We can't be the only ones who have an entire cabinet full of storage containers that we hope will someday find their fitting lid again, right? It's like that stack of socks that somehow lost their partners. Lids and bowls seem to have a magical way of separating, be it in a different drawer, left at a potluck dinner, or used as a paintbrush holder for those touch-ups last year.   So we were delighted to hear that Rubbermaid and TerraCycle (a global recycling brand) just launched a partnership to help make the most of those random, extra, or past-their-prime plastic and glass food storage containers.   As an added bonus, the Rubbermaid Food Storage Recycling Program is not just limited to Rubbermaid containers. To take part, do some summer cleaning to pick out which containers you're ready to part with, hop on the TerraCycle website and score a prepaid shipping label to cover all your costs to mail in your containers. A peek at the FAQs for the program ensures you don't even have to get them spotless before sending, either: "You do not need to thoroughly clean the containers before sending...However, please remove as much food residue as possible before shipping. UPS will not accept dripping packages, so make sure your items are dry prior to shipping," TerraCycle explains.       Once collected, the containers are cleaned and melted into plastic or glass that can be remolded to make new recycled products. This recycling is more important than you might imagine, as the U.S. uses more than 14 million tons of plastic each year, and 10 million of those end up in landfills.   The goal of the program, explained by TerraCycle Founder and CEO Tom Szaky in a press release, is, "offering consumers a unique opportunity to divert waste from landfills and responsibly dispose of food storage containers that may initially seem unrecyclable,"   While you're cleaning the house and on a zero-waste kick, you might want to consider taking part in one of TerraCycle's other recycling programs that give new life to everything from contact lens packaging to old cell phones to disposable plastic cups.

Rubbermaid, Atlanta, announced a partnership with Trenton, New Jersey-based recycler TerraCycle to make all brands of food storage containers recyclable in the U.S. and Canada. Through this new partnership, known as the Rubbermaid Food Storage Program, Rubbermaid says it will help ensure all glass and plastic food storage containers will have a sustainable end to their life cycle.   "Our food storage products help keep food fresh to reduce waste and are made better to enable a long life of reusability. Partnering with TerraCycle allows us to create an even more sustainable product life cycle, while giving consumers an easy way to recycle their well-used containers," Ryan Hall, marketing director of Food Storage at Newell Brands, a parent company of Rubbermaid, says.   Through the Rubbermaid Food Storage Recycling Program, consumers can now send in all brands of well-used glass and plastic food storage containers to be recycled for free. To participate, interested parties can sign up on the TerraCycle program pages for the United States or Canada and mail in food storage containers using a prepaid shipping label. Once collected, the containers are cleaned and melted into hard plastic or glass that can be remolded to make new recycled products.   "Newell Brands and Rubbermaid are offering consumers a unique opportunity to divert waste from landfills and responsibly dispose of food storage containers that may initially seem unrecyclable," TerraCycle founder and CEO Tom Szaky says. "By accepting and recycling any food storage product, regardless of brand through the recycling program, Rubbermaid is expanding their commitment to sustainability and helping to build awareness that a recycling solution exists for just about everything."   The Rubbermaid Food Storage Recycling Program is open to any interested individual, school, office or community organization, the company says.

We can't be the only ones who have an entire cabinet full of storage containers that we hope will someday find their fitting lid again, right? It's like that stack of socks that somehow lost their partners. Lids and bowls seem to have a magical way of separating, be it in a different drawer, left at a potluck dinner or used as a paint brush holder for those touch-ups last year.   So we were delighted to hear that Rubbermaid and TerraCycle (a global recycling brand) just launched a partnership to help make the most of those random, extra or past-their-prime plastic and glass food storage containers.   As an added bonus, the Rubbermaid Food Storage Recycling Program is not just limited to Rubbermaid containers. To take part, do some summer cleaning to pick out which containers you're ready to part with, hop on the TerraCycle website and score a prepaid shipping label to cover all your costs to mail in your containers. A peek at the FAQs for the program ensures you don't even have to get them spotless before sending, either: "You do not need to thoroughly clean the containers before sending...However, please remove as much food residue as possible before shipping. UPS will not accept dripping packages, so make sure your items are dry prior to shipping," TerraCycle explains. Once collected, the containers are cleaned and melted into plastic or glass that can be remolded to make new recycled products. This recycling is more important than you might imagine, as the U.S. uses more than 14 million tons of plastic each year, and 10 million of those end up in landfills.   The goal of the program, explained by TerraCycle Founder and CEO Tom Szaky in a press release, is, "offering consumers a unique opportunity to divert waste from landfills and responsibly dispose of food storage containers that may initially seem unrecyclable,"   While you're cleaning house and on a zero-waste kick, you might want to consider taking part in one of TerraCycle's other recycling programs that give new life to everything from contact lens packaging to old cell phones to disposable plastic cups.

