Monthly Archives: March 2013

Fast Food Chain Tries Composting Food Waste

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The popular fast food restaurant chain White Castle is preparing to try a pilot program for composting food scraps and other organic waste at six locations throughout the Columbus, Ohio region.

The locations participating in the test program will recycle all uneaten and unused food waste and paper products. The collected refuse, which will range from coffee filters to hamburger boxes to all food products, will be composted by a locally-owned Ohio-based company. The compost that results from the program will be used for landscaping throughout each White Castle property and will also be available for sale by the general public to use in gardens, yards, and commercial landscapes.

The trial will run for six-months, and if it is determined to be successful in terms of waste collected, cost savings for landscaping, and reduction in waste disposal fees, then the chain will consider expanding the program to additional locations throughout the country.

This latest “green” program isn’t the first for White Castle, the company also decided to make the switch to recycled paper bags and materials as part of their environmental sustainability plan.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If you’re in the restaurant business, there are many ways you can save some green by going green. Recycling more, composting, and cutting back on your garbage production is a smart move that may also earn some some positive publicity for your efforts!

New Mexico Town Trades Bags For Benches

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In a new partnership between residents of Las Cruces, New Mexico and the outdoor furnishings manufacturer Trex Company, a collection of unwanted and used plastic bags is underway to help defray the cost of new benches for the city’s parks and recreation areas.

Trex, which makes furniture made of wood alternatives such as plastic, is sponsoring the collection effort which will run through the spring and summer. Local businesses and residents will be able to drop off and recycle a variety of plastic bags including department and grocery bags, plastic bags for food, newspapers, laundry and dry cleaning, as well as bubble wrap and plastic bags used for packing and shipping. For every thirty thousand bags collected, Trex will provide one all-weather park bench made from their alternative materials formula.

City officials are enthusiastic and claim growing participation and support from members of the community, including local businesses as it’s a low cost way to enhance the city’s parks and overall quality of life for residents and visitors. Due to budget cutbacks, the city would be unable to fund upgrades to the existing benches or acquire additional ones. By galvanizing community involvement, the city is both able to promote recycling while obtaining some much desired outdoor seating.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Are your elected officials for your local government thinking outside the box when it comes to waste management and recycling? If your town has a public park or green space, how is its upkeep being funded? A plastic bag collection initiative might be a great way to cut costs!

 

Zero Waste Certification for Businesses

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The United States Zero Waste Business Council has started a third-party certification program to verify zero waste status for businesses of all sizes located within the country.

The Zero Waste Business Council is a not for profit organization located in California that was created in 2011. The organization’s goal is to work with businesses wanting to achieve zero waste goals by diverting waste materials from local landfills and incineration options by reducing consumption, reusing materials throughout their natural life-cycle, exploring recycling and re-sale opportunities  and composting organic waste and food scraps. The organization requires a minimum diversion rate of ninety percent for zero waste classification.

The group recently awarded zero waste classification to Whole Foods Market grocery stores in the San Diego area. The organization also offers educational tools for businesses and community groups interested in learning more about the importance and process of achieving zero waste status. The group hopes to provide some much needed credibility and verification to claims of “zero waste” allowing consumers to develop trust that the statement is more than simply marketing language used by businesses eager to be seen embracing environmentally-friendly trends.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If your business has already started down the road of reducing waste and increasing recycling, looking into certification programs may be your next smart move in setting your offerings apart from your competitors!

More Colleges Creating Zero Waste Plans

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Seen as a way to both cut waste disposal fees and appeal to students’ desire for environmentally sustainable measures, more and more colleges and universities are moving to enact plans designed to achieve a goal of “zero waste”. One of the schools that has recently embraced recycling practices is Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. School officials have announced that they have established a goal of diverting ninety percent of all generated waste from regional landfills within the next ten years.

The University currently has a forty percent diversion rate and the first step to improving that was the implementation of single-stream recycling throughout all campus academic and administrative buildings. Students, teachers, and employees will now be able to mix all recyclable material in one disposal container instead of having to separate. It is expected that this switch will bring instant increases in the amount of recyclables collected each month and reduce the total amount of recyclables that end up in the trash.

The University will also be using the initiative to better analyze the consumption habits of the campus community as a way to plan future ways to promote re-use and reduction. Additional plans for expansion of recycling services, including recycling efforts in dormitory buildings, cafeterias and snack cafes, and athletic facilities, will continue to be implemented in the weeks and months ahead.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: The most important part of addressing your waste disposal and recycling habits is to come up with both long term and short term plans. Where is your business right now in terms of expenses and consumption? Where would you like to be? Starting even with small steps today can save you money tomorrow!

Anheuser-Busch Hits Waste Diversion Milestone

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United States brewing company Anheuser-Busch, has recently release a notice that it has attained a  slightly over ninety nine percent waste diversion and recycling rate for the solid waste and waste byproducts at its InBev corporate headquarters and brewing facilities.

In 2009, Anheuser-Busch established a goal of a ninety nine percent recycling rate to be achieved over a period of three years. The plan would involve one hundred and thirty brewing and beverage production facilities in more than twenty countries. The company had reached a ninety eight percent waste diversion rate, but in a international organization, one percent can translate into millions of dollars of savings or cost, so doing even more to recycle was considered a necessity.

The Anheuser-Busch facilities recycle nearly everything that is a part of the production process: brewers’ grain, scrap metal, aluminum, glass, cardboard and all other incidental items. To date, the company has saved over four hundred and twenty million dollars due to its emphasis on recycling.

In addition, the company has recently reduced its water and energy use as a way to both cut costs and reduce carbon emissions.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: As your business grows, making small changes to your waste disposal and recycling habits can add up to substantial savings. When was the last time you sat down and looked at ways to reduce your monthly or weekly fees for trash hauling?

