TERRACYCLE NEWS

ELIMINATING THE IDEA OF WASTE®

Posts with term TerraCycle X

TerraCycle Partnering to Hike Recycling, Emphasizing Labeling

TerraCycle Inc. is working with two other organizations to increase recycling and improve the economics of sustainable packaging and manufacturing. The Trenton, N.J.–based recycling firmTerraCycle is partnering with nonprofitRecycle Across America, which has developed a standardized labeling system for recycling bins, and Participant Media, an entertainment company that has launched the television show “Human Resources” on its Pivot network. The program, which premieres Aug. 8, follows the efforts of TerraCycle to eliminate waste. It inspired the recycling effort, called the Recycle Right! campaign, according to anews release. The Recycle Right! Campaign offers informational videos, tips and practical solutions to increase recycling. The label standardization will be the centerpiece of the project. The campaign aims to double the amount of standardized labels used by the end of the year to one million.

Groups Hope Standardized Signs Will Boost Recycling Rates

There’s a new campaign under way to help standardize messaging on public recycling containers in an effort to boost the amount of material, including plastics, diverted from landfills. TerraCycle, known for its work in finding new life for hard-to-recycle materials, is working with non-profit group Recycle Across America and Participant Media in a program to distribute standardized recycling labels in the United States. The hopes are that standardized messaging will boost recycling rates. As part of the Recycle Right campaign, the standardized recycling labels are designed to boost recycling rates by providing a clear message about what is accepted at each container. News of the campaign comes as TerraCycle is promoting the debut of “Human Resources,” which is described as “a half-hour comedy that documents the nonstop, deadline-driven world of TerraCycle, a New Jersey-based company whose mission is to eliminate waste on a global scale.” The show debuts Aug. 8 on the Pivot channel, which is part of Participant Media. The Recycle Right campaign also includes informational videos, tips and what organizers calls practical solutions, including the standardized labels, to help boost recycling. RAA Founder Mitch Hedlund, in a statement, had this to say about the labels. “It’s a deceivingly simple solution that creates exponential progress, and I think we’re all ready for some progress.” Use of the stickers already has taken hold at 2,000 schools in the United States, including all public schools in Washington, D.C. Companies including Hallmark, Kohler, NBCUniversal, Procter & Gamble and SanDisk also are using them. Estimates are that approximately 500,000 of the labels already are in place in the United States, Canada and Europe. The goal is to double that amount by the end of the year. More information about the cost of the labels as well as the upcoming television show is available atwww.takepart.com/humanresources.

Trash To Cash

By collecting and sending in traditionally non-recyclable packaging that would otherwise be destined for a landfill, churches could earn points toward charity gifts or a cash donation through a new program from TerraCycle.  This free to join program is open to any individual or Christian school/church, and all shipping costs are pre-paid. Churches like St. Michael Lutheran Church in Greenville S.C., North Moreland Christian Baptist Church in Wheelersburg, Ohio, and St. Joseph Church in Dexter, Mich. collect a variety of items such as drink pouches, cereal bags, toothbrush tubes and toothbrushes, and cosmetic packaging.  These programs are made possible through TerraCycle’s partnerships with Capri Sun, Malt-O-Meal, Colgate and Garnier. Some religious organizations have enjoyed incredible fundraising success through TerraCycle’s Brigade program.  In just three years, St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church in Athens, Georgia earned over $6,000 though the program.  Last summer, the Hickory Church of Christ in Hickory, North Carolina won the Kraft Cheese Barbecue Bash to earn prizes and a $2,500 donation – doubling the money they had already earned through the Brigade program. “The money we earn through the TerraCycle Brigade program goes to our food pantry,” said Tracie Perkins, the Brigade coordinator at Hickory Church of Christ.  “Our members collect wrappers at home and from coworkers, neighbors and even local businesses.” You can learn more about TerraCycle’s Brigade programs by visiting www.terracycle.com.

US Company Stamps Out Cigarette Butt Waste At Stadiums

Stadium and venue owners and managers are constantly on the look out for new ways to make their facilities cleaner, more efficient and more environmentally-friendly. With the help of recycling pioneer TerraCycle, facility managers across the US can now recycle their cigarette waste. Instead of the butts going to landfill, TerraCycle composts the paper and leftover tobacco and recycles the filters into plastic for industrial uses, such as pallets. According to Keep America Beautiful, cigarette butts are the most frequently littered waste item. 65% of cigarette waste is disposed of improperly and accounts for 30% of litter at “transition points” where smokers must discontinue smoking before proceeding. Contrary to popular belief, cigarette butts are not biodegradable. To address the desire to rid facility grounds of cigarette waste in an environmentally-responsible way, the Nashville Predators and Bridgestone Arena have recently joined TerraCycle’s Cigarette Waste Brigade®. Chris Parker, Executive Vice President of the Predators, said he was “proud of both the building and the community for being one of the first organisations to actively rid its venue of cigarette waste”. Parker added that he “hopes this movement catches on with other stadiums”.   Arena staff collect the discarded cigarette butts on the sidewalks outside of the Arena and in plaza areas where smoking is permitted following Predators home games and Bridgestone Arena concerts. With postage paid by TerraCycle, the boxes of butts are then shipped to a plant in New Jersey for recycling. Managers looking for additional ways to reduce waste can also utilise TerraCycle’s new Zero Waste Boxes. These boxes enable stadiums and venues to recycle everything from cleaning supplies, plastic cups, fluorescent light bulbs, Styrofoam® and plastic cups, plates and utensils, and chewed gum. All Zero Waste Boxes can be purchased at zerowasteboxes.terracycle.com for a variety of prices. When a box is full, it is simply shipped to TerraCycle for processing. Since 2007, TerraCycle has used innovative recycling processes to repurpose otherwise landfill-bound consumer packaging waste into useful materials and products, such as recycled plastic lumber, industrial shipping pallets, and park benches. Between the Cigarette Waste Brigade and Zero Waste Boxes, there are almost no limits to what can be recycled.

