WasteCare Corporation is your source for commercial trash compactors, balers, waste equipment, recycling equipment,
industrial shredders and grinders, and other waste related products and services.
Major brands such as Pepperidge Farm and Starbucks are implementing
packaging reductions and recycling programs and as way to illustrate to
consumers that they are taking environmental sustainability seriously and
incorporating the importance of “going green” in their corporate missions
and employee communications.
Campbell Soup Corporation of Camden, New Jersey is the parent company of
Pepperidge Farms and it has set a goals of cutting one hundred million
pounds of packaging from its product line by the year 2020.
In working toward this goal, Pepperidge Farm recently redesigned and
reduced the amount of plastic used in its packages for Goldfish and Deli
Flats by sixty five percent. The new design won the company the DuPont
Packaging Award for Excellence in the category of Waste Reduction and
Innovation. Success has also been seen in moving to lightweight bottles for
the V8 juice drinks brand.
Starbucks Coffee is currently working on addressing its corporate goal of
making their beverage cups recyclable by 2015 and ensuring that all
locations have access to adequate recycling opportunities and providing the
infrastructure to ensure success.
WasteCare Wants You to
Remember: Whether you’re a big, international company or a small,
local business, setting environmental sustainability goals and identifying
areas that can be improved upon, are a great way to help you “go green”
while saving green!
Think the only place for an old car is the junkyard? Think again! The
Toyota Motor Corporation is starting a waste recycling incentive program to
make sure Toyota brand automobiles are recycled.
The company’s Reward for Recycling program will launch in the United
Kingdom and involved owners visiting a website where they can provide the
vehicle registration number and postal code that will supply a valuation for
the car. Locations throughout the country have been established so customers
can drop off the old car with relative ease. The agreed upon cash amount
will then be transferred to the owners bank account.
All automobiles will be collected from the drop-off locations and
dismantled for reuse and recycling. Toyota hope that the incentive program
will encourage owners of older vehicles to dispose of their automobiles in
an environmentally responsible way while supporting the company’s mission of
stewarding environmental leadership in the automotive business sector.
WasteCare Wants You to Remember: When it comes to waste
disposal and waste recycling, it’s important to remember that one person’s
junk can be another person’s gold. When you take a look around your business
or home you might be surprised to discover that some of what you consider
waste has value in the marketplace!
The city of San Francisco, California recently announced that it has met
an eighty percent waste recycling rate for diverting materials from
landfills. This rate is the highest for all similar-sized municipalities in
the United States.
The new percentage rate is up two percent from the prior year and eight
percent from 2009. The high rate of waste recycling can be attributed to the
wide variety of waste materials that are collected. In addition to metals,
plastics, and paper, food and yard waste is also collected for composting.
In analyzing the 444,000 tons of waste material that the city disposed of in
landfills last year, it was determined that half could have been waste
recycled or composted.
City officials firmly believe that not only is recycling great for the
environment but that it’s also beneficial for the local economy due to the
number of jobs that the boost in recycling has created. The city’s goal for
2020 is to become the first zero-waste municipality in the country.
WasteCare Wants You to
Remember: The City of San Francisco is a great example of what a
town, business, or individual can achieve when a goal is defined and steps
made to attain it. Waste recycling can help you to help the environment and
your local economy!
Waste recycled PET plastics are in high demand throughout the world and
despite high numbers of recycling facilities and record collection rates,
there is currently a shortage of PET material for businesses and
manufacturers who use the plastic to generate new products. Unless this
issue is addressed, it could result in escalating prices for those
industries needing the material. Recycled PET is used in food and beverage
containers, fibrous materials, and many household and office products.
There are now 23 PET recycling facilities in the U.S. and their capacity
for handling daily waste plastics materials greatly exceeds the amount of
material arriving. More work could be done, and more people could be
employed, if more recycled bottles arrived. The demand for the material is
there, the issue is collecting it after it becomes post-consumer waste.
The current PET recycling rate is close to 30% a rate that has been
stable for the last few years. Many PET bottle and jars are now made with
less plastic, creating a thinning, lighter product so more needs to be
collected to meet and exceed the needs of manufacturers.
Some of the issues in supply stem from single-stream waste recycling, a
popular choice in many municipalities for its ease of use and low
maintenance, but results in higher contamination rates of materials.
However, if collection rates can improve nationally, that can be offset by
increased volume.
