By Alexis Benveniste, CNN Business   Updated 12:31 AM ET, Mon May 10, 2021 New York (CNN Business) Good news for 90s kids who have laundry baskets filled with Barbies in their parents' basements: Mattel wants to recycle your old toys.

TerraCycle, based out of Trenton, is a social-minded business seeking to eliminate waste through simple recycling platforms. Nipun feels “honored” to receive the award, particularly as it combines two of his areas of passion, sustainability and innovation. Envisioning the future, Nipun told us, “I believe this generation is tasked with re-innovating approximately 200 years worth of engineering to shape a sustainable future, and this award only motivates me further to work towards climate change and sustainability imperatives.”

Nipun is an attending member of the TCNJ Environmental Sustainability Council and an invited fellow of the TCNJ School of Business Innovation Fellows which currently consists of six students who advise, and pursue solutions for the City of Trenton for the purposes of economic development, city’s livability, and sustainability.

Nipun’s vision and passion for sustainability make it unsurprising that he was selected for the 2041 ClimateForce Antarctic Expedition in 2021, as one of 80 participants heading to Antarctica for ClimateForce’s Leadership on the Edge program led by Robert Swan, the first person in history to walk to both the North and South Poles. Nipun reflected: “my acceptance to the expedition was quite overwhelming. While the expedition is a fun travel experience, I am cognizant of the mission and my shared responsibility. I hope to leverage my experiences to be at the forefront of our fight against climate change by helping raise awareness, and by using the platform to push firms, and governments to prioritize climate action. Also, I may or may not interview a penguin.”

Nipun Majumdar and his team’s solar desalination prototype.

How P&G, Maple Leaf Foods, Bimbo, Harvey's and more are lessening their environmental impact.

The North Face sets more ambitious environmental targets

The North Face has always counted itself among the more planet-friendly fashion brands, but this year it’s announcing several new goals and beefing up existing efforts with an eye towards being more impactful and actionable. All of the top materials used for The North Face apparel will be recycled, regenerative or renewable by 2025; by 2023, 100% of the brand’s polyester and 80% of its nylon fabrics will be made with recycled content. This is based on where the company can have the most impact, as more than half of its carbon footprint comes from production. The North Face will also eliminate all single-use plastic packaging by 2025. The company plans to launch a new, fully circular line of it most popular styles, made entirely from previously-worn materials and garments. That’s on top of existing initiatives to reduce waste, including its Lifetime Warranty (encouraging repair versus binning), Clothes the Loop program (letting customers donate used apparel for store credit) and the Renewed Collection (a line of refurbished outerwear, which consumers can now contribute to with their own previously worn apparel, beginning on Earth Day). Finally, it will use its purchasing power to affect change outside of its own operations. It will place its “Exploration Without Compromise” seal only on the most sustainable products it sells in its stores and online: all apparel, equipment and accessories it sells must be made with 75% or greater recycled, organic, regenerative or responsibly-sourced renewable materials in order to receive the badge.

Maple Leaf Foods adds colour to Earth Day

In honour of Earth Day, Maple Leaf is launching Climate Change Colouring Kits, available for free online. The book shows the impact of climate change in a family-friendly way, with messages like “Look at how beautiful our West Coast is. But, is that green algae in the water? Ew!… algae blooms can change the actual colour of our oceans and lakes.” Accompanying ominous crayon colours include: “Ocean Green,” “Grass Yellow,” “Forest Black,” “Sand Blue,” “Freshwater Brown,” and “Sky Orange.”  Maple Leaf’s Climate Change Colouring Kits also offer tips about how to be more climate friendly, such as eating less meat. Maple Leaf says this climate education initiative, developed with agency partner Sid Lee, reflects its commitment “to become the most sustainable protein company on earth.” Each colouring book (including packaging) is 100% recyclable and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) Certified, and the crayons are made from eco-friendly soy and beeswax and come in a metal reusable container. To offset emissions, Maple Leaf invested in Hamilton’s AIM Environmental Waste Diversion Project, which converts organic residues from three municipal collection sites into compost products. As part of its planet-first commitments, the company already donates 1% of its pre-tax profits to organizations to help remove barriers to food security, and Maple Leaf is also ratcheting up its plant-based offerings.

