difficult. Go hunting for fun clothing and accessories at a thrift shop. During this time of year, many thrift stores set up a whole section dedicated to dress-up costumes. You can also look around your house for materials you can reuse, such as old t-shirts, buttons, wrapping paper, food containers, bottle caps, etc. Need ideas? Google and Pinterest are your friends.
• Rent a costume. Consider renting a costume from a local costume shop or checking out the many costume rental companies online.
• Make a statement. If you really want to go all out for the environment, choose a meaningful costume using plastic waste materials to raise awareness about the plastic problem. For example, dress up as the Great Pacific garbage patch or fill clear plastic bags with the cleaned garbage you collected for a month to represent your monthly waste. If you are crafty, make your costume completely out of plastic bags, bottle caps, cups, food containers, and food wrappers. These ideas can provide a meaningful learning experience and an opportunity to get people thinking about taking action.

§ Decorations   Everyone wants to out-spook their neighbour with the best Halloween decorations, but be aware of the endless plastic décor at the store. Typical Halloween decorations often include synthetic spiderwebs, black plastic spider rings, plastic pumpkins and skeletons, and more.   There are so many plastic-free decoration options to use as alternatives. First, look for ghosts, witches, and other decorations made from paper or cardboard since they will decompose much faster than plastic. You can also cut them out yourself; try hanging some black paper bats to frighten your guests. Next, go a bit more natural and choose edible and compostable decorations like colourful gourds, sunflowers, dried fall leaves, wheat, or even a bale of hay. And, of course, you can¹t go wrong with carving pumpkins into all types of jack-o-lanterns to set the mood.   Another way to go green this Halloween is to reuse materials you already have. Weave a spider web with some old natural twine. Make a ghost by stuffing a towel in a white sheet, tying with string, and hanging it in a tree or near a door. Add a scarecrow to your yard using some old shabby clothes and a jack-o-lantern head. Finally, challenge your family and friends to use Halloween wrappers from previous years to create custom Halloween decorations to be used in future years.   Trick-Or-Treating   One of the most frustrating Halloween traditions is using plastic bags or plastic pumpkins to collect candy while trick-or-treating. There are so many other options to choose from rather than plastic. Try using cloth bags, pillowcases, and natural wooden or wicker baskets. You can even coordinate with your costume, such as a basket for a Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz costume or a pillowcase when dressed up as a baby.   Treats   Then there¹s those bite-sized, individually-wrapped treats that really cause a plastic waste problem. Unfortunately, most candy wrappers are not easily recyclable because they are made from a mix of materials, including polypropylene, aluminum foil, and paper. It is very tedious “and not worth the effort or cost” to recover each separate component for recycling. Some companies are working on developing bio-based candy wrappers for their products that are biodegradable, compostable, and do not rely on oil-based materials. Mars has partnered with Rodenburg Biopolymers to develop this type of eco-friendly candy wrapper, but it is only available in Europe so far. While we wait for North American candy wrappers to go green, here are some ways that you can cut back on plastic candy wrapper waste during your Halloween festivities:  

• Choose non-plastic wrapped candy. Look for candy wrapped in paper boxes or foil so they can be recycled. Some ideas for plastic-free candies include Smarties, Hershey kisses, and chocolates wrapped in pumpkin-looking foil.
• Find other types of goodies to give out. Skip the plastic-wrapped sugary candy altogether and opt for something more interesting and creative to hand out to the kids: friendship bracelets made from thread, Halloween-themed pencils and notepads, Mad Libs, or colouring books.
• Recycle candy wrappers. Recycle your candy wrappers by participating in Terracycle¹s Candy and Snack Wrappers Zero Waste Box (teracycle.com/en-CA). This is how it works: choose the size box you need, purchase it, throw your used wrappers in it, and ship it when filled. The collected waste is separated into fibres that are recycled or composted and plastics that are molded into new plastic products.
• Reuse candy wrappers. Artists are now getting really creative with waste products. You can find items like artwork, clothing, handbags, wallets, and jewelry made from candy wrappers. Donate your wrappers to an artist or try your hand at making a masterpiece.