July 15, 2020, Trenton, N.J. – Rubbermaid® has announced a partnership with international recycling leader, TerraCycle®, to make all brands of well-used food storage containers recyclable in Canada and the U.S.   Through this new partnership, Rubbermaid helps ensure all glass and plastic food storage containers will have a sustainable end to their lifecycle.   The TerraCycle program is another step toward the Rubbermaid’s existing sustainability efforts and making the company’s products a choice for environmentally conscious consumers or for anyone looking to lead a more sustainable life.   “Our food storage products help keep food fresh to reduce waste and are made better to enable a long life of reusability,” says Ryan Hall, marketing director, food storage at Newell Brands. “Partnering with TerraCycle allows us to create an even more sustainable product lifecycle, while giving consumers an easy way to recycle their well-used containers whenever they are ready to upgrade to our newest innovations. As an exclusive partner in our category, we are excited to be leading the way.”   Through the Rubbermaid Food Storage Recycling Program, consumers can now send in all brands of well-used glass and plastic food storage containers to be recycled for free.   Participation is easy: sign up on the TerraCycle program pages for the United States or Canada and mail in well-used food storage containers using a prepaid shipping label. Once collected, the containers are cleaned and melted into hard plastic or glass that can be remolded to make new recycled products.   “Newell Brands and Rubbermaid are offering consumers a unique opportunity to divert waste from landfills and responsibly dispose of food storage containers that may initially seem unrecyclable,” said Tom Szaky, TerraCycle founder and CEO. “By accepting and recycling any food storage product, regardless of brand through the recycling program, Rubbermaid is expanding their commitment to sustainability and helping to build awareness that a recycling solution exists for just about everything.”

  Picture where your first razor ended up. Chances are, you envision it strewn among garbage in a faraway landfill, somehow staying fully intact for the unforeseeable future. Your future razors (and other hard-to-recycle cosmetics) deserve a different – and better – fate.   In September 2019, Venus partnered with TerraCycle to create the first razor recycling program in Canada allowing shoppers to recycle their razor packaging from all brands free of charge. Now, and for a limited time, Venus and TerraCycle are extending their recycling program to include all forms of cosmetic waste in addition to razors.   “We are proud to partner with forward-thinking brands, like Venus, to offer consumers a way to divert waste from landfills,” says Tom Szaky, Founder and CEO of TerraCycle in a press release. “#RecycleWithVenus offers Canadians simple steps to live a more sustainable life through small everyday actions.”   The recycling process set out by TerraCycle and Venus is straightforward. First, collect your empty cosmetics and packaging. Then, download and print off a prepaid shipping label from www.venusrecycling.ca to attach to any reusable box. Finally, fill the box with said cosmetics and drop it off at the nearest UPS. In celebration of launching the program, Venus will donate $25,000 to World Wildlife Canada in support of its initiatives to restore Canadian shorelines and waterways. In addition to this, for every pound of beauty packaging and waste recycled through the program, Venus will donate $1 to World Wildlife Canada: a noble cause to declutter your stash.   Over the last two years, Venus has cut the amount of plastic used to package their razors in half. Seventy percent of their overall packaging is currently recyclable, and the brand is currently looking into ways to make that 100 percent. Notably, the razors are produced in plants that send zero waste to landfill, and according to the brand, they are one of the first brand’s in the industry to do so.   Now that you’ve responsibly recycled your old beauty products (well done!), you can also brush up on refillable cosmetics and an Indigenous-owned zero-waste beauty brand.      

TRENTON, New Jersey – Rubbermaid has partnered with TerraCycle, to make all brands of used food storage containers recyclable in the US and Canada. Through this new partnership, Rubbermaid wants to ensure all glass and plastic food storage containers will have a sustainable end to their lifecycle.   “Our food storage products help keep food fresh to reduce waste and are made better to enable a long life of reusability. Partnering with TerraCycle allows us to create an even more sustainable product lifecycle, while giving consumers an easy way to recycle their well-used containers whenever they are ready to upgrade to our newest innovations. As an exclusive partner in our category, we are excited to be leading the way,” said Ryan Hall, marketing director, food storage at Newell Brands.   Through the Rubbermaid Food Storage Recycling Program, consumers can now send in all brands of well-used glass and plastic food storage containers to be recycled for free. Users sign up on the TerraCycle program page and mail in well-used food storage containers using a prepaid shipping label. Once collected, the containers are cleaned and melted into hard plastic or glass that can be remolded to make new recycled products.   “Newell Brands and Rubbermaid are offering consumers a unique opportunity to divert waste from landfills and responsibly dispose of food storage containers that may initially seem unrecyclable,” said Tom Szaky, TerraCycle founder and CEO.   “By accepting and recycling any food storage product, regardless of brand through the recycling program, Rubbermaid is expanding their commitment to sustainability and helping to build awareness that a recycling solution exists for just about everything.”   The Rubbermaid Food Storage Recycling Program is open to any interested individual, school, office, or community organization.

