Starting a new business is daunting enough without the challenges of a global pandemic. Sisters Lisa and Melissa Gerben quietly launched RAKO Coffee Roasters in December of 2019, with a wholesale focus at first and big plans for spring pop-ups, a retail line and eventually brick-and-mortar cafés in the summer of 2020.   “Of course it didn’t happen that way,” Lisa says.   When restaurants and offices closed, their wholesale accounts were significantly impacted. Their pop-ups were put on hold, but their retail line was ready and waiting.   “In March when everything shut down, Melissa and I both noticed that we were just looking for stuff to do at home,” Lisa says. “We jumped on the baking and the pickling bandwagon and then we thought, ‘Why not launch our coffee online?’”   Their retail line currently includes eight sustainably sourced single origin coffees.   “One thing we really prioritized when creating this line is to offer coffees that appeal to every palate, while also tasting distinctly different from one another,” Lisa says. “We have your classic chocolate-y, caramel-y coffees, and then we have some more off-the-wall ones with peach and lemon zest flavor notes.”   Each coffee has a descriptive taste profile to let you know what you can expect from it.   “Coffee actually has tasting notes the same way wine does,” Melissa says “Coffee has over 800 compounds, which is actually a lot more than exist in wine.”   The Gerbens decided to take the leap to sell these coffees online in April, but they wanted to do so in a way that would allow as many customers as possible to access their coffee, and to get the most out of the products, even without a professionally trained barista to do the brewing.   Two keys to success were free shipping and home brew guides. All DMV orders ship free, and each order arrives with a detailed laminated brew guide that explains how to grind and brew your coffee, depending on what type of brewing apparatus you have.   There are also advanced brew guides available online, which provide specific ratios and timings tailored to each individual coffee.   “It basically comes down to the acids and sugars that are in each particular coffee,” Melissa explains. This is based on factors like how long the beans are roasted, the altitude where the beans are grown and more.   “All of these things factor in to how it’s going to taste when it’s brewed, and so a slightly different water temperature may draw a different acid from the bean,” she adds. “And the grind size, if you grind it at a slightly different setting, that may also draw different flavors. It’s basically an experiment that you do over and over and you change one factor each time and you finally end up with what tastes best for the coffee.”   The launch of the retail line has led to an outpouring of support from customers.   “We were so blown away and pleasantly surprised,” Lisa says. “The sales are incredible and we’re so grateful to everyone, but also just this feeling of connectivity with the community has been really incredible as well.”   With the early success of RAKO, Lisa and Melissa have turned a lifelong dream into a reality. “When we were in high school, we went on a family trip to Guatemala and had the opportunity to tour some coffee farms, and that was just such a formative experience,” Lisa says. “That’s actually where something clicked and I wanted to be a coffee importer. It wasn’t that linear in my life, of course, but I would say that it really started with that trip for both of us.”   With this early inspiration in mind, the sisters built their company on a commitment to giving back to and empowering communities, both locally and globally. Globally, it’s about sourcing.   “We think that the best way to help communities is through economic empowerment,” Lisa says. “Most of our coffees in our current lineup are directly imported from coffee farmers which we have long standing relationships with that predate RAKO, from my international trade background… By importing these coffees directly from the source, it allows them to retain more of the money for the coffees that they’ve grown.”   Plus, the shop proudly supports and makes donations to the International Women’s Coffee Alliance chapter.   Locally, 10 percent of each sale benefits Erik Bruner-Yang’s Power of 10 initiative, supporting independent restaurants by re-employing staff, sustaining business operations and providing food to those in need.   “We saw this just immediate impact on restaurants, and have tons of friends in the food and beverage industry that were just overnight out of a job through no fault of their own,” Lisa says.   They have also put the planet at the center of their brand, by choosing sustainable farmers to work with, roasting with state-of-the-art, energy-efficient equipment and participating in a recycling program with TerraCycle. RAKO provides a prepaid envelope with each order, so customers can send back their empty coffee bags and they will be recycled into park benches.   As their following grows, Lisa and Melissa are actively looking for pop-up spaces and are tentatively planning their next moves. “If it’s safe to do so, we’re targeting this summer for our first pop-up,” Lisa says. “We would love for that to turn into a permanent location.”

