Category Archives: HDPE Plastic

HDPE Plastic

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!

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!

Grocery Chain Switches To Paper Gift Cards

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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 Global Market For Recycled Plastics

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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!

Waste Recycling of Plastic Increases Profits

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One of the concerns that businesses involved with plastic recycling have is how to consistently draw a profit.  While this is a necessity for any enterprise, with plastics recycling it isn’t always simple.  Gaining access to quality plastic waste materials can be difficult and the end-users, those businesses that manufacture goods from recycled plastic, can be ever-changing.

The most successful organizations involved with recycling plastics are those who keep a constant eye on developments both at the input and output level. Limiting a business to a single channel or stream, for example, food-grade, automotive, or construction, can result in potentially devastating results when market supply and demand changes happen in that sector.

Flexibility is also essential for success and having a production model and that can swiftly respond to the ever-changing needs of the marketplace is essential. With each passing year, the nature and use of plastics recycling changes – new products, new uses are constantly being developed – and