While convenient, the single-use coffee pods are exactly easily recycled. As America's culture of convenience continues to flourish, single-cup coffee makers have become increasingly popular among coffee drinkers. But beneath those expedient one-cup coffee pods lies a growing environmental problem. "These things aren't readily recyclable, if recyclable at all," said Darby Hoover, senior resources specialist for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Anytime you've got this kind of small, single-use packaging option, especially when there are clearly alternatives, it just leads me to question why you would promote that system over another that works just as well for many applications." Approximately 13% of the U.S. adult population drinks a coffee made in a single-cup brewer every day, according to a 2013 study from the National Coffee Association. That's up from only 4% in 2010, said Joe DeRupo, director of communications for the NCA. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc., which acquired Keurig in 2006 and has since become the largest manufacturer of single-use coffee brewers in the country, has been struggling with the recyclability of Keurig's K-Cups from the beginning. Like most single-cup coffee pods, K-Cups consist of a combination of plastic, aluminum, organic material (coffee grounds) and a paper filter. While all said items can be easily recycled separately, the K-Cup as a whole cannot be recycled on a municipal level. "It's that hybrid packaging that makes it very hard for traditional recycling companies," said Albe Zakes, global vice president of public relations at the recycling company TerraCycle. "If you think of something as simple as a chip bag for example, a chip bag is fully recyclable. The challenge is that it's both plastic and aluminum, a hybrid packaging, which is very common, especially in food and beverage." Since 2009, TerraCycle has partnered with various single-serve coffee manufacturers to provide recycling solutions for spent coffee pods. By teaming up with Tassimo, Mars Drinks, Nespresso and more recently Illy, TerraCycle has developed a customized take back program for each company that has helped divert millions of coffee pods from landfills across the country. "Over the last couple years, TerraCycle has already collected I believe 25 million coffee capsules of the various applications through all these programs," said Zakes. "As we expand with more companies, bringing Illy into the fold, we've really ended up in a place where we work with basically everyone except for the K-Cup." Despite reaching out to the company multiple times, TerraCycle has not been able to develop a relationship with Green Mountain, Zakes said. Green Mountain is experimenting with various materials for a new, recyclable K-Cup, though nothing is in production yet. "I know and I appreciate that Green Mountain has been trying to wrestle with ways to make its pods more environmentally sustainable pretty much the whole time that they've been offering them," said Hoover, the senior resources specialist for the NRDC. "But incinerating them instead of recycling them doesn't reduce the need to rely on virgin source materials to make oodles more of these disposable pods." The question remains whether the convenience of single-serve coffee systems is worth the overall environmental impact.

One of the noteworthy guest speakers at the HSM partner conference was Tom Szaky, CEO of US-based recycling firm TerraCycle, who presented his firm’s concept and achievements to the audience. HSM is working with TerraCycle on a waste collection programme that involves HSM’s crushing and baling machines. TerraCycle has become quite well-known in the office supplies space after a number of initiatives with major manufacturers and resellers over the last few years. Szaky told OPI that a new, international project with Office Depot was in the pipeline and pointed to the world’s first pen made from recycled pens, introduced by Sanford this year. HSM’s Managing Director Irene Dengler said that the conference had helped HSM receive “valuable and constructive feedback” from its reseller partners. “There was no particular highlight for me,” she told OPI, “as there was a very positive atmosphere during the entire conference. Such a successful event is due, not only to the agenda, but also to the delegates, and we were lucky to have great participants.”

While Greeneration focuses on Indonesia’s environment, TerraCycle (terracycle.com) is a US green company that aims to “eliminate the idea of waste” in the US. Through its Brigade program, people can make a list of waste — from food, office supplies and personal products — that they want to get rid of. After receiving the list, TerraCycle will then send a shipping label to their customers’ houses in the US. With the label, customers can ship their trash to TerraCycle. Even though giving away your waste may seems like a simple act, it is a step toward green living. Moreover, TerraCycle will instantly reward you with points, which can later be redeemed for money to subsidize non-profit organizations or even your school. However, the cycle does not end with just sending away your trash. The company will design simple to sophisticated products that are made from the trash it collects and sells them in retailers as well as its website — turning the waste into cash.

Goal is to expand an effort that has so far diverted 70,000 pounds of waste from landfills To provide cleanrooms and laboratories with effective solutions to mitigate waste and enhance Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability efforts, Kimberly-Clark Professional has introduced RightCycle – the first large-scale recycling effort for nontraditional cleanroom waste. "Our customers have ambitious sustainability goals, yet often struggle with where and how to get started," said Randy Kates , Director, Global Scientific Business, Kimberly-Clark Professional. "We believe the most significant and enduring change occurs when team members are actively engaged in the solution. Our innovative RightCycle program offers a powerful and easy way for customers to exceed their solid waste reduction goals, while helping to make their workplaces healthier, safer and more productive." The program takes recycling to a new level – beyond downcycling, upcycling and other approaches. It makes it easy to recycle previously hard-to-recycle items like cleanroom garments, gloves, hoods, boot covers and hairnets. Items are deposited in either a RightCycle collection box or in the client's own boxes. Full boxes are assembled onto pallets and picked up by Kimberly-Clark Professional recycling partner TerraCycle.  After the products are collected, they are turned into raw materials and used to create useful, eco-friendly consumer products, such as plastic Adirondack chairs and benches, bulk plastics and other items. Kimberly-Clark Professional is a global leader in contamination control solutions for cleanrooms and laboratories. It first announced its single-use garment recycling program in 2011 and completed successful pilots of a nitrile glove recycling program in 2012, which is now available nationwide.  Since the recycling efforts began, participating cleanrooms and laboratories have diverted 70,000 pounds of garment, glove and other waste from landfills via the Kimberly-Clark Professional recycling programs. Life Technologies Corporation, a leading global life sciences company, is on track to recycle five tons of gloves in the first year. The disposal of solid waste from manufacturing operations poses considerable challenges for businesses and society. Landfill options are becoming more limited and waste disposal costs continue to rise. In 2011, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, the parent company for Kimberly-Clark Professional, announced it would be sending zero manufacturing waste to landfills by 2015. Since 2000, the company's Global Nonwovens Division, which develops and manufactures fabrics and materials used to create products such as protective apparel and face masks, has diverted more than 99 percent of its manufacturing waste from landfills. For more information about Kimberly-Clark's corporate sustainability goals visit:  http://www.kimberly-clark.com/sustainability.aspx For more information about the RightCycle program and other Kimberly-Clark Professional sustainability programs visit,www.kimtech.com/reducetoday or call 770-587-7615.