A marca Cathedral City da Saputo Dairy UK uniu forças com a TerraCycle para lançar o primeiro programa de reciclagem de embalagens de queijo de filme flexível do Reino Unido.

They are becoming the new norm and they are trashing the planet, here’s a look at How To Dispose Of Masks And Gloves Responsibly!   The nature of human beings never ceases to amaze me. Unless you live under a rock you know the detrimental effects plastic is having on our planet.  We’ve all seen the images.   And yet we continue to harm the natural world by littering and having a complete disregard of nature and the people who clean up after us! It’s so infuriating. We can do better! And we must do better. According to a new report from ACS Publications’ Environmental Science & Technology journal, humans are globally using and disposing of an estimated 129 billion face masks and 65 billion plastic gloves every single month that we deal with COVID-19.   In a recent interview with the BBC Doug Cress, Vice President of Conservation for ocean protection organization Ocean Conservancy said:   “It’s important to understand we had a tremendously grave crisis before the pandemic even started in terms of plastic waste in the ocean. And now you can take the global pandemic. At the current rate, we’re putting a 129 billion — I’m saying billion — face masks into the environment every single month. [And] 65 billion plastic gloves into the environment every single month. A significant portion of those would be disposed of improperly and wind up in the ocean.”   “The glove or the mask that you take off and you casually disregard because you think it was safe for that day could easily be the glove or the mask that kills a whale,” Cress added.   The news is constantly filled with new reports of whales and dolphins washing ashore and dying, with necropsy results showing that consumption of plastic waste was the cause of death.   “Understand that the simple human act of indifference or of safety may have a tremendously deleterious effect on the other end,” Cress added. Gary Stokes, the co-founder of OceansAsia flagged this issue back in February when he posted photos of masks on the beach in Hong Kong stating in an interview:   “The way I see these masks in the environment is just another addition to the ever-growing marine debris crisis our oceans are facing. No better, no worse, just shouldn’t be there in the first place. I’m waiting to hear of the first necropsy that finds masks inside a dead marine animal. It’s not a question of if, but when.”   Hong Kong is not the only country seeing this harmful trend.   The Guardian reported that one French politician, Éric Pauget, who represents the Côte d’Azur, is taking some action against this waste. Pauget sent a letter to President Emmanuel Macron, urging him to understand the severity of the waste crisis that COVID-19 has brought on. There’s a worrisome health component:   “The presence of a potentially contaminating virus on the surface of these masks thrown on the ground, represents a serious health threat for public cleaners and children who could accidentally touch them.”   It’s happening here in Canada as well. Many bloggers have been documenting this disturbing trend. The obvious issues with this “COVID waste” is litter, but it’s important to note that these lightweight, ubiquitous, single-use items are made from…you guessed it.. plastic… they are synthetic, non-biodegradable materials, that take hundreds of years to break down in the environment.   I understand the need for certain types of PPE like the N95 masks in medical settings, I am not disputing that some people do need to have access to these types of items. The WHO says this about disposing of masks properly:   “Dispose of them appropriately and perform hand hygiene immediately afterwards. If medical masks are worn, appropriate use and disposal is essential to ensure they are effective and to avoid any increase in risk of transmission associated with the incorrect use and disposal of masks.”   The WHO also recommends that people who are not in health care wear a reusable cloth mask and not an N95. Cloth masks can be worn over and over again reducing the rate of single-use disposable ones. Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, voiced her approval of the growing number of Canadians wearing face masks but urged people to dispose of them properly in her June 14th statement. Tam also raised concerns over litter from face masks and disposable gloves.   “Single-use masks should be replaced as soon as they get damp, soiled or crumpled and disposed of properly in a lined garbage bin,” she said.   “Do not leave discarded masks in shopping carts or on the ground where other people may come into contact with them.” Leaving masks lying around both contribute to litter and the risk of infection for other people, Tam added.   Aside from the obvious issues with how these masks affect marine life, many of them get washed down storm drains, potentially ending up in local bodies of water (oceans, rivers, lakes, etc.) without being filtered first.   THE RIGHT WAY TO DISPOSE OF MASKS    Should people recycle masks and gloves?   There are two main reasons you should not recycle masks and gloves. First, since the single-use gloves are made of a thin film, they can get caught in the recycling machinery and slow everything down. The same goes for the elastic on the masks as well—they could get tangled up with other waste products. More isn’t always better when you’re putting the wrong thing into the recycling bin.   Most cities in Canada are asking people to dispose of these items like they would household hazardous waste because of the importance of safety for the sanitation workers—they have to touch the items during the separation process for recycling. Keeping masks and gloves out of the recycling bin keeps them safe, too.   But can single-use masks and gloves be recycled? It’s a challenge, particularly as virgin plastic is so cheaply available. “PPE [personal protective equipment] is made from a complex mix of materials that require specific machinery and techniques to recycle,” comments Stephen Clarke, head of communications at TerraCycle Europe, which has launched a new scheme to tackle the problem. “It costs more to collect, separate and recycle the PPE than the value of the resulting recycled material. If the economics don’t work, [authorities] don’t have the incentive to collect and recycle PPE.”   Since it’s mandatory to wear a mask indoors in Ontario now, a sustainable, reusable mask is by far the best option.   Reusable cloth masks — which should be washed at 60C to kill any virus particles — are just as effective when it comes to stopping the spread of Covid-19 in non-medical settings. “[For] the person on the street, the cloth masks are perfectly adequate,” says Dr Jane Greatorex, a virologist at the University of Cambridge. “We’re encouraging people to wear masks to protect others around you because you don’t know whether you’re asymptomatic; [cloth] masks stop the larger droplets from leaving you.”   Scientists are also looking at more eco-friendly alternatives to the medical masks currently on the market, with researchers at the University of British Columbia currently developing a biodegradable mask made of wood fibres. “[The masks] will be fully biodegradable, made out of just wood,” says researcher Daniela Vargas Figueroa. “We’ll be utilizing wood fibres that are fully available here in British Columbia, where we have a very sustainable forest industry.”   The World Health Organization (WHO) says you should dispose of a mask as soon as it is damp. To remove the mask: clean your hands first; remove it from behind with the ear or head strap (do not touch the front of the mask); pull the mask away from your face; discard immediately in a closed bin; wash hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.   And if you are unwell with coronavirus symptoms you should store your waste safely for 72 hours before putting it in communal or external bins.   The Worldwide Wildlife Fund (WWF) has also reported concerns about incorrect disposal, saying: “If even only 1 percent of the masks were disposed of incorrectly…this would result in 10 million masks per month dispersed in the environment. Considering that the weight of each mask is about 4 grams this would entail the dispersion of over 40 thousand kilograms of plastic in nature.”   Environmental experts say even if we put them in bins they could still end up finding their way to rivers, oceans, into the environment – or end up filling up more landfill sites – so we should just avoid single-use plastic masks where possible. You can get hold of reusable masks quite easily, we don’t want single-use plastic to become the new norm again.   The CDC has a compressive guide on how to wash your mask here.   Bottom line. Wear a mask. Make sure it’s reusable and let’s not let this boom in single-use masks become the next enemy of the environment!