Une seconde vie pour les déchets

Un groupe d’étudiants de Sup de Pub a mené un projet écoresponsable. Papier, stylos, gobelets et mégots de cigarette ne terminent plus dans une poubelle comme de simples rebuts depuis qu'Anna Schleef, Pierre-Émile Jegou et Romain Senegas ont pris les choses en main dans leur école située aux Chartrons. Étudiants en deuxième année de Sup de Pub du groupe Inseec, les étudiants ont décidé de mener à bien un projet écoresponsable qu'ils présenteront très prochainement dans le cadre de leur BTS communication.

Mission Possible: Are You Sure That's A Throw-Away?

All of us take things for granted as we become accustomed to our lifestyle. We often aspire for more, or better, or higher quality. In and of itself, that's not a bad thing; but when we live our lives without considering the lives of others, we may need to stop and reconsider our lifestyle. This is not said to place guilt, but to help us put in perspective what we have, even what we take for granted, that others are praying for — simple necessities: clean drinking water, shoes, a daily meal. What if your throw-aways could provide these basic necessities for others? The U.S. has the most pounds of trash per person per day: 4.6 pounds of trash per person, 1.5 pounds of recycled materials per person — not that all of us make the time to sort the trash from recyclables. But since TerraCycle hit town, we can recycle many more items, and even trash the idea of garbage. All TerraCycle rebates are sent directly to Feed My Starving Children to provide life-sustaining meals. Simple lifestyle changes on our part to provide necessities for others while keeping trash out of landfills. Thanks to the gift of warehouse and processing space from Blake and Deanna Martin, Coyote Howling's Recycle/TerraCycle commitment can expand to include other recyclable options, including aluminum and technology waste. Coors pioneered the use of aluminum cans in 1959 — that makes the aluminum can younger than many of us reading this column. Since then, everything from sodas, energy drinks, sparkling waters to craft brew beers are sold in aluminum cans. Many take for granted a chilled can of beverage in the hot summer. What to do with the empty can? Aluminum can be recycled forever with NO loss of quality — good thing since we use more than 80,000,000,000 aluminum cans each year. The cost to recycle a can is less than manufacturing a new can. The average can contains 68 percent recycled metal. So, resist the urge to crush it or toss it; rinse your can, snap off the tab, and bring both to Coyote Howling Shop for a Cause. Purchases of tab jewelry and aluminum craft at Coyote provide more meals for children. With more space, Coyote Howling's commitment to responsibly recycling is expanding through another recycling ally, Dell Reconnect. Tech and e-waste that is not eligible for TerraCycle or general re-use can now be recycled to keep it from the landfills: computer monitors, mice, and speakers; keyboards and printers; VCR and DVD players; personal electronics and stereo equipment. People who donate on TerraCycle Tuesday (every Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) are also awarded a 10 percent savings on a regular-priced item of their choice. To check out what counts for TerraCycle, review the posters at www.CoyoteHowlingShopForaCause.com, or call (575) 808-8320 and learn how to take your trash back from the landfills and use it to fund meals for children.

Kimberly-Clark Professional and Terracycle Recycle 90-Plus Tons of Garments and Gloves

Kimberly-Clark Professional, a provider of clean room and laboratory contamination control garments, has helped divert 137,000 pounds of disposable garments and 45,000 pounds of nitrile gloves from landfills, according to the company, through its innovative large-scale recycling program called, "RightCycle by Kimberly-Clark Professional." The RightCycle by Kimberly-Clark Professional program allows cleanroom employees to conveniently deposit used gloves, hoods, boot covers and hairnets in collection boxes where they are then delivered to recycling pioneer and partner, TerraCycle. TerraCycle transforms these otherwise landfill-bound items into useable products such as composite decking, park benches, and Adirondack chairs. "By recycling more than 90 tons of garments and gloves since the program began, we have helped our customers achieve or exceed their Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability goals," said Randy Kates, director, Global Scientific Business, Kimberly-Clark Professional. "At Kimberly-Clark, our mission to create Exceptional Workplaces that are healthier, safer and more productive is inseparable from our commitment to protecting the environment. This program addresses both of these goals." Since 2011, the Kimberly-Clark Professional and TerraCycle partnership has made it simple and convenient for companies to recycle these previously non-recyclable waste streams, helping them meet their zero-waste goals. The overwhelming success of the RightCycle by Kimberly-Clark Professional program is part of a larger goal by Kimberly-Clark Corporation, the parent company of Kimberly-Clark Professional, to send zero manufacturing waste to landfills by 2015. The company's Global Nonwovens Division has already worked to keep more than 99 percent of its manufacturing waste out of landfills. As the environmental and economic costs of landfilling and recycling manufacturing waste continue to rise, alternative recycling options are becoming increasingly important to both industry leaders and consumers. Through this pioneering program, Kimberly-Clark Professional is not only providing a more long-term solution to its own waste-generation, it is helping to pave the way for a more sustainably conscious corporate world. For more information visit http://www.kcprofessional.com/home.