In the wake of COVID-19, the planet needs protection from the surge of improperly discarded personal protective equipment (PPE) that is leaking into marine environments and posing serious hazards to ocean wildlife. TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Boxes provide a convenient recycling solution for all types of single-use PPE, which are not recyclable through conventional recycling facilities. When placed in public spaces such as grocery stores, big-box stores and parks, Zero Waste Boxes encourage people to responsibly dispose of their protective gear instead of tossing items on the ground.   To recycle PPE waste, TerraCycle offers the following Zero Waste Boxes:  

• Safety Equipment and Protective Gear Zero Waste Boxes – to recycle disposable safety gear including garments, gloves, masks and safety glasses.
• Disposable Garments Zero Waste Box – to recycle chemical protection suits, flame resistant suits, and smocks.
• Disposable Gloves Zero Waste Box – to recycle vinyl, nitrile, and latex gloves.
• Disposable Masks Zero Waste Box – to recycle surgical and industrial face masks.

  For large-scale recycling solutions, TerraCycle offers the following Zero Waste Pallets:  

• Safety Equipment and Protective Gear Zero Waste Pallet
• Disposable Garments Zero Waste Pallet
• Disposable Gloves Zero Waste Pallet

  When full, the boxes can be returned to TerraCycle for processing and the collected waste will be cleaned, melted and remolded to make new products. TerraCycle, the world’s leader in the collection and repurposing of complex waste streams, created the Zero Waste Box program to provide solutions for difficult-to-recycle waste that cannot be recycled through TerraCycle’s brand-sponsored, national recycling programs or via standard municipal recycling.   All Zero Waste Boxes are sealed while in transit, limiting any possibility of contamination. The boxes travel for up to a week before they are received at TerraCycle facilities, where additional safety precautions are taken in accordance with CDC recommendations. The Zero Waste Box program does not accept medical waste or biohazardous materials. “During this time of uncertainty, our Zero Waste Box program provides easy solutions for keeping waste out of landfills and paving the way for a greener future,” says Tom Szaky, CEO and founder of TerraCycle. “Our goal is for all consumers to engage with TerraCycle recycling programs in a safe manner.”  

For more information, visit www.terracycle.com.

   

