This month’s edition of Business Insights looks at some of the issues surrounding plastics recycling and plastics pollution. In this month’s edition of Business Insights, we discuss a few of the thorny issues surrounding plastics recycling and plastics pollution. This is likely to be the first of a number of newsletters on this topic.

The Anti-plastic Backlash in Response to Very Visible Pollution Problems

Over the past several months in particular, there has been intense media coverage of marine plastic pollution, as well as the various difficulties in recycling plastic effectively, and the consumer product companies’ (brands) and plastics manufacturers’ efforts to counter the backlash and respond to the recycling issues. From the viscerally disturbing images of dead whales with stomachs full of plastic and sea turtles harmed by plastic straws and plastic six-pack rings, to the frequently cited figure that only 9 percent of the plastics that have ever been produced have been recycled, to the increasingly frequent articles and instances of the landfilling or incineration of low-value recycled plastics, a plastics backlash has seemingly emerged that has recently resulted in a number of government bans and corporate pledges to reduce plastic packaging use and/or increase recycled content.

Bans Cropping Up All Over

Plastic bans, most frequently targeting specific items like straws or plastic bags, began on the local level at municipalities of all sizes, but predictably in West Coast cities like Los Angeles and Seattle. In a number of cases, this has prompted (mostly) GOP-led state legislatures in 11 states to pass preemptive laws stopping the local bans. However, more recently, states have gotten into the act, starting, again unsurprisingly, with California banning plastic bags, followed by New York and with several other New England states likely to follow suit. Again, specific items are more often targeted, but recent states’ actions look to take it farther, with intentions to limit single-use plastics and require more recycled content. On a larger scale, the European Parliament is now moving forward aggressively to ban a variety of single-use plastics by 2021 and require more recycled content by 2025.

The Bulk of Marine Plastic Pollution Stems from Southeast Asia

As well intentioned as these actions are, they will not address the root cause of ocean pollution—90 percent of which has been traced to 10 rivers, seven of which are in Southeast Asian countries. Certainly, sizable and growing U.S. consumption and manufacture of plastics is part of the problem, as water and detergent bottles and plastic packaging ends up as litter in these countries, which is washed into the waterways and then into the ocean. It has been estimated that anywhere between 8 million to 12 million tons of plastics per year flow into the ocean. Insufficient and inadequate waste management infrastructure and a lack of anti-dumping regulation in these countries results in so much leakage out of the system and into the land and water. However one feels about landfills, and this will come as an anathema to the zero waste folks, a modern U.S. sanitary landfill is a safe repository for plastic waste, and plastics disposal in the U.S. is not the culprit behind ocean pollution. That said, materials recovery facilities (MRFs) around the country are likely to welcome plastic bag bans (the more the better!), given the havoc they cause to MRF machinery. But, dealing with marine plastics pollution is generally not in the wheelhouse of the domestic solid waste industry.

The U.S. Does Have a Plastic Recycling Issue, If Not a Pollution Issue

That said, the U.S. DOES have a plastics recycling issue. With the 2018 Chinese ban on mixed, post-consumer plastic recyclables and pending bans or tighter restrictions in other export markets such as India and Vietnam, plastics, particularly low-value recycled plastics, have piled up. There have been a number of instances of waivers being granted to diversion mandates to allow for the landfilling of plastics recyclables, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, which was more dependent on export markets. Although there are reasonably robust markets and domestic outlets for HDPE and PET (Nos. 1-2), domestic markets for the lower-value plastics (Nos. 3-7) are tougher to find and there is less processing capacity to handle them. An estimated 65 percent of Nos. 3-7 plastics had been exported to China. This has been exacerbated by the MRFs themselves, which often given their age and current technology, weren’t set up to properly process many plastics, much less the extremely lightweight single-use plastics. As a result, plastics in the recycling stream often end up contaminating other recyclables like fiber bales, or just passing through the MRFs and ending up as residue. More advanced optical sorters and separation, among other technology enhancements, can increase plastic recovery, and industry publications are increasingly reporting on MRF upgrades, despite the relatively poor economics. The MRF economics are compounded by the fact that the use of virgin plastic is often just cheaper, given the low price of natural gas, and more virgin plastic capacity is forecast to come online in the U.S. Extended producer responsibility requirements, which could serve to create markets and spur processing investment, have largely gone nowhere in the U.S. and look unlikely to on a national basis, while the brand companies have fought them vigorously.

