AN Australian first recycling program is now in the Shoalhaven. Nowra’s Ewing Electrical has teamed up with innovative recycling company TerraCycle to launch a scheme to recycle usually non-recyclable items. People can now recycle things like toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, cigarette butts and Nescafe Dolce Gusto capsules. Ewing Electrical has registered as one of Australia’s first public collection points for typically “unrecyclable” waste. Lisa Pearson from Ewing Electrical, who will administer the volunteer collection point, said the company wanted to support a program that would help stop more rubbish going into landfills. “We are excited to house a collection box at our shop to give the Shoalhaven community a drop-off location to recycle their used items,” she said. “This empowers us by allowing us to decide where our waste and packaging ends up.” Not only will people be helping the environment, they will also support the Shoalhaven Junior Baseball Club, the Mariners. “Two points are earned for each piece of waste that we send in for recycling,” Mrs Pearson said. “All the money raised will be donated to Shoalhaven Junior Baseball Club and so we encourage people to join us in this community recycling drive and drop off these items and tell all their friends and family to do the same.” Locals are now encouraged to drop these selected used items to the public access collection box at the building entrance of Ewing Electrical, 97 Plunkett Street Nowra from 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Items that can be recycled are: * any brand of toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, outer cardboard packaging and floss containers - excludes electric toothbrush components * any brand of hand and body wash pumps, triggers, nozzles beauty product pumps, tubes and face wipes and Nescafé Dolce Gusto tea and coffee capsules. Only a specific type of capsule is part of this collection and cannot be contaminated with other types of capsules.

Anna Minns is General Manager of Terracycle Australia, a company dedicated to creating recycling solutions for just about anything. What’s involved in developing a recycling solution for “difficult” waste like the Nescafé capsules? More often than not, companies approach us about a solution for their product’s waste stream. Nescafé Dolce Gusto joined with TerraCycle to provide a second life for used Nescafé Dolce Gusto capsules, so Australians can now collect, store and ship their capsules from home or work for free. For the current Nescafé Dolce Gusto Capsule Brigade we do not collect any other brand of capsules, only Nescafé Dolce Gusto capsules. If consumers are interested in a particular waste stream we suggest they let their favourite brand know about TerraCycle’s work! We hope in time to be collecting more and more “unrecyclable” waste. Can goodwill be infectious enough for the majority of manufacturing companies to take responsibility for end of life of their product, or will they need to be pushed into it by legislation? As the circular economy is increasingly gaining traction in our region many companies are looking to circular solutions rather than linear solutions of ‘take, make, then dispose’. TerraCycle works with many major FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) companies, as well as small brands, to create a voluntary product stewardship scheme that diverts everyday consumer products and packaging that are difficult to recycle such as toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, coffee capsules and even cigarette butts, from landfill, and instead into new products creating circular solutions. The recycling system creates a collection model open to the public. Australia has one of the highest rates of waste generation per capita in the world and in fact, world waste is also expected to double by 2025. Government schemes and extended producer responsibility laws may be slow in coming to effect to deal with growing waste issues. TerraCycle’s solutions are readily available and the onus is on both brands to consider a solution to an increasing problem as well as consumers to use their buying power as a ‘vote’ for sustainability. What would you nominate as the most unlikely or surprising items that you have created recycling solutions for? Cigarettes, chewing gum, feminine hygiene products and nappies! TerraCycle has proven that (almost) anything can and should be recycled. Do you get to shovel rotting food to the worms occasionally? No. But we are offering a copy of Tom’s book “Revolution in a Bottle” for a Switch Report reader that outlines the origins of TerraCycle as a company turning worm poop into fertilizer! To win a copy of Revolution in a Bottle by Terracycle’s founder Tom Szaky, just sign up for our newsletter by midnight on Sunday 16 November, and you’ll be in the draw. If you are already on our mailing list you don’t need to do anything. You are automatically entered.

3 September 2014 - The NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Team has joined with global recycling and upcycling pioneers TerraCycle® on a programme to recycle used coffee capsules. TerraCycle is the world leader in developing solutions for recycling “un-recyclable” items and has kept more than 2.6 billion pieces of waste from landfills around the world. NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® plastic ‘smart capsules’ will now be given a second life through TerraCycle’s innovative recycling programme called “Brigades® ”. New Zealanders can now send their used NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® coffee, tea and milk capsules to TerraCycle to be recycled into new products and materials. “The commitment of the NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® team to providing quality coffee goes hand in hand with our commitment to sustainability. We are pleased to partner with TerraCycle to provide consumers with a free recycling scheme for our single-serve capsules. NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® is the first NESCAFÉ® brand to partner with innovative company TerraCycle in New Zealand” said Nestlé Australia, Head of NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Australia and New Zealand, Tracy Hardwick. “The NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Capsule Brigade will salvage single-use capsules otherwise destined for landfill. Brigade participants can send their capsules to TerraCycle to be recycled via New Zealand Post by simply downloading a free shipping label from the TerraCycle website. Participants also have the opportunity to generate two cents per capsule collected to donate to a charity of their choice,” said TerraCycle New Zealand, General Manager, Anna Minns. “NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® capsules don’t have to be discarded after one use at your morning coffee break but can be recycled at no cost to the consumer. TerraCycle’s Brigade programs like the NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Capsule Brigade also aim to engage the community around sustainability and to re-think where our consumer waste and packaging ends up.” TerraCycle will collect used NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® capsules sent in from the NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Capsules Brigade then recycle them into two streams. As part of the recycling process, organic material such as residual coffee grounds will be separated and sent to an industrial composting facility. The plastic capsules will be melted down and made into new products. TerraCycle New Zealand is also tackling other difficult to recycle waste streams including a new programme to recycle oral care waste such as used toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and floss containers. For more information about the NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Capsule Brigade visit www.terracycle.co.nz

In exchange, they receive positive PR and “a nice feather in their hat, if you will, as it pertains to corporate social responsibility,” Mr Szaky said.