As the world begins to reopen, holidays, environmental or not, will look a bit different this year. “Nature is healing” memes aside, COVID-19 is causing quite a bit of damage to the planet in the long-term and stirring up many planetary concerns, including increases in single-use plastic waste, reductions of municipal recycling programs, and temporary bans on reusable goods. “Nature is healing” memes aside, COVID-19 is causing quite a bit of damage to the planet in the long-term, including single-use plastic waste. Image via World Environment Day. Now, more than ever, it’s essential we do our part to take care of the planet this World Environment Day, and beyond! First held in 1974 by the United Nations, World Environment Day encourages global awareness and action to address pressing environmental issues. The 2020 theme is “Time For Nature,” an urgent call to protect biodiversity and rethink humanity’s relationship with the natural world. For our own health, safety, and preservation of a world to get back to, here are some ways you can make a difference (“from home”) this World Environment Day: Brush up on your wildlife knowledge. Defined as the variety of life on Earth, biodiversity encompasses over 8 million species of living things (animals, fungi, microorganisms, and plants) and the ecosystems they inhabit (coral reefs, deserts, forests, jungles, oceans and more).  Red soft coral with polyps extended. Photo by NOAA on Unsplash. Healthy ecosystems are fundamental to sustaining human life. They are responsible for regulating climate, protecting against the spread of disease, providing fertile soil in which to grow food, purifying the water, filtering the air, and reducing the occurrence of natural disasters.  This makes it all the more essential to halt the destruction of ecosystems and implement global stewardship of biodiversity. The best way protect nature is to educate yourself. Use this extra time at home to learn more about the various species and habitats that make up our vast planet; World Environment Day has this practical guide for ways different groups can get involved. Become an expert on local environmental protection. Learning about biodiversity as a concept is important in theory, and putting your knowledge to practical use can have a huge impact. Explore the native biodiversity that exists in your city and research what your local government is doing to protect wildlife and preserve habitats in the area. Check to see if your city is part of the Cities of Nature network. If it isn’t, urge your local representatives to join this initiative to recognize the value of biodiversity in and around cities.  Change starts at home, and while we’re spending a lot of time there, it’s a powerful thing to engage local leaders, especially while social distancing. The Value of Nature in Urban Life poster illustrates the many diverse life-supporting and life-enhancing benefits nature provides people in cities. Image by Cities of Nature. Advocate for nature. You don’t have to leave your house to call for positive change in your community. Show your support for the protection and restoration of local green spaces by urging your city government to meet the environmental targets they’ve pledged via web, email, and phone. Honey bees are contribute to approximately one-third of the food we eat, so take the time you have at home to create a habitat for them. Photo by Sandy Millar on Unsplash. With the time at home, provide habitat for pollinators and ground-dwelling insects in your garden by planting native plants. Try your hand at growing your own pesticide-free produce in your yard, on your porch or in your window sill. Start an email or social media chain for neighbors on the effects of lawn chemicals on residential critters, and what they can plant to save the bees.  Be a conscious consumer. As individuals, we must rethink what we buy and use to become responsible shoppers. Buying fair-trade, sustainably sourced, and recyclable or reusable products prevent pollution and deforestation, which helps to preserve the planet’s species. Take action by leveraging your purchasing power and avoiding products that are potentially harmful to biodiversity. Put pressure on your favorite brands to disclose their impact and urge them to limit single-use plastic in their business operations and supply chains. Check to see that the brands you shop are sourcing their raw materials responsibly by looking for certifications like Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), B Corp or Rainforest Alliance Certified. The Forest Stewardship Council sets standards for responsible forest management to protect forests for future generations, and creatures like this bat! Photo by Vlad Kutepov on Unsplash Part of being a conscious consumer also entails taking personal responsibility to ensure your products and packaging don’t end up in the environment. Keep hard-to-recycle items out of landfills with our National Recycling Programs—simply sign up to start recycling! Or, try our all-in-one solutions, Zero Waste Boxes, which are buy one, get one 30% off today with code PLANET30. Educate others. Host a virtual workshop or video call to share what you have learned with friends and family. Talk with them about the importance of preventing biodiversity loss and finding nature-based solutions for sustainable change. Many organizers registered their digital event with World Environment Day to be featured on their global map! Share your message on social media. Take your advocacy online! Connect and spark conversations with local and national environmental protection organizations. Share links to educational resources and encourage your followers to get involved in protecting species and ecosystems. Together we can act #ForNature by sharing the latest updates, stories, news and tips for joining the movement online ! Photo by Tyler Mullins on Unsplash By making environmental stewardship the cool, sharable, ‘grammable thing to do, you inspire and motivate your network to join the conversation. How are you celebrating biodiversity this World Environment Day? Tell us in the comments!

Dans le quartier Tourtel, à Vandoeuvre, il existe un point de collecte publique des déchets « difficiles à recycler ». Administré par Ségolène Bonnaventure, il permet l’élimination de ces déchets via l’entreprise TerraCycle. Ségolène Bonnaventure, administratrice du point de collecte publique à Vandoeuvre du quartier Tourtel, gère la collecte des déchets « difficiles à recycler », acceptés par TerraCycle. Elle encourage les habitants à venir les déposer au 28, rue Raymond Poincaré à Vandoeuvre. « Les questions écologiques demeurent un sujet clé.

By Gary A. Jones, director, EHS Affairs, Specialty Graphic Imaging Association

  Despite what many may think, the concept of sustainability is not new and has been evolving for decades. To some extent, the roots of sustainability were born with the conservation movement that was spearheaded by President Teddy Roosevelt, who worked hard to establish the national parks system. Since then, the focus of sustainability has grown to encompass an examination of just about all aspects of daily life and a search to find approaches, products and services that have a positive impact on the planet.  