The Bad Optics are Forcing Brands into Action

Traditionally, the viable recyclability of their products was not necessarily the brands’ first priority (as the MRF operators often grouse about), but rather cost and looks. Additionally, single-use plastics have been driven by consumer preference and, particularly when concerning food packaging, have a number of positive environmental benefits, including a potential lower overall environmental impact when looked at on a total lifecycle basis. But, that’s a whole other discussion. However, the growing backlash is increasingly driving brands into action, with scores of companies announcing goals to reduce plastic waste, packaging or put more recycled content in their products, including ALDI, Starbucks, Walmart and Nestlé, just to name a few. A consortium of brands, manufacturers and processors have formed the Alliance to End Plastics Waste to encourage recycling, invest in new recycling technologies and promote recycling and waste management infrastructure in Asia to combat ocean pollution. But, some of the goals look to be somewhat “soft” in nature and a number of years out in most cases.

Redesign and Reuse Efforts and Emerging Technologies Are Beginning to Appear

Many contend that the single-use plastic culture has to change to really solve the plastics problem, and Loop, founded by TerraCycle and several brands, aims to reduce waste by setting up a closed loop system of reusable packaging that it is piloting in Paris and New York. Logistics and cost issues would seem to be paramount here, as Loop will provide pickup and cleaning, much less consumer appetite for the idea. Increasingly, there is also talk of using chemical recycling technologies for difficult-to-recycle plastics, such as Renewlogy’s, which just partnered with the Phoenix Public Works Department. But, as with all new technologies, the economics and scalability must be demonstrated. In the meantime, a number of more traditional recycled plastics processors are expanding and trying to take more types of plastic and mixed plastics, like EFS-Plastics, Merlin Plastics and KW Plastics. And of course, as we have previously written, several Chinese companies are investing in plastic processing in the U.S. to pelletize plastic recyclables, which still can be exported to China.

Loop, the circular product and package manufacturing and distribution platform that graced the cover of Packaging World last month was developed by TerraCycle, Inc. and is now supported by two-dozen or so international brand owners.

TerraCycle

Loop

 

 

TerraCycle was founded in 2001 by Tom Szaky. The company operates in 21 countries across five lines of business. It is headquartered in Trenton's north ward, off New York Avenue. Graffiti-like slogans scrawled across the exterior walls include "OUTSMART WASTE" "REUSE UPCYCLE RECYCLE" and "ZERO WASTE." "TerraCycle wanted to partner with BSB Gallery because of our mutual love for Trenton," Kim said. "It was compiled from a bunch of different sources but the artwork was all sourced from our office. Everything was really created from waste. Upcycled clothing on loan from The TerraCycle Collection. Textiles made from recycled plastic chip bags, candy wrappers, juice pouches & more. Yep, those are Dorito's bags.     One of the site-specific installations is titled "Streets Keep Callin," a mixed media concept by Leon Rainbow, Stickers and tags by various artists. Painted and installed by Leon Rainbow and Brendon Lopez.     The other site-specific installation occupies a bank vault in the gallery, which is in the former Broad Street Bank building. "Green Palace," a showcase of three-dimensional shapes incorporating upcycled materials by Heemin Moon in collaboration with Dororthy McNee.               The former Broad Street Bank building, at 143 East State St., now houses the BSB Gallery. "Scrapped" runs through April 13, 2019. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. The gallery is hosting a closing reception on Friday, April 12, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m

CVS, Colgate-Palmolive and the Starlight Children’s Foundation are asking CVS customers to recycle their used toothbrushes, empty toothpaste tubes and floss containers to help win a playground for a children’s hospital.   CVS customers are invited to shop their local retailer to replace and recycle their used oral care for a great cause. After replacing your toothbrush, simply visit the CVS promotion website at cvs.com/shop/content/colgate-recycle, and download a free shipping label and ship your oral care waste to TerraCycle for easy recycling. The state that collects the most waste will win a new playground, made from the recycled materials, that will be awarded to a Starlight Children’s Foundation member hospital.  

YouTubers are digging through the trash for free beauty products — but why are they there in the first place?