It’s June, and that means the end of the school year is near. I am dedicating this month’s column to one of our local schools for going above and beyond with recycling and sustainable practices. It is my hope that the Gray’s Woods Elementary School can serve as a model for other schools in Centre County. When the Gray’s Woods Elementary Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) met last fall, it was evident that they wanted to ramp up the school’s recycling program. Gray’s Woods had already been recycling paper, metal cans, plastic bottles and cardboard. The school was also collecting soda tabs that are donated to the Ronald McDonald House in Danville. However, they wanted to do more. I volunteered to be chairwoman of the recycling committee, and we started full speed ahead. One of the first new initiatives was to integrate the “TerraCycle Brigades” program. We set up recycling collection bins for the following “hard to recycle” items: paired shoes & flip flops, empty glue sticks, old writing instruments and empty tape dispensers. Once we collected enough of each item, they were mailed to TerraCycle (free of charge) to be recycled. TerraCycle offers reward points for each item. The points can be donated as cash to a charity of the school’s choice. Many local schools and churches participate in TerraCycle Brigades. More information can be found at www.terracycle.com. In addition to the TerraCycle program, recycling bins were set up to collect miscellaneous plastics, lids/caps and plastic bags. When the bins were full, I took the items to work to be incorporated into the county’s recycling program. One great thing about the Gray’s Woods Elementary recycling program is that it’s open to Gray’s Woods families. Parents can send recyclables to school with their child to add to the school’s items. If your school would like to learn about incorporating more recycling into the mix, please contact me at amyschirf@uplink.net, and we can work on it.

Ava McMurray, a student at Summit Lakes Middle School, was one of four national runner-up winners in the 2013 Eco-Product Design Contest, sponsored by Elmer’s Glue Crew and TerraCycle. Students in Tamara Davidson’s eighth-grade science class participated in the contest, designing creative upcycled products featuring used classroom materials that were destined for the trash can. TerraCycle experts evaluated entries based on the level of creativity and ingenuity exhibited in using commonly discarded materials. They also examined the environmentally friendly and commercially viable aspects of each entry. The public voted on finalists online during a two-week window. McMurray’s colorful caterpillar upcycled organized shelf earned her a prize pack with an upcycled mailbag coin pouch.

Best Business Model Integration

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GOLD: TerraCycle TerraCycle’s business model is to eliminate waste by offering free recycling fundraisers to any school, non-profit, corporation or individual/family for any type of man-made waste. The program incentivizes the collection of common packaging and products ranging from candy wrappers to cosmetics, packaging to cigarette butts. “Brigades” collect waste that TerraCycle then turns into more than 1500 new products, ranging from recycled park benches to upcycled backpacks. These products are available online and at major retailers ranging from Walmart to Whole Foods. There are currently more than 40 programs that range from food packaging (like drink pouches and candy wrappers) to office supplies (like pens and tape dispensers) to personal products (like cosmetic and beauty packaging to diaper packaging). For every item returned, TerraCycle donates two-cents (or the local equivalent) to a school or non-profit of the collector’s choice. TerraCycle operates in 22 countries, minimizing the global threats of landfill and incineration on humans and the environment. So far, through TerraCycle, 32 million consumers have diverted 2.5 billion units of waste from landfill and incineration, while earning over 4.5 million dollars (US) for schools and myriad non- profits. For example, the drink pouch is a ubiquitous waste stream found in every school cafeteria in America. In order to offset the estimated 11 BILLION pouches that go to waste every year in America alone, TerraCycle partnered with Honest Tea and Capri Sun to start the Drink Pouch Brigade. The free recycling fundraiser was an opportunity for two competitors to put aside their corporate differences and do the right thing for the environment. Since the Program was founded, over 70,000 organizations – including 57,000 schools – signed up for the program. As of December 2012 they helped collect over 164 MILLION drink pouches and collectively earned over 3.2 million dollars. The collected pouches are upcycled or recycled into a variety of products. School items like pencil cases and backpacks that help to complete the education for kids. The students get to see what the pouches they helped collect are turned into for a second life. Pouches are also recycled into more utilitarian products like park benches, picnic tables and railroad ties. TerraCycle’s programs are sponsored by some of the world’s largest companies. These major companies include Kraft Foods, Nestle, Mars, Inc., Kimberly-Clark, Frito-Lay, Kashi, Sanford, Elmer’s Products, Inc, Logitech, Old Navy, Clif Bar, Sprout Baby Food, 3M, Malt-O-Meal, Colgate, Palmolive, L’Oreal, and BIC.