Sustainability background and emergence of the circular economy

  Modern sustainability emerged in the mid to late 1980s with the publishing of a report titled “Our Common Future,” also known as the “Brundtland Report,” in 1987 by the UN’s World Commission for Environment and Development, chaired by former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. The report defined the principle of sustainable development as, “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”   There was a period after the release of “Our Common Future” before the sustainability movement became a hot topic for the printing industry. The question about what is a “green printer” began in earnest in the mid 2000s and reached a crescendo near the end of the decade. In response, the printing industry created and launched the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (www.sgppartnership.org), an independent third-party certification program addressing sustainable print manufacturing.   During the last decade, sustainability in the print industry focused on the packaging and point-of-purchase displays market, with many print customers requiring their products to be both sustainable and manufactured in a sustainable fashion. Then, in 2018, a sustainable tsunami hit the world, with tremendous ramifications.   Two events focused targeted attention to the issue of sustainability. First, National Geographic launched a campaign to reduce waste from plastic products, such as single-use bags and straws, called “Planet or Plastics?” The National Geographic initiative not only included an awareness campaign about plastics pollution but also addressed investments in research programs and partnerships.   The second action, and perhaps the one that had the greatest impact, was China’s implementation of its Blue Sky program that set strict regulations about the scrap material imported into the country. Over the last decade, China has accepted a wide variety of wastes from many countries in the world – including the United States, Canada and Europe – for recycling. It only was able to use a small fraction of the material received, and the rest was either landfilled or left to accumulate. To combat the overwhelming amount of waste that could not be recycled, China outright prohibited certain materials from being imported, and for those they were willing to accept, it set an extremely low contamination rate of 0.5%. The targeted materials for ban included plastics, scrap paper, certain metals and textile materials. China continued to set bans around additional materials and may completely ban all materials.   This positive leap for China to achieve its national environmental health goals has caused major repercussions for the rest of the world. The ramifications for the US have been particularly impactful as approximately 40% of the total materials collected for recycling were being exported to China. While other countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam and Korea are willing to take some wastes, the amount they can process is not large enough to absorb what China was accepting. These countries, along with other Asian countries such as Malaysia and the Philippines, have been closing their doors to these waste products.  

Push for a circular economy

  The actions taken by China and other countries highlighted the limitations of the linear economy. The linear economy is characterized by the take-make-dispose approach to producing products and services. This approach tends to consume finite resources to produce products which end up in landfills or incinerators. The launching of a new model was seen – the circular economy. The circular approach, as envisioned by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation, entails gradually decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources and designing waste out of the system. The circular economy incorporates renewable energy and is based on three principles: designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems.   The illustration in Figure 1 offers a clear illustration of the differences in material flows between linear, reuse and circular economic models. Achieving a circular economy is not an easy path to take as it is difficult to fully eliminate waste. Some products, such as those made from renewable resources, readily are adapted to the circular economy model while others are more challenging. There are many practical barriers to establishing a closed-loop economy. However, changes toward closed-loop or circular economy operations are achievable within specific sectors, companies or product categories.   One business strategy for closing the production-use-disposal scenario includes shifting from selling products that the consumer owns and eventually disposes of to providing a service with an agreement in which the products remain the responsibility of the manufacturer to repair, replace, refurbish or repurpose. This shift in ownership incentivizes the manufacturer to design for less waste, produce a more durable product and create loyalty with their customers.   For example, a recent assessment by Ricoh concluded that by 2050 there will be an insufficient supply of many virgin materials at a reasonable cost to support its manufacturing needs. As a result, Ricoh has revised its business model using life-cycle analysis as the basis for decision-making and establishing a series of “Resource Smart Solutions” for product design and manufacturing, re-use, collection, maintenance and materials recovery. Since the company owns 60% of what it sells, it can engage its customers in new business solutions derived from a circular economy approach.  

Government action

  Many argue that government intervention is needed to both encourage and instill a more sustainable environment. Several approaches have been proposed, using the circular economy model, to address reaching this goal. Approaches under consideration involve the imposition of mandates to use a specified amount of recycled materials in products, banning the use of certain products and implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs. EPR programs are designed to shift the waste management cost or physical collection partially or fully from local governments to producers.   EPR as a concept is not new in the US, with almost every state having some type of producer responsibility laws covering consumer products such as automobile batteries, electronics, mobile phones, paint, pesticide containers, carpet, thermostats and pharmaceuticals. Several states have enacted landfill bans which have had an increasing positive impact on product recycling.   Packaging and paper have not escaped the grasp of EPR. Many provinces in Canada and many countries in the European Union have had EPR programs extending to packaging or printed paper for many years. So far, none have been enacted by a state or local government. However, that may soon change with the states of Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon and California.   Maine’s legislation has come the closest to being enacted. It was debated in this year’s legislative session, but failed to pass. Maine’s legislation would see producers with more than $1 million in annual gross revenue paying into a managed fund, with participating municipalities then eligible to be reimbursed for recycling and disposal costs. The costs imposed would be done on a sliding scale of how “readily recyclable” a material is and those that are difficult to recycle would be charged a higher fee. Unless there is a special session called, it will not be considered again until next year.   While there has been activity, virtually all government legislative and regulatory activity has occurred at the state and local level. The combination of the National Geographic focus on plastics, including ocean plastics, and China’s Blue Sky program and its ramifications spurred many state and local government entities to ban the use of certain types of plastic-based products.   Many states have implemented bans on plastic bags, plastic straws, polystyrene food containers and other single-use plastic products. Likewise, some corporations have initiated their own programs. A good example is several large hotel brands are eliminating the use of individually packed toiletries such as shampoo, conditioner, etc. in guest rooms.   Some states have taken the approach of focusing on setting requirements for certain types of packaging. For example, California has established, through legislative action, a program that sets requirements for state-controlled food service packaging. This new program requires state-owned food service facilities, those operating on state-owned properties or those under contract to a state agency to dispense prepared food using food service packaging that is reusable, recyclable or compostable.  