This idea may seem trivial, but it became very special and even extraordinary when it mobilized a community and allowed children to learn mutual aid, ecology and to advance in their educational journey. “One day, we had an activity with the school. Garbage was collected in the yard and the children boarded 1000%. So I thought that I could offer them to learn more about recycling. So we started picking up old pencils of all kinds in the class, then throughout the school. We sorted them, counted them, then sent them to TerraCycle for those who no longer worked, ”explains Ms. Lachapelle.   Give back to the next   Children also learn through the project they have called Pencils that have stomach aches , shapes and colors. They also make sure that the still good pencils will be used by someone. Thus, not only the other groups in the school, but also members of the community get involved to collect and sort pencils.   Nearly 1,500 pencils that have been placed in the various boxes installed in the region are still good. They are redistributed in several places such as in residences for the elderly. "We thought of them during confinement so that they could write to their families," continues the teacher.   This movement has gained momentum and now almost everyone is thinking of putting their old pencils in the right place. Who knows, they may still be useful. Children will certainly need it for the start of the school year in September. High school youth as well as those enrolled in the adult program will also benefit. “I wanted to interest my students first, but now people from Laval, Montreal and even Saint-Michel-des-Saints are getting on board. "   The project continues No break for recycled pencils this summer. In fact, the drop-off points are still in place in the region and Ms. Lachapelle monitors the process. She will propose the idea of continuing the project to her new students in September. We bet that they will not be difficult to convince! To dispose of your pencils, several drop-off points are available and the list is published on the Facebook page. The pencils that hurt in the stomach .