Riverkeeper Sweep, an annual day of service to clean up the shores of the Hudson River, takes place onSaturday May 11, 2013. Riverkeeper has joined recycling pioneer TerraCycle’s Cigarette Waste Brigade to recycle cigarette butts and related cigarette waste during the cleanup. According to Keep America Beautiful, cigarette butts are among the most commonly littered items, with an estimated 65% improperly disposed of. TerraCycle will be able to turn the butts into industrial products such as pallets or railroad ties. Events are planned throughout the state, including two in Queens.
For more info about the Riverkeeper Sweep cleanup sites in Queens, please click here
http://www.riverkeeper.org/news-events/events/rvk-events/sweep2013/. For more information about TerraCycle, please visit
http://www.terracycle.com.
TerraCycle has found a way to reuse and upcycle plastic waste into new products. The polystyrene in the hundreds of plastic cups I just shipped to TerraCycle will be used to make backpacks, trashcans, containers and more. In addition to plastic cups, TerraCycle also accepts un-recyclable chip bags, CapriSun drink pouches, Lunchables and practically any other plastic you can name, including iPods, computers, and old cell phones.
TerraCycle rewards its plastic donors by typically giving them 2 cents per unit of waste that is sent to them. TerraCycle recommends donors donate this money to charity. Since 2001, the company has been able to provide more than $5 million in charitable donations. Who doesn’t like selling trash for money?
Through its upcycling program, TerraCycle has revolutionized the recycling industry. Although trash still carries a negative stigma, TerraCycle is beginning to debunk the myth that whatever we throw away is no longer useful. Every day, Americans discard plastic products that took more energy and water to make than the value they provided to the consumer. Producing bottled water requires up to 2,000 times more energy than drinking tap water, yet Americans remain addicted to plastic bottles.
TerraCycling is easy, efficient and profitable.
Through its upcycling program, TerraCycle has revolutionized the recycling industry. Although trash still carries a negative stigma, TerraCycle is beginning to debunk the myth that whatever we throw away is no longer useful.
Upcycling company TerraCycle also collects snack food wrappers, transforming them into bags, scrapbooks and more. Meanwhile, on a smaller scale, many people have crafted their own products - like the
Skittles wallet above - to use themselves or sell online.
To provide cleanrooms and laboratories with effective solutions to mitigate waste and enhance corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability efforts, Kimberly-Clark Professional recently introduced RightCycle, a program it says is the first large-scale recycling effort for nontraditional cleanroom waste.
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.
What will he do with them all you may ask? They'll be shipped to Terracycle, a New Jersey based company that specializes in hard-to-recycle waste.
What will he do with them all you may ask? They'll be shipped to Terracycle, a New Jersey based company that specializes in hard-to-recycle waste.
What will he do with them all you may ask? They'll be shipped to Terracycle, a New Jersey based company that specializes in hard-to-recycle waste.
With the RightCycle program, 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.
During their research, students discovered a company, Terra Cycle, who could recycle the cigarette butts and proposed it as a solution during their presentation to the Green Team.
This initiative, creativity and passion for sustainable solutions led to President Nancy Carriuolo and representatives from the Green Team presenting the class with the college’s Green Team Award for Sustainability during the past week’s Earth Day festivities.
Whitemarsh Elementary Students Teach Older Kids About Upcycling