Marketplace responses

  There are bright spots. Emerging trends around both the use and manufacturing of alternative substrates that are easier to recycle is on the rise. While there is a movement to increase infrastructure recycling using existing technology and new technologies such as chemical recycling, it will be some time before it comes online and sufficient capacity exists to relieve the downward pressure.   Some brands are shifting away from plastic to paper-based products. Several examples include using paper-based material to replace six-pack rings or the recent announcement by Procter & Gamble Beauty that it will start offering both Old Spice and Secret brand deodorants in all-paper, plastic-free, tube packaging. There is no mention if the paper tube is recyclable.   For textiles, there is movement to use cellulosic fibers, recycled poly, organic cotton and Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) cotton, which is a cotton sustainability program. For labels that are being used on PET-based containers, there is a move to use labels that are compatible with the recycling process and for other plastics, work is being done on polymers that are more compatible to both mechanical and chemical recycling.   It also is important to understand that, in addition to new substrates and recycling technologies, there are companies exploring reductions in packaging and package-free options. Lightweighting a package is not necessarily new, along with concentrating certain products to reduce package size. The new options being explored involve selling a single product where the package can be reused multiple times with the subsequent purchasing of super concentrated product that is reconstituted by the consumer.   A corollary to this approach is refillable packaging, where the consumer returns to the store to refill their individual container from bulk dispensing units. Package-free options already are being explored by smaller grocery stores where products are not sold prepackaged.  

How this impacts the printing industry

  For those facilities involved in packaging and labels, the sustainability and circular economy movement is real. Companies such as Wal-Mart, Target and Unilever have adopted sustainability goals related to the reduction of packaging materials. While attention has been focused on the use of plastics and packaging, increasing attention has been turning to the fashion industry. The drum beat to reduce the impact of “fast fashion” is increasing and getting louder every day. The effect is hitting both the products being produced for customers and the manufacturing operations.   The pressure on brands to address the waste associated with their products has been growing and will only continue to increase. A second, and possibly most important, impact of China’s Blue Sky program is felt around the country as municipalities have stopped or suspended local recycling programs.   With China no longer accepting most of the US-generated recycling, the market has disappeared. With the approaches that many brands and other companies are taking to address these issues, those that are producing products, packaging, labels and other supporting material need to understand they could have their businesses severely interrupted and threatened. Imagine the impact if someone’s primary business was producing packaging or labels and the company’s number one customer decided to offer its products as package free.   With the focus on textiles, packaging and paper waste increasing, printing operations need to become engaged on several fronts. They need to become educated about the changes occurring with respect to new substrates, advances in recycling technologies and recycling services, such as those offered by TerraCycle. This education provides the ability to offer solutions when requested by the customer.   Establish a dialog with customers to educate them about the current and future changes being driven by pressure from consumers, consumer groups, environmental organizations and government regulation. Given the economic pressures being applied to local municipal recycling programs, it is almost certain that there will be additional government regulation imposed on those that produce products, even if they are currently readily recyclable.   The benefit of having this type of dialogue is it allows the printing operation to gauge the understanding and options being considered by the customer. Customers are not monolithic. Some are proactive, while others will wait until circumstances dictate action on their part. If some of the ERP laws come to fruition, understanding the impact of various substrates and alternative options that are more readily recyclable would enable customers to pay less of a fee due to their ability to be recycled.   The education about the changing landscape also allows printing operations to understand the possible changes occurring and potential shifts by their customers to new substrates or the abandonment of current substrates. There are a host of issues that need to be considered, including performance, cost, printability, waste, etc. Understanding how to work with these new or “new to you” substrates will allow for a competitive advantage and allow for a fast response to changes in demands from customers.  