Harvey’s partners with Tree Canada on green initiative

Canadian QSR Harvey’s was among the first national chains to focus on sustainability and reducing waste in its restaurants. It was quick to introduce paper straws in early 2019 – today, 80% of all its packaging contains recycled material – and li launched “Grow a Plant” in September the following year, providing a plant kit with every kid’s meal purchased in lieu of a plastic toy. This year, the company has launched a national tree planting initiative with Tree Canada, a non-profit dedicated to planting and nurturing trees in rural and urban environments. Starting today through to June 16, Harvey’s will donate a portion of proceeds from every transaction in restaurants, as well as delivery orders placed through Door Dash, to the organization, with the goal of planting 25,000 trees in 2021. If achieved, the initiative would help capture around 5,000 tonnes of CO2.

Bimbo to offset all of its Canadian electricity use

Known for its Dempster’s, Stonemill, Villaggio, Vachon and Takis brands, Bimbo is Canada’s largest bakery company, operating 16 bakeries, 14 distribution centres and 191 depots across the country. And now, electricity used by all of those facilities will be offset through a pair of new virtual power purchase agreements. Power purchase agreements are a way for large companies to secure energy from providers at a preferred price, but virtual PPAs are a way to do that for providers that aren’t providing power directly to the company – the electricity is instead released into the local power grid. If the provider sells the power at a lower price, the company pays the difference, making VPPAs a popular way to establish renewable energy projects. It also gives companies unable to draw electricity from renewable sources a way to “offset” that consumption by making renewable energy available elsewhere. Through 15-year agreements with global company Renewable Energy Systems, Bimbo’s VPPA will support the development of two wind and solar projects in southern Alberta, totalling 170 megawatts of installed capacity. Bimbo Canada will procure roughly 50 megawatts of renewable electricity from these projects to offset its consumption.

Budweiser gets closer to its fully renewable commitment

Labatt Breweries of Canada has established its own VPPA with Capital Power, supporting a new solar development in Alberta and helping to offset the electricity used in the brewing of Budweiser, Canada’s most popular beer brand. The agreement will include approximately 51% of the energy generated by the solar facility, one-quarter of which will be bundled with renewable energy credits directly from the facility and the remainder with credits from projects elsewhere in Canada. The VPPA is the latest effort by parent company AB InBev in its commitment to brewing Budweiser using 100% renewable energy by 2025. Since establishing the goal in 2018, 10 billion beers have been brewed using renewable energy, with investment of over $1 billion in related infrastructure projects.

P&G makes its laundry brands more recyclable

Recycling plastic is a tough thing. What might be recyclable in one town might not be in another, and the fact that recycling is its own business means that, if demand to buy used plastic isn’t there, plastic products end up becoming waste anyway, no matter what a local facility can handle. To help get around this, P&G has brought a partnership with TerraCycle on an “Eco-Box Recycling Program” to Canada. Consumers can get a pre-paid shipping label to send in products and packaging from the Tide, Downy and Gain laundry brands that may not be recyclable in certain regions, such as the plastic dispensing cups, flexible plastic bags, nozzles and nozzle clips. The plastic is then melted down and molded into new products. As a way to incentivize participation, every shipment of waste lets participants earn points that can be donated to a non-profit, school or charity of their choice. The program is available to individuals, but given that shipping empty bottles every time a household runs out could be a tall order, P&G is also encouraging schools, offices and community organizations to sign up and run their own collection efforts. P&G also launched the “It’s Our Home” campaign in the U.S. last week and in Canada on Monday, encouraging consumers to help contribute to a more sustainable world through small actions they can do throughout the home.

EcoMask Filtering Face Mask

When you’re done using EcoMask’s reusable face mask, you can send it back to the brand and it will recycle the mask for you. EcoMask’s face coverings are constructed from post-consumer recycled materials and boast five-layers of filtration. The mask comes in sizes ranging from Extra Small to Extra Large and are available in five colors: Black, Sage, Rose, Royal Blue and Navy Blue.  

Synergy Organic Clothing Adult Face Mask

Synergy Organic Clothing’s face masks are made from three layers of GOTS certified organic cotton and feature adjustable ear loops. Masks come in packs of two and are sold in kids and adult sizes. Adult masks are available with screen-printed designs like moons and stars, and some are constructed from deadstock — unsold items — so their exact colors and patterns vary.  