WasteCare Wants You to
Remember: The demand for recycled PET is high but collection rates
are low. Whether you’re a manufacturer needing PET, a waste collection
business, or a municipality, there’s an opportunity to increase revenue by
increasing collection rates!
For the second year in a row, the level of waste recycling of high
density polyethylene has remained the same. Causing concern for recyclers
and manufacturers, and possibly presenting new opportunities.
The recycling rate for high density polyethylene has stayed steady at
close to thirty percent for all of North America with a total amount of
close to 974 million pounds.
Plastics recyclers are concerned that the rate will stay stagnant until
municipalities or industry creates a new need or system for increasing the
rate. Many believe that the HDPE waste recycling rate should be close to
fifty percent and that the industry has the capacity for processes much more
plastics waste than it currently is.
One suggestion on how to boost the level of HDPE materials recycled would
be for municipalities to increase and improve their efforts to recycling
plastic material. Many local governments don’t see a financial incentive for
recycling, so opportunities exist for those industry sectors who need the
recycled materials and are willing to pay for them.
While the export market for recycled HDPE is currently down, the market
in the United States has doubled in the past year and shows signs of
continuing to grow and develop.
Did you know that the heat created by municipal solid waste can be
harnessed for creating electricity? The rate of cities and towns
developing such energy sources is increasing and becoming a popular way
to reduce energy costs.
The heat level of municipal solid waste varies, with rubber and
plastic waste recycling generating more heat than paper and food waste
recycling. To illustrate, rubber materials have a heat level of twenty
seven million BTU per ton while paper containers have a heat level of
sixteen and a half million BTU per ton.
Based on information from the end of 2011, only .3% of total energy
generation can be attributed to municipal solid waste. This information
provides encouragement for those businesses exploring and preparing to
enter the waste-to-energy market. The field is wide open for
opportunities and illustrates how energy can be created from
non-traditional sources that are frequently found in municipal transfer
stations. For materials that could be waste recycled, but are not,
converting to energy provides a solution to overflowing landfills. While
emissions concerns would need to be addressed, if the electricity
generated has greater value than the worth of the waste materials being
sold for recycling and reuse, negotiating a solution for reaching an
environmental balance is worth exploring.
WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Whether you’re a
town official, resident taxpayer, or local business, investigating the
opportunities for waste-to-energy generation could help to reduce energy
costs while reduce landfill waste. Take that trash and find ways to turn
it into green!
Representatives from businesses throughout the world may have individual
interests, but at the Sustainable Packaging Forum in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania last month, they all agreed on one thing: recycling needs to be
less politically driven and more focused on market demands and innovation.
Michael Washburn of Nestlé Waters, believes that extended producer
responsibility is the best way to solve the social, environmental and
economic challenges associated with waste recycling materials.
Nestlé, one of the largest beverage companies in the United States, used
twenty billion PET bottles in 2011 – and the company wants them back to
recycle and manufacture into new bottles. However, getting the material back
isn’t solely up to them – waste disposal and recycling is part of the larger
social and governmental function. Washburn believes that market-driven waste
recycling would produce better results and increase the volume of returned
material as more power is put directly into the hands (and wallets) of the
consumer.
Nestlé, and other industry representatives aren’t advocating removing
local and state governments from trash and recycling efforts, but believe
industry is better equipped to develop and implement innovative recycling
ideas as it directly impacts their bottom-line.
Attendees at the conference agreed that the situation isn’t all bad.
Recent waste management statistics show that landfill use is down and the
use of recycled packaging is increasing. However, more work must be done to
maximize recovery and gain access to recycled materials to further reduce
packaging waste.
WasteCare Wants You to
Remember: Whether you own a small, mid-sized, or large business,
it’s your responsibility to make sure that you are properly managing your
waste disposal and waste recycling. When you do what’s right, you’ll be
saving the environment, saving money, and reducing the risk of government
legislation!
The National Restaurant Association is working with the United States
Composting Council to help increase awareness and educate restaurant
owners about composting and food waste recycling and diversion.
The initial goal is to enhance and expand the Restaurant
Association’s online training program, Conserve Sustainability. The
focus of this educational resource is to show owners and managers how
environmentally friendly actions can help to save their businesses and
employers money.
Both groups believe that expanding educational offerings will
increase the total number of restaurants participating in food recovery
and waste materials recycling programs, while encouraging the
development and growth of local and regional composting businesses.