Conclusion

  The building of a circular economy is not going to be easy. There are many considerations that need to be evaluated as the linear model and the mindset associated with it will be difficult to transform. Nevertheless, the physical realities of the linear model have reached a tipping point as the world has quite simply run out of places to put the waste generated by modern society. Landfilling waste is not a solution as it is just long-term storage and more eloquent solutions are mandatory.   The path forward for many products is not clear. The key to expanding the circular economy is the engagement of consumers, business, academia and government to provide the demand and proper incentives to find solutions. With government now adopting circular economy legislation, more consumers demanding solutions and some brands adopting circular approaches across their value chain in order to mitigate reputational, supply chain, financial, environmental and regulatory risk, printing operations will need to adopt new business models that align with an emerging reality that discourages waste and encourages resource efficiency with design and innovation. This means they need to become more cost efficient, incorporate renewable technologies and resources, partner with like-minded suppliers and engage with emerging approaches to remain relevant and competitive.

Environmental educators Meredith Fish and Jenna Livernois can’t stand cigarette butts on their beaches. And they despise plastic litter tumbling along dunes, the tideline and public places of Dare County.   After storms, they’ve filled buckets full of plastic debris they’ve found on the beach – things that all too often end up in the sea where they can negatively impact or kill marine life. Year round, they teach visiting public-school students about the environment and how to protect it, and they are always on the lookout for new ways to reduce, reuse and recycle plastics.   This season, visitors to Jennette’s Pier will notice a new and improved recycling center on the south side deck of the pier house. Fish and Livernois put together the Recycle MORE Center over the winter for everyone to use. It was paid for with a grant from the North Carolina Aquarium Society.   Fish, who grew up on the Outer Banks, said the new center is accessible at any time.   “I want everyone to know they can come by and drop off their stuff,” Fish said. She and Livernois also encourage the hundreds of summer campers they teach each week to recycle more.   The new Recycle MORE Center expands the kinds of recyclables Jennette’s already collects, including cigarette butts and monofilament fishing line. Most standard curbside mixed recyclables are accepted in the blue can, Fish said. The bin with the black label collects plastic film, the red is for Solo cups, and yellow is for a variety of things such as fruit squeeze pouches, razor products and packaging, oral care products and small products such as lip balm.   Livernois said plastic film includes Ziploc bags, plastic grocery bags and plastic wrap. “Anything that passes the stretch test but isn’t crunchy sounding,” she said. Plastic wrapping, such as the kind around a case of water or Gatorade, can be taken to your local grocery store, Fish said. “They have so much from their pallets they send it back on their trucks,” Livernois said.   All of the pier’s recyclables are shipped to TerraCycle, the same facility that recycles the cigarette butts collected on the Jennette’s Pier property. The center also has a regular brown can for “regular old trash,” Fish said.

Heard any interesting recycling facts lately? We asked recycling innovator TerraCycle, to tell us the three most important facts about recycling they know. Chances are, you don’t know them yet. If you’ve never heard the amazing story of TerraCycle – where have you been? Founded by CEO and visionary Tom Szaky in 2001, this company is all about sustainability, innovation and making the world a better place. They’re the creators of the #RecycleEverything and #KeepOnRecycling movements. Today the company embodies its slogan, ‘eliminating the idea of waste,’ and has developed programs that recycle the most difficult materials imaginable, from PPE to batteries. TerraCycle operates all over the world, making recycling accessible, useful and profitable.   So, they know a thing or two about recycling facts, stats and tips. This month, we’ve been investigating what residents think they know, but actually don’t know – about recycling. There’s a lot of misinformation, skepticism and ignorance out there! We turned to Sue Kauffman from TerraCycle for some answers. Here’s what we discovered.  

3 Recycling Facts That No-one is Talking About

  We were curious – what 3 facts about recycling do people know nothing about?  

Fact #1: Recycling Combats Climate Change

• “Recycling directly counteracts climate change. The recycling rate is 35% in the United States and this keeps 184 million metric tons of greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere, the equivalent of removing 39 million cars from the road. If the recycling rate was higher, even more climate change accelerating greenhouse gases would be removed from the equation.”

