Monthly Archives: October 2012

Businesses Go Green With Packaging Improvements

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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!

 

Toyota Works To Waste Recycle Cars

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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!

San Francisco Posts Record Waste Recycling Rate

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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 Recycling On The Rise for PET

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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!

Opportunities for HDPE Waste Recycling

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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.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: The waste recycling markets are constantly shifting and it’s important to stay up-to-date on current trends, news, and forecasts. While the outlook for HDPE may appear less than ideal, this could present a opportunity for the manufacturer, municipality, or recycler who is thinking outside the box!

Waste Recycling Increases Energy Generation

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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!

Promoting the Business of Waste Recycling

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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!

Education About Restaurant Food Waste Recycling

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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!

Consumers Rewarded for Waste Recycling

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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?

 

Zero-to-Landfill for Plastics Business

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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!