 

A company that focuses on hard-to-recycle plastic materials says new partnerships with brand owners and increased sales of mail-in recycling boxes drove better financial results during the first half of 2019.   New Jersey-headquartered TerraCycle US reported $11.2 million in net sales during the first six months of the year, up 18.8% over the same period in 2018. Its income before taxes was $2.3 million, up 174.7%. Its gross profit margin was 56.5%, up from 45.2% from a year ago.   The semi-annual report was filed on Sept. 24 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). TerraCycle reports financial information to the SEC because it launched a $25 million stock offering last year. As of Sept. 24, 2019, the company has raised over $9 million from the sale of the securities.   TerraCycle collects difficult-to-recycle materials mostly via mail-in in programs. Much of what it handles are mixes of scrap HDPE/PET and PP/PE.   The company aggregates and sorts material before sending it to reclaimers, which generally process it into pellets on behalf of TerraCycle. TerraCycle then sells the pellets to manufacturers for injection molding or extruding into containers or plastic lumber.   In rare cases, the plastics reclaimer will outright buy the scrap materials from TerraCycle. For example, Pennsylvania-based reclaimer Ultra-Poly, which also does toll processing for TerraCycle, has outright purchased certain PP and PE blends from the company.   Most of TerraCycle’s revenue comes from four separate operating segments. The following are first half 2019 financial numbers broken down by segment (income numbers are before taxes):  

Sponsored Waste Collection Programs

• Net sales: $4.4 million, up 45%
• Income: $1.8 million, up 108%

  This TerraCycle segment is also called “brand partnerships” or “brand sponsored collection programs.” Through it, brand owners pay the shipping, sorting and processing costs incurred when consumers mail their products to TerraCycle for recycling.   Consumers receive charity points they can use to make donations to nonprofit groups.   To drive the 2019 sales increase in this segment, TerraCycle signed deals with the following companies to launch programs: Calbee, Earth Animal, Gillette, LOL Surprise, Limelife by Alcone, Mountain House, Weleda, Martini & Rossi Frose, and Herbal Essences.  

Zero Waste boxes

• Net sales: $2.8 million, up 61.8%
• Income: $1 million, up 98.8%

  This division focuses on selling prepaid shipping boxes to consumers who want to mail in recyclables not sponsored by a brand owner. The price of the box covers the costs of material handling and processing.   TerraCycle also provides private-label box services for companies and distributors that seek to offer a recycling option as part of their sale or service.   During the first half of the year, sales of boxes through the website continued to grow and now average $300,000 per month, according to TerraCycle.   Additionally, the company signed new partnerships to provide private-label boxes for the following companies: Williams and Sonoma (for recycling of coffee capsules), Dillard’s (beauty products), Vans (footwear), GrainPro (feed bags), Reebok (clothing), GPJ Experiential Marketing (name tags and lanyards), Nature Valley (candy and snack wrappers), Barilla (plastic packaging and compost), HBI International (cigarette waste).  

Material sales

• Net sales: $273,000, down 80.4%
• Income: Loss of $845,000, down 54.8%

  This segment is responsible for selling recyclables (usually plastics) collected through the sponsored waste and Zero Waste boxes programs.   TerraCycle attributed the large decrease in material sales during the first half of 2019 to the timing of closing large deals. “While two larger sales were finalized in the first half of 2018, we [were] in the process of completing equally large deals in the second half of 2019, which will put us in line or potentially above the total revenue of the prior year,” according to TerraCycle.   This year, this segment also launched its largest retail recycling program, working with Walmart to collect car seats at 4,200 stores.   Company staff have continued to find buyers for TerraCycle’s recovered materials faster than predicted and budgeted, according to the company. “This performance has produced savings in expected cost of revenues and reduces budgeted warehouse spend,” according to the semi-annual report.

Regulated waste:

• Net sales: $3.5 million, down 5.3%
• Income: Loss of $11,000, down 104%

  This segment manages lamps and bulbs, batteries, scrap electronics, organic waste, medical waste and other materials.   This decrease was “partially impacted by the disruption of moving to new systems to integrate with the rest of the company.” TerraCycle on Oct. 31, 2017 acquired Chicago-based Air Cycle Corporation for $3.3 million and used it to launch the current regulated waste division.   A version of this story appeared in Resource Recycling on October 1.