  Beauty with Mi, hosted by Refinery29's beauty writer Mi-Anne Chan, explores the coolest new trends, treatments, products, and subcultures in the beauty world. Never miss an episode by subscribing here.   Jessica Casler's one-bedroom apartment is packed to the brim with things she's found on the curb or at the bottom of trash cans. Glittery palettes, scented lotions, expensive hair tools, and fluffy makeup brushes are scattered across a table in her kitchen — the collective bounty of seven years of dumpster diving. I spot some familiar brands: Clinique, Sexy Hair, It Cosmetics, Anastasia Beverly Hills. Some of them have clearly been used, while others appear to be completely untouched. And she found all of it in the dumpsters behind the beauty store near her home in New Jersey.   Casler is part of a community of dumpster divers who share their finds on YouTube. In a world where hauls documenting new product purchases have become commonplace, dumpster diving videos serve as a type of "anti-haul," shedding light on cosmetic waste and breathing new life into products typically destined for landfills. Over the years, Casler has discovered thousands of dollars worth of products in the dumpsters behind stores like Ulta Beauty and Sally Beauty. A large number of these products are returns or testers, while others are leftovers from final sales. "The first time I went diving, I found a box that said 'returns or damaged,'" Casler says. "I pulled it out and inside was a bunch of nice product. I put it in my car and went home. Not every dive goes like that, but the first time was very successful." So, what happens with all the recovered products these divers bring home? Many people use the items themselves, but a growing number have taken to reselling them online in what's become a booming black market. Texas-based dumpster diver, Matt Malone, told Wired he could make upwards of $250,000 a year if he dedicated himself to dumpster diving full time. But he primarily sells electronic waste — and beauty products pose a much greater hazard. Because they're swiped directly onto skin, lips, and eyes, beauty products from the trash can put consumers at risk of contracting infectious diseases like staph, herpes, and E. coli, says Joshua Zeichner, MD, director of Cosmetic & Clinical Research in Dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital. Yes, even if you dip them in alcohol. "When I hear about sanitizing the applicator of a liquid lipstick, you're not sanitizing the liquid itself," he says. "Products that are liquid or in a moist environment creates an environment that allows for bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms like fungi to grow." And even if the products still have their protective seal, there's an issue of efficacy. Some ingredients, such as retinol, are less effective if exposed to sunlight or high temperatures (like, say, a dumpster on a hot summer day). Others might be expired. "If you're looking at something like sunscreen and you're using it past its expiration date, that sunscreen filter isn't doing the job it should be doing. You're putting yourself at risk," Dr. Zeichner adds Legally speaking, dumpster diving occupies a gray area. Thanks to the 1988 Supreme Court case California v. Greenwood, the warrantless search and seizure of garbage left for collection outside of private property isn't prohibited by the Fourth Amendment. In short, individuals or businesses have no reasonable expectation of privacy for items that were discarded, which means dumpster diving, as long as it occurs on public property, is legal. Certain local ordinances, however, can prohibit the practice in some places.   Many divers feel the benefits of dumpster diving outweigh the risks, especially if it means pointing a finger at America's waste problem. "The first time I went dumpster diving, it was so eye opening," says Casler. "When people hear that I dumpster dive, they always wonder why. But there's so much more than that. I hate thinking that all that stuff is going to be unused and go to a landfill when it doesn't need to be."   If you search "beauty product dumpster diving" on YouTube, the videos with the highest views (some in the millions) are all from dives behind Ulta Beauty stores. When asked why the retailer instructs employees to throw products away, and their stance on dumpster diving in general, Ulta Beauty provided this statement:   "Health and safety is a top priority for Ulta Beauty and we strongly discourage the unsafe, and sometimes illegal practice of “dumpster diving.” We are aware that individuals sometimes assume the risks associated with this practice and retrieve discarded products. Ulta Beauty, like other retailers, disposes of products for a reason. Products that are damaged, used, expired or otherwise unsaleable or unsuitable for donation are disposed of in accordance with applicable laws, rules and regulations. These products should never be retrieved or used."   It's understandable that stores need to dispose of their unsalable product, especially if it poses a potential health concern. That's why some retailers have asked their employees to destroy makeup to keep it out of the hands of divers, including taking a knife to powders, cutting up lipsticks, or tossing foundation over makeup. This practice has become known in the dumpster diving community as "souping."     But while souping might deter dumpster divers, it doesn't solve the greater issue of waste — and that's a conversation that starts at the top. Beyond brands making efforts to create refillable makeup, eco-friendly packaging, and practice low-impact production, retailers and brands need to take better steps to recycle unused products. But because a large majority of beauty product packaging can't be processed in municipal recycling centers (pumps, pipettes, and some tubes don't qualify, for example), that often means bringing in third-party recycling organizations.   TerraCycle, which specializes in hard-to-recycle materials, is one such organization that works with major beauty brands like Garnier, Burt's Bees, and Tom's of Maine. The Garnier program, which is TerraCycle's longest standing beauty partnership, has diverted over 11.3 million pieces of waste from landfills. Says Gina Herrera, the US brand partnerships director at TerraCycle, it's high time for retailers to start thinking about the end of life of their products — and it's something consumers want, too; more than 66% of global consumers report they would pay more for a sustainable product.   Despite the obvious wasted product, many stores have made steps toward a more sustainable future. Ulta Beauty, for example, has created a Corporate Energy Team which reduced the store's electric consumption by over 3,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2017. The store also makes an effort to recycle cardboard and plastic shrink wrap. But there's a long way to go across the industry.   At the consumer level, there's a responsibility to make smarter purchasing decisions, too. Beyond choosing to support sustainable brands, it's also important to consider returns. While it's great that stores allow customers to return used makeup, this means that they're also required to throw that product away for obvious health and hygiene reasons. This contributes exorbitantly to the waste created by retailers, as consumers lean more heavily on generous policies — especially with the rise of e-commerce which doesn't always allow for testing.   In an attempt to really wrap my mind around the sheer amount of waste the beauty industry produces, I accompanied Casler on a midnight dive. As Casler and I sifted through a dumpster behind a strip mall near her home, we found two boxes full of products. Next to a bag of what smelled like the store's food waste, we spotted dozens of discounted hairsprays, hair gels, and dye. In a box a few inches away, we found a complete set of powder acrylic polish, body lotion, and shampoo. "Oh, this is that good shampoo for blondes," Casler said as she sifted through the bottles. While there was definitely a thrill in discovering products, it was coupled with dread over witnessing the sheer amount of waste from a single day.   While dumpster diving might look like a niche pastime, the community of divers are actually bringing up a much larger conversation about ethical consumption and corporate responsibility. And if the climate reports have shown us anything, it's that companies and consumers need to take responsibility for the impact they've having on the world — and soon.   When asked what she'd like to see from the dumpster diving community in the future, Casler looked me dead in the eye and told me she hopes it doesn't even exist. "You wouldn't even want to dumpster dive, because everything would have a home."        