The two associations realized that by sharing resources they could
better promote their complementary missions. Members of both groups can
now expect quality training on how to save both their financial and
environmental bottom lines while helping to develop local composting
opportunities.
WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Restaurants are a
gold mine of waste recycling material that all too often ends up as
waste disposal in your garbage dumpster. When you consider composting,
recycling, and reuse opportunities, you’ll reduce your disposal fees and
save green every week!
Who wouldn’t want an instant reward for waste recycling? Recycling
kiosks are becoming more frequent sights in shopping malls and airports
and providing consumers and travelers with an easy way to recycle items
that are no longer wanted – and in return, possibly receiving cash or
store credit.
Remag is the company behind the latest brand of recycling kiosks to
become available to the public. Unlike other kiosk vendors that accept
cell phones and other e-waste such as computer games, mobile devices,
and computers, Remag is focusing on a new recycling sector: magazines
and catalogs.
When consumers deposit their recyclables, the kiosk scans the item’s
barcode. After accepting the paper, four coupons per item are dispensed
to use for products at local grocery stores. Recyclers also have the
choice to donate their rewards to charities.
The company is currently test piloting the kiosks through a popular
grocery store chain in California. If all goes well, expansion to other
chains throughout the country is expected.
Research has established that only one in four magazines are being
waste recycled – but with the incentive of receiving store coupons for
recycling, Remag hopes to boost that level.
WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If your business is
looking to expand its waste recycling footprint, thinking outside the
box is essential! What services are missing in your community or
business sector? Is there a way your organization can fill that gap?
A manufacturer of HDPE milk bottles in the United Kingdom, Nampak
Plastics, has recently reported that it has achieved its goal of
becoming a zero-materials-to-landfill business. In 2009, the year
that the goal was but into place, the organization was waste
recycling 90% of its total waste product. Through an
organization-wide communication and awareness plan, the percentage
of waste disposal to recycling or reuse was tracked monthly so that
all employees and stakeholders could see the progress that was being
made.
Much of the success can be attributed to Nampak’s ‘Carbon
Champions’ – employees that had been selected at each of the
company’s nine locations and held the day-to-day responsibilities
for making sure all possible waste recycling and recovery practices
were being used.
The company is already known for its environmentally-friendly use
of lightweight, innovative packaging and utilizing manufacturing
processes that reduce the impact on the community. Achieving the
’Zero-to-Landfill’ compliance certificate is another step in
Nampak’s business plan of being the most environmentally sustainable
business that it can be.
WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Achieving
Zero-to-Landfill goals like Nampak’s aren’t impossible when you
enlist the support and engagement of your community, employees, or
family members. Regularly tracking and monitoring your waste
recycling progress is key to success!
The popular grocery store chain, Whole Foods, has recently made
the decision to switch from plastic to paper and wood-made gift
cards.
The supermarket chain, which specializes in organic produce, is
eliminating its 100% recycled plastic gift certificates and
replacing them with cards made of paper and responsibly harvested
wood.
The new gift cards are manufactured using 50% post-consumer waste
paper material and the Forest Stewardship Council has certified the
wood and paper sources. Whole Foods has decided that the paper-made
cards contain a lower carbon footprint because they are recyclable,
compostable, reusable, and use less energy than the plastic cards to
manufacture.
The gift cards are a popular item for sale in Whole Foods stores
throughout the country, and the change reflects the Austin,
Texas-based organization’s commitment to offer the most
environmentally-friendly products available.
The change is expected to result in keeping close to 300,000
plastic gift cards out of landfills. Individual stores will continue
to accept and waste recycle the plastic cards as customers use them
as the transition takes place.
WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Take a moment
to look around your office or place of work. What products might you
be able to replace with more cost-effective and environmentally
friendly options? With a little research you might find some ways to
save green while going green!
The United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Green
Sports Alliance group recently signed an agreement to work together
on addressing environmental stewardship issued faced by sports
teams, organizations, and venues.
Green Sports Alliance is a not-for-profit organization committed
to helping athletic teams, leagues, and venues cut-back on their
impact in the environment. The two groups will collaborate on
concerns surrounding waste disposal and waste recycling management,
better conservation of water and energy, and improved sustainability
practices. The Environmental Protection Agency will provide athletic
groups working with Green Sports Alliance access to their Energy
Star Portfolio Manager, an tool that allows building and building
managers and owners to track, assess, and manage their energy and
water usage.