Taco Bell is collaborating with international recycling leader TerraCycle to give its sauce packets a second life that doesn't involve a landfill. According to Taco Bell, fans know that the restaurant chain has a mild obsession with its hot sauce packets, with 8.2 billion sauce packets used in the U.S. each year. Taco Bell is the first quick service restaurant brand to partner with TerraCycle to tackle recycling flexible film packets. The companies will announce details of a national U.S. recycling pilot program later this year, Taco Bell said. According to Taco Bell, customer participation will be easy and will involve free shipping. TerraCycle is known for collecting traditionally non-recyclable materials, cleaning them, then melting and remolding them into hard plastic that can be used to make new recycled products. "In the food industry today, there is no widely available solution for recycling the flexible film packets that are so commonly used for condiments," Liz Matthews, Taco Bell's Global Chief Food Innovation Officer, said. "So, we're thrilled to leverage the expertise of TerraCycle to recycle our iconic sauce packet packaging in a way that's as bold and innovative as our menu." The pilot launch of the program slated to take place later this year, and its results will determine how to move forward, including potential program expansion. "Now more than ever, consumers don't want to sacrifice the planet no matter how delicious the meal," TerraCycle CEO and Founder, Tom Szaky, said. "Together, Taco Bell and TerraCycle will push the quick service industry by finally finding a way to recycle this type of product. This effort takes us one step closer to keeping packets out of landfills and our mission of 'Eliminating the Idea of Waste.'

It probably won’t surprise you, a runner, a definite wearer of shoes, to learn that the shoe industry is massive (producing 24.2 billion pairs a year, massive). Also unsurprising is that with its size comes a monster amount of waste as consumers continue to buy and ditch pair after pair. The life cycle (from material processing, manufacturing, logistics, and eventual waste) is estimated to create 30 pounds of carbon emissions for each pair of running shoes. RELATED: Running Shoes are Part of an Environmental Crisis. Is Change Coming? Running brands aren’t oblivious to the problem and seem to grasp that runners are caring more and more about the environment, but aren’t willing to compromise on the quality of their footwear. In fact, that’s where a lot of the dissonance comes into play. To truly reduce the carbon footprint of the sneaker industry, runners need to one day rely on fewer, yet more durable shoes. But no shoe brand wants us to buy fewer shoes. Which means, it’s up to them to find another way. And this April, just in time for Earth Day, many brands are launching new (or beefing up old) footwear recycling and donating initiatives. On’s Cyclon shoe is sold on a subscription basis, where consumers return and recycle the shoe and receive a new pair every five months or so. Photo: Courtesy On Running

Here Are 6 Brands That Will Recycle Your Kicks (And Socks)

Currently, 85 percent of textiles are not recycled, with the average person throwing away 70 pounds of clothing and other textiles annually. In general, recycling shoes is a complex process and depending on the materials in the shoe it might not be possible. “Footwear is difficult to recycle because most shoes are made using multiple, mixed materials which are often stitched or glued together,” says Shaye DiPasquale a publicist for the recycler TerraCycle. “There is not a lot of physical recycling of footwear that goes on,” says Eric Stubin, president of Trans-Americas Textile Recycling. The majority of ‘recycled’ shoes and clothes are shipped places to be reused. Stubin’s company processes about 10 million pounds of post-consumer textile waste from clothing, shoes, and accessories every year. Take polyurethane foam, a material researchers from Northwestern University only recently figured out how to upcycle. “Polyurethane foam waste has historically been landfilled and burned or down-cycled for use in carpeting,” said William Dichtel, who co-led the research. “Our latest work effectively removes air from polyurethane foams and remolds them into any shape. This could pave the way for industry to begin recycling polyurethane foam waste for many relevant applications.” Polyurethane, which is sometimes used in the midsole of shoes does not melt even in extreme heat. Previously, it could only be shredded or compressed in ways that make the material not durable enough for other uses. In general, when clothing is recycled it tends to go to one of these four different end destinations:

1. Reused and repurposed as secondhand clothing (45%)
2. Recycled and converted into items like reclaimed wiping rags for industrial and residential use (30%)
3. Recycled into post-consumer fiber for home insulation, carpet padding, and raw material for the automotive industry (20%)
4. Landfills (5%)