Every time I get through a bottle my favorite Givenchy Matissime Velvet foundation, I pick a new one up from Sephora and throw the old one in the trash bin in my bathroom. I usually don’t think twice about the fact that beauty products, much like products found in your kitchen, can sometimes be recycled. I’m not alone in this. In a study found by Unilever, in 2015, 42% of Americans didn’t recycle their bathroom products because they didn’t know if they were eligible for recycling, and 27% didn’t think their bathroom products would actually get recycled. SEE ALSO: So who’s winning the K-Beauty war? The skepticism and confusion aren’t unwarranted. Most recyclables aren’t immediately made into new products. When they’re picked up from your curb, they’re sold to facilities that can recycle them. What’s worse: historically, the U.S. and most other Western countries have sold their recyclables to China. Since January of 2018, China has refused to import waste from other countries for the protection of its population and environment. According to NPR, a lot of the waste which was previously recycled by China is just ending up in landfills, or being sent to countries that don’t have the proper infrastructure to deal with it. Besides the political factors making recycling difficult, the process of recycling beauty products can be tricky. “Bottles for shampoo and detergent are considered ‘high-density polyethylene’ and are generally regarded as safe to recycle at your local facility,” says Sophia Gushee, author of “A to Z of D-Toxing,” told Fashionista. However, nail polish is known for its toxic qualities and harmful chemicals, so disposing of it is not as easy as just tossing it away in the trash or recycling bin. Though beauty brands are putting more focus on sustainability and reducing their ecological footprints, it’s really hard to know how to recycle products that aren’t made out of traditional plastic or aluminum. So what can you do to ensure your beauty products are actually recycled? Read on, below. That’s right, clean them – but it doesn’t have to be squeaky clean. According to Self, if you don’t clean out your containers before recycling them, then they won’t get sorted properly. This means that for all the conscious effort you put in, they’ll just end up getting tossed. Further, every city has different rules when it comes to what materials can be recycled, so just because you could recycle one beauty product in New York, doesn’t mean you can do the same in LA. Check your city’s regulations for that.   You’re in the clear To make matters more complicated, odd-colored materials are difficult to recycle. Meaning, recycling facilities really only have the capability to sort clear, brown, and green plastics, so if your moisturizer comes in a pink plastic container, think twice before tossing it in the recycling bin. Finally, squeezable tubes (like toothpaste), pumps, and droppers (basically every serum ever) should be thrown in the trash can because recycling facilities don’t have the infrastructure to properly recycle them. Moral of the story is this: If you want to be green, you shouldn’t buy containers that come in beautiful colors no matter how beautiful you #shelfies turn out to be. When in doubt The downside to recycling incorrectly is that even though you’re making the effort to separate your items and put them in the recycling bin, they still end up in a landfill. But fret not, if you have a beauty product you have no idea how to recycle, you can send it to a company that does. It’s called Terracycle, a company that hopes to do this all for you. All you have to do is drop off your difficult to recycle waste at a Terracycle drop off point, or mail it to them in one of their zero-waste boxes. Give it away If you’re going to make the effort to recycle, make sure you’re doing it the right way. The whales and turtles – and us fellow humans – will thank you.

A 3M e o Makro anunciam uma parceria para levar os pontos de coleta do Programa Nacional de Reciclagem da Scotch-Brite para as lojas do atacadista espalhadas pelo Brasil. Ao todo, as 68 lojas do atacadista já possuem as caixas coletoras que fazem a arrecadação das esponjas.