If anyone ever asks you why you recycle, now you can tell them that it combats climate change. Once we end wish-cycling and get the system in North America working correctly again, it will make a positive impact on the rate of global warming.  

Fact #2: We Are Terrible at Recycling

• “According to the EPA, around 75% of the American’s waste can be recycled but we only recycle about 30% of it.”

This is a recycling statistic that we’re quite familiar with here at Recycle Coach. Our municipalities need to advance business and residential recycling education to improve recycling contamination rates, and increase how much waste is recycled.   People think they’re doing the right thing, but the reality is that wish-cycling is rife and not enough people are invested in recycling. There is upwards of 50% room for improvement.  

Fact #3: Aluminum Cans Are Recycled Fast

• “On average, an aluminum can will be back on a store shelf just 6 weeks after you throw it in the recycling bin. This amount of waste adds up, too. The average person goes through more than 25,000 cans in their lifetime - but a recycled aluminum can conserve 95% of the energy and water required to produce an aluminum can from virgin material.”

Now that’s a fast recycling process! When you recycle cans, you’re saving the environment and sustaining an industry. It’s one of those closed loops that TerraCycle loves to create.  

Why Do Residents Believe False Recycling Facts?

  Next, we asked TerraCycle why people tend to believe so many fake recycling facts and stats. Why do residents think they can’t get any better at recycling? Why don’t they realize the impact 1 can could make? Do they really believe that recycling doesn’t make any difference?   The Response:   “Many Americans are aware to some extent that the United States is the world’s largest producer of waste. With only 4% of the world’s population, the U.S. still manages to produce 30% of the planet’s total waste.   Convenient “facts” that are either cherry-picked or outright false allow people to carry-on unsustainable habits and permit them to believe that they’re making less of an environmental impact than they actually are.   A good example of this are misleading recycling symbols that contribute to “wish-cycling”, a counter-productive habit where consumers toss anything with a recycling symbol in their blue bins without first confirming that the item is recyclable in the municipality.   Much of this material, especially plastics other than #1 and #2 which are the most commonly accepted, will not be recycled and risk contaminating otherwise recyclable material, clogging recycling machinery and leading to a loss of resources, time, and money.”  

How Can We Teach Residents Accurate Recycling Facts?

  Finally, we asked TerraCycle if there was anything we could do to rectify what people think they know about recycling today. How do we fix this huge knowledge gap? The Response:   “Much of the responsibility to educate residents falls to their municipalities. Since China stopped accepting much of the world’s recyclables in 2018 due to contamination fears, these education efforts have ramped up in almost every state as local recyclers now contend with the same issues.   No matter the outlet of information, it is important to not overload residents with too much at once. Many towns have begun education campaigns that focus on small steps first, like how greasy pizza boxes or plastic shopping bags cannot be tossed in the blue bin. Building on these minor lifestyle changes, we can help to increase the rate of recycling and cut-down on wish-cycling.”   It seems that to reach residents with important recycling facts and statistics, a smart approach is needed. There, we’re 100% aligned! Our team creates custom campaigns that focus on a particular problem a municipality is dealing with directly, in order to resolve it piece-by-piece.   Using modern technology, we believe accurate recycling facts will find their way into cities, neighborhoods and families. Technology can be the bridge that closes this gap.   For now, remember the 3 most important facts of the day, according to recycling innovator, TerraCycle: Recycling combats climate change, we’re terrible at it, and a single person’s impact can save the world – even if it’s just a can-do attitude.   Municipalities: learn this by heart.

Comprometida com a responsabilidade social e ambiental, a Unimed Joinville realizou ação alusiva ao Dia Mundial do Meio Ambiente, lembrada no dia 5 de junho. Coletores de resíduos foram instalados no segundo andar do Bloco B para incentivar a reciclagem de itens, dos quais a cooperativa já atua na separação e reaproveitamento por meio de projetos e programas.

Buscando contribuir com o ambiente, a RB Capital firmou parceria com a Terracycle, empresa líder no desenvolvimento de soluções ambientais para produtos e embalagens de difícil reciclagem. A partir daí, iniciamos projetos com a Faber Castell e Scotch-Brite, visando coletar materiais de escrita e esponjas de uso domésticos inutilizados, para serem enviados à Terracycle e então transformados em novos objetos. Futuramente, os projetos ainda irão fornecer pontos como recompensa, que serão destinados a entidades sem fins lucrativos.