Perhaps the most notable and lauded shoe recycling program is Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe, which is available at select Nike stores. Through the program any brand of athletic shoe is collected to be turned into a Nike Grind product—tracks, courts, walkways, and playground floors made from ground sneakers. Stubin considers the Nike Grind program to be the most “robust and viable program for footwear.” Earlier this month, the sandal company Teva announced its partnership with TerraCycle through a program it’s calling TevaForever. For no additional cost, customers who sign up receive a pre-paid shipping label to send their worn sandals to TerraCycle. Their goal is to also turn the used sandals into running tracks, playgrounds, and more. TerraCycle‘s footwear Zero Waste Box is an option that anyone can order and fill with shoes to be recycled. According to DiPasquale the shoes will either be manually or mechanically separated into fabrics, metals, fibers, organics, and plastics. The fabrics are reused, upcycled, or recycled. The metals are smelted for reuse elsewhere. Wood or paper fibers are recycled or composted. And the plastics are melted down and turned into pellets, flakes, or other usable formats to be molded into new products or packaging. But what if you could buy a shoe with a promise that it will be recycled, rather than looking for a solution on the back end? On, the Swiss shoe company has recently launched its Cyclon shoe subscription which promises to be a closed-loop system. For a fee of $29.99 per month you are delivered the shoes, made of castor beans. When the shoes reach the end of their life, you let On know and they will send you a new pair along with everything you need to ship the old pair back to be recycled into new products. Because of the concept, On was awarded the 2021 ISPO Product of the Year as well as a Sustainability Achievement award. And on Earth Day, Salomon will begin selling its Index.01 shoe in the U.S., which is already available in Europe. Like On’s concept, it promises to be a circular life-cycle shoe. As long as consumers send it back, partners of Salomon will recycle the TPU and polyester into raw materials for use in other products. In Europe specifically, the TPU will be recycled into Salomon ski boots. What about socks? An oft-forgotten item that is more than likely to end up in the landfill. Smartwool has just announced its new partnership with Material Return starting April 21. Like Nike Grind, this program involves collecting old socks (can be any brand or material, but must be clean) to be ground up and used in other products. This is your chance to get rid of those lonely single socks that, let’s be honest, won’t ever find their match. Find a donation center here.

4 Other Ways to Donate or Recycle Your Shoes

Donating your shoes so someone else can get use out of them is probably the best thing you can do with that old pair. Stubin’s biggest piece of advice when donating your shoes: Don’t judge your shoes too harshly. “A good pair of shoes, even if a runner deems them no longer useful, can likely find a second life,” he says. Even if the charity you donate to can’t re-sell the shoes to a consumer, they can still sell it to a recycler. “So if a Goodwill sells clothing to Trans-Americas, we pay them for that material. There’s a market price for that material,” says Stubin. Programs like One World Running and Soles4Souls (a popular choice among running stores) collect and distribute shoes and other clothing to people who need them. To date the Soles4Souls program has found second use for over 56 million pairs of shoes. Find a donation center near you here. Soles4Souls partners with a lot of other high profile donation programs. The North Face’s Clothes the Loop program, for example, will send your shoes to that recycling leader. [Editor’s Note: You can also join our Soles4Souls shoe drive! Get all the details here and help us put your old sneakers to good use.] Also announced this month, Nike will soon start accepting lightly worn, good condition shoes into its refurbished program for resale in 15 authorized stores. You can also check with your local running store to see if they offer any sort of similar takeback program. Extending the life of a garment by one year can reduce its carbon footprint by 25 percent, according to the Thredup fashion footprint calculator. “So footwear that lives on and finds a second life for two to three years, conceivably reduces the carbon,” says Stubin. Recycling vs. trashing shoes is only a small fraction of the problem. Most of the carbon emissions related to running shoes happens in the manufacturing process. At the end of the day, the best thing that can be done is to buy less and make the products we do own last longer. But, as with every environmentally charged movement, we have to start somewhere and demand forward progress and innovation, while doing our part as individuals.

New York (CNN Business)Taco Bell's plastic sauce packets have a short life. After all, what else are you supposed to do with them after they're squeezed to death?

That's soon changing: The fast food chain is partnering with recycling company TerraCycle to give its packets a "spicier second life that doesn't involve a landfill," Taco Bell said in a press release.

Taco Bell said that more than 8 billion sauce packets are used every year in the United States, a massive number that's potentially environmentally damaging. About 710 million metric tons of plastic will pollute the environment by 2040 if action isn't taken, according to a recent study published in "Science."

Specific details of how the program will work weren't released. However, Taco Bell did reveal that the recycling pilot program will launch later this year and that participation will be simple and involve free shipping. Its ultimate goal is for the discarded sauce packets have an "exciting future as something totally new."