Electronics Waste Recycling Improves in Quebec

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Electronics retail chain, Best Buy, has recently decided to expand its popular recycling program to all stores in the Canadian province of Quebec.

The new electronics waste recycling program, which launched on March 1 of this year, will allow Quebec shoppers and residents to recycling their unwanted, outdated, or not functioning electronic waste without cost at all Best Buy stores. Items do have have to have originated from Best Buy and all brands will be accepted.

The e-waste to be accepted includes TVs, computers and their peripherals (speakers, keyboards, mice), computer monitors, laser and ink-jet printers, all makes of mp3 music and video players, cell phones, pagers, digital cameras, cell phones, DVD/CD players and turntables. All items collected will be responsibly recycled using authorized e-waste recyclers in Canada.

Best Buy had previously launched e-waste recycling programs at stores in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario to much success. Last year, the Best Buy stores recycled almost six million pounds of waste electronics, one hundred and seventy five thousand cell phones and forty five thousand pounds of batteries.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Smart expansion is a key to growing your business effectively. What can you do to add more green-friendly products or services to your current offerings? What can you do to eliminate your waste disposal costs by recycling or reusing the trash you generate?

Another City Takes Up Food Container Ban

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In the state of California, the city of San Jose is moving forward with their plans to implement a ban on all polystyrene foam containers designed for food take out and grocery use.

The City Council of San Jose had previously investigated the possibility of establishing a local recycling program for the foam food containers, but the plan for that was ultimately rejected due to cost and implementation concerns. As a result, the city is moving forward to develop a policy that would ban the containers for all businesses within city limits.

The policy has supporters and detractors of the plan. Detractors, including the American Chemistry Council, cite other municipalities in California that are successfully recycling the polystyrene foam. However, supporters equally cite other communities in the state that have implemented bans on the substance with much success and relatively low hardship on area businesses.

The plan will be voted on by the City Council later this summer.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If you own a restaurant, deli, or small grocery with take-out food items, you know that polystyrene foam containers are a business staple. However, alternatives are available and it’s worth investigating them if your business is in an area that is seeing activity on implementing bans and limitations. It’s always better to be thinking ahead instead of being caught after the fact, so start investigating cost-effective, green friendly options today!

College Campus Learns About Waste Recycling

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In eastern Maryland, Salisbury University, has made such improvements in their waste disposal and recycling systems that they are now diverting more than fifty percent of all waste materials generated on campus.

Recycling started at Salisbury back in 1980, and over the years the service has grown and been enhanced to include everything from the dining hall’s cooking grease to old carpets. In recent months, the University has formed a strategic partnership with a composting facility in Delaware to compost all of its food and organic materials waste. This change helped to increase the recycling rate by almost twenty five percent.

The school’s food scraps are sent to Blue Hen Organics where the resulting compost is sold to area gardeners, landscaping businesses, and farmers. So far, over three hundred tons of food waste, that otherwise would have ended up in local landfills, has been diverted and re-used.

The school has also invested in additional recycling collection bins for glass, aluminum, and cardboard and will be holding a recycling competition later this academic year. According the school officials, the goal is to have the school reach a one hundred percent recycling rate so that the reliance and cost of disposing of trash become zero.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Schools are the perfect place to start recycling programs. Students are typically eager to participate and administrators are always on the look-out for ways to cut costs. What is your local school doing to promote recycling?

Plastic Film Recycling Sees Increases

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According to a recent report released by the American Chemistry Council, in 2011, one billion pounds of light weight plastic film and bags were recycled in the United States. That amount represents a four percent increase from the prior year and a fifty five percent increase from 2005.

Increases in consumer demand and manufacturer production of plastic and plastic-composite decking and building materials is cited as a reason for increased collection and recycling efforts. Deck and siding manufacturers bought and additional one hundred and twenty million pounds of recycled plastic material in 2011 and that amount is expected to see year over year growth as the construction industry embraces green building practices.

While the majority of plastics collected is processed in the United States or Canada, almost forty percent is still process oversees. There are more than fifteen thousand collection locations in the United States, mainly in retail and grocery chains, where polyethylene bags can be recycled. This number is expected to increase as more consumers demand convenient recycling options.

The report also speculates that the biggest future growth is to be found in the recycling of pre-consumer clear plastic such as shrink wrap which is highly desirable on the re-sale market but has been difficult to collect.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Remember that old-time saying, “The future is in plastics”? The same holds true today, expect we need to change it to say, “The future is in recycling plastics”! If your business uses or manufactures plastics, staying in the know about recycling and re-selling is essential.

Walgreens Embraces Green Building Techniques

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Walgreens, the popular pharmacy and drug store retail chain, is scheduled to build its first fully self-powered green commercial building utilizing geothermal, wind, and solar building technologies.

The store recently announced its plans to go “net zero” energy usage and become a leader in green building for retail and commercial use. Environmentally friendly construction techniques have grown in popularity in those business sectors with high energy usage such as data centers and manufacturing plants but retails locations have been slower to embrace the change.

The new, environmentally friendly store will be constructed in Evanston, Illinois, and is replacing an old Walgreens store that was energy ineffective and required updating. Customers coming to the new store probably won’t see much of a difference, but behind the scenes there will be wind turbines and solar panels, geothermal heat, LED lighting, and high efficiency refrigeration.

Designers of the store believe that when finished, the facility will produce more energy than it consumes therefore eliminating the monthly energy costs from the red into the black.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Even if you don’t have the word “green” in your business name like Walgreens does, you can still embrace smart green building techniques the next time your facility needs updating or new construction. Not only can these enhancements save you money in the long run, but they might even get your business some good press for being forward-thinking and environmentally conscious!