The Green Sports Alliance currently works with one hundred sports
teams and venues from thirteen difference athletic leagues. The
group hopes that this partnership with the Environmental Protection
Agency will provide their members with additional tools and
resources needed to create baselines and support continuous
improvement of performance and efficiency.
WasteCare Wants You to Remember: When it comes
to reducing your waste disposal and increasing your waste recycling,
you don’t have to do it all alone! Finding a partner or establishing
a collaboration can help to improve your access to resources and
services.
For as long as there’s been cardboard box recycling, we’ve
been repeatedly warned that cardboard pizza boxes cannot be
waste recycled. But all of that is about to change for pizza
eaters in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, where they can now drop off
used pizza boxes at special recycling points throughout the
community.
The common knowledge, until recently, was that it was
impossible to recycle pizza boxes as they are covered in grease
and leftover cheese and can contaminate the recycling process.
There was nothing to be done except to put them in the garbage
and send them off to the landfill.
Fortunately for recycling efforts, some industry experts
disagree with this belief and are working to include those pizza
boxes with all other cardboard. The belief is that food
contamination can be removed during the preparation and cleaning
process – and while some grease and leftover cheese is ok,
pieces of actual pizza are not. More community like Old Orchand
Beach are moving to include pizza boxes in the recycling pool –
if not for cardboard recycling, then for composting.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, close to
thirty million tons of cardboard was discarded in 2010, with 85%
being recycled.
WasteCare Wants You to Remember: What
popular assumptions are keeping your business, home, or
community from increasing your waste recycling efforts? The
recycling marketplace is constantly changing, so what was once
called impossible might be reasonable and attainable today!
The Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation is
distributing close to two million dollars worth of recycling
profits to the state’s towns and cities.
Administrators from the recycling facility at state’s central
landfill distributed the funds from recycling profits last month
as part of a publicity event and celebration to encourage more
communities to participate in the waste recycling initiatives.
The funds distributed to the communities is a percentage of
the total profits earned by the Resource Recovery Corporation
through the sale of recyclable materials processed at the
recycling facility.
A total of thirty-nine cities and towns received funds that
ranged from twenty-two thousand dollars to more than two hundred
thousand dollars. The profits are determined after subtracting
the recycling facilities’ operating and capital expenses from
the profits earned through the sale of the recycled materials.
This year, the profit came close to four million dollars.
Rhode Island’s recycling rate is close to twenty two percent,
and the distribution of profits is used as an incentive to
encourage greater recycling as a way to lower taxes and increase
community funds.
WasteCare Wants You to Remember: When
establishing or improving a recycling program, it always helps
to incentivize participants. When those who are responsible for
the recycling of materials know they’ll receive rewards for
their behavior, there’s a greater chance they’ll embrace
recycling!
The package transportation company Federal Express didn’t
create its waste recycling program overnight, but the business
has shown how profits can result from reducing the amount of
materials sent to landfills. The company currently estimates
that it earns ten dollars for every one spent on recycling or
recyclable products.
The company has indicated that they have recycled over ninety
three million pounds of waste material since recycling
operations began in 2006. Last year alone, close to fifty
million pounds of materials were recycled.
In 2004, the company realized that waste recycling and
environmental sustainability were concepts that weren’t going to
fade away and that they need to start planning how to address
them and incorporate them into the business model. The now
successful plan started with very humble beginnings: two balers
that were part of a vendor’s “lease-to-buy” offer. Getting the
waste materials to a central recycling location was simple,
given FedEx’s hauling networks throughout the nation.
Despite the success, the company continues to look for way to
be more sustainable. One recent change involves swapping out
packing material such as peanuts and plastic air “pillows” for
reused shredded cardboard shred that originates from the FedEx
recycling center. That change satisfied customers demand and
continues to save the company money.
WasteCare Wants
You to Remember: From humble beginnings grow great
change! If your business is new to recycling, take a page from
FedEx’s play book and start small. Control your costs, monitor
growth, and take advantage of new recycling and reuse
opportunities when they arise. You’ll be surprised what can be
accomplished over time!
Southwest Airlines is using a commingled recycling program
with sky high results. The popular airline has waste recycled
close to seven thousand tons of materials since starting their
recycling program in 2008.
While Southwest appears to have a successful recycling
program in place now, that wasn’t always the case. Developing a
comprehensive plan and implementing it across the country was a
daunting challenge as each airport location has different
policies, procedures, contracts, and levels of access to
recycling services.
However, it was because of all the differences that prompted
Southwest to think creatively about the kind of recycling
program it could have and the types of waste materials it could
successfully recover.
Realizing that employee buy-in was essential to the success
of the recycling program, Southwest went with a commingled
recycling program so employees wouldn’t need to sort the
recyclables and then selected a national recycling partner who
had experience with airlines and was eligible to collect from
their twenty-six national locations. Any nay-sayers to the
airline’s ability to be successful in this endeavor have
certainly been dis-proven. In 2011, the company reported that
two thousand six hundred tons of waste materials were sent to
recycling facilities around the country – that total amount is
equal to the weight of sixty-one Boeing 737 airplanes.
WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Success in
transitioning from waste disposal to waste recycling requires
creative thinking as well as employee input and buy-in. The best
of plans will mean nothing if people don’t act upon them!
A small, independent business focusing on cardboard reuse
company was recently awarded grant money for expansion through
Chase Bank and the popular website, Living Social.
UsedCardboardBoxes.com reclaims used cardboard boxes,
re-purposes them, and then makes them available for resale.
Their grant award was $250,000 to help with expansion and
outreach. The business purchases substantial quantities of no
longer wanted boxes from manufacturers. UsedCardboardBoxes.com
then re-sells the boxes to individuals and other businesses for
less than the price of new materials. Manufacturers have been
eager to sell their unwanted boxes as it reduces waste disposal
fees and relives them of the responsibility of recycling the
cardboard.
In addition to UsedCardboardBoxes.com receiving cash, twelve
other small businesses were also winners. These included
EcoScraps, a food waste recycling business focusing on compost
and lawn and outdoor products; and PlanetReuse, an online
marketplace for reclaimed building and construction materials.
WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Making
money from waste recycling requires “out of the box” thinking
like UsedCardboardBoxes.com! Whether you’re starting a new
business or firmly established take a look for new ways to turn
what’s in your waste disposal container into cash! You might be
surprised what new ideas you can come up with.
The Alaska Air Airline Group is reporting that they diverted
over two hundred and thirty tons of aluminum last year. That was
enough recovered waste material to construct three new
airplanes. This information comes from the carrier’s first
corporate sustainability report.
In addition to the aluminum, the organization’s recycling
programs are responsible for waste recycling more than eight
hundred tons of material waste from landfills, including almost
two hundred tons of paper.
The 2012 sustainability report documents the airline’s social
responsibility efforts and outlines strategies and goals for
improving their environmental stewardship. For the coming year,
Alaska Air’s recycling goals are to increase its recycling
collection to seventy percent and ensure that recycling is
available in all flight kitchens and utilizing Forest
Stewardship Council-certified material for juice containers.
Alaska Airlines services over ninety cities in Alaska and
Hawaii, the continental United States, Canada, and Mexico.
WasteCare Wants
You to Remember: Does your business issue a yearly
environmental stewardship and waste recycling goals report? If
Alaska Airlines recycled enough aluminum to build three
airplanes in one year, what might your business be able to do?
You might be surprised how much you money and waste material you
can save when you have a yearly report to hold yourself
accountable to!
General Electric Appliances, in a partnership with Appliance
Recycling Centers of America, has reached a milestone of
diverting 5.5 million pounds, equal to roughly 100,000 units, of
refrigerators and freezers from landfills. It is estimated that
over nine million refrigerators end up as disposed waste in
landfills every year.
The two companies recently released a report stating that
close to ninety percent of the materials in the appliance has
been waste recycled and will be reused in new products. The
remaining materials that cannot be reused is being utilized in
cement manufacturing. Almost 100% of the foam used to insulate
the appliances is being recovered and reused.
The GE appliances are broken apart at a recycling center in
Philadelphia using a 40-foot-tall device that dismantles and
reduces each unit into smaller pieces. The recycling program is
currently available to new GE appliance consumers in a
twelve-state region along the eastern coast of the US. When
purchasing a new refrigerator or freezer the participating
retailer will remove the old appliance for recycling.
WasteCare Wants You to Remember: When your
business waste recycles and reuses materials, you cut back on
the amount you need to spend on new, raw materials. This allows
you to potentially increase profit or reduce prices for
consumers. Is your business throwing money away with your trash?
The town of Brattleboro, Vermont is set to begin a compost
curbside collection test pilot that will accept everything from
left-over food scraps to kitty litter. Approximately one hundred
and fifty volunteer residents have agreed to participate in the
test run that will last between three and four months.
The test run began in early August and with the goal of
identifying strengths and weaknesses in residential pickup of
organic waste. The collected organic waste material is being
transported to a new Solid Waste Management composting facility
in Windham.
The new program is in direct response to the new billed
signed into law in June, by Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin
banning organic materials from state landfills. By 2014, all
Vermont businesses, non-profit organizations, schools,
hospitals, and major food producers will be required to recycle
and compost. A date of July 1, 2020, has been set for all
residents to recycle and compost.
The test program may be extended into the winter months to
determine how the colder temperatures and snow impacts the
organic waste.
WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Whether
you’re a business-owner or a resident, a large population of
your waste material is food waste. When you invest time to
improve your waste recycling of organic material, you reduce
your costs for waste disposal.
Wondering how to get residents and businesses to recycle more
in your community? Take a lesson from government officials on
the big island of Hawaii and spruce up your transfer station!
Hawaiians says their newly re-designed transfer station is one
of the most beautiful place on the island and as a result, there
has been an increase in recycling efforts.
The landfill re-design was part of an effort to instill a
sense of pride and community well-being as curb-side pick-up is
not offered on the main island. Residents must bring trash and
recyclables to one of 21 facilities where the materials are
self-sorted – if the resident does not sort, then all materials
are sent to the landfill.
The facilities were originally build in the 1970s and have
suffered much wear and tear. Five years ago, officials decided
to begin the re-modeling process so that residents would enjoy
bringing their waste in and staying to properly sort the
recyclables.The facilities are now drive-up in design and
provide large bins for various types of waste, making it easy
for residents to know what is accepted and where to put it. Some
of the facilities also have taken advantage of renewable energy
such as solar electricity and rainwater harvesting – thus
cutting down on expenses. As a result, an increase of 15% has
been seen in the waste recycling rate.
WasteCare Wants You to Remember: What does
your community transfer station look like? When a space is clean
and well cared for, people are more likely to respect it and
work to keep it that way. Can a little housekeeping increase the
waste recycling rate in your town? It certainly did in Hawaii!
China’s Environmental Protection ministry is investigating
policies that could change the market for recycled plastics and
has recyclers in China and abroad concerned.
The biggest concern regards a potential regulation that would
make the import of unwashed post-consumer plastics illegal. In
best practice, plastics should be sorted, wash and ground at the
same stage to preserve the highest quality. The concern with
recyclers is that plastics washed before importing may have
increased water-weight thus inflating the cost per ton. There
are also concerns about the stage in which granulation of
materials should take place and which materials should be
subjected to it.
In addition, the draft policy creates enhanced criteria for
import licenses and facility inspections and businesses that
manufacturer ultra-thin bags, food-contact products, medical
products and construction supplies may find themselves looking
for export relationships elsewhere.
WasteCare Wants You to Remember: China is a
global player in the waste recycling marketplace and it pays to
stay up-to-date on regulations and policies that might impact
your business. Be sure you’re doing all you can to minimize your
risk by diversifying your exports – and don’t forget to look for
opportunities in your home state or community – you might be
surprised by what you’ll find!
San Rafael, California is ready to become the fifty-seventh
community in that state to pass a city-wide polystyrene ban for
food take-out containers. The city is home to approximately two
hundred and fifty businesses and a population of fifty-five
thousand that will be impacted by the ban.
The new rule, which begins October 1 of next year, requires a
final vote that will take place this month. The initial vote
passed 3-0, with two members not voting, and is expected to
clear the final vote. Currently, there are fifty-two California
cities having polystyrene restaurant packaging rules, and the
number increases every year. Most of the affected businesses and
consumers live in the proximity of five urban areas: Oakland,
San Francisco, Fremont, Salinas, and Hayward. Over ninety
percent of California residents still have access to and can use
this form of food packaging.
The San Rafael ruling will apply to one-time use polystyrene
containers such as plates, bowls, trays, cups, lids, and hinged
containers. Meat packaging, coolers and ice chests, and food
prepackaged outside of city limits, and certain utensils are
exempt from the ruling.
WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If you’re
in the food or restaurant business, it pays to look at
alternatives to polystyrene packaging. With more cities adopting
rules against this product, it’s in your best interest to
identify cost-effective alternatives, ways to increase your
waste recycling efforts, and how to decrease your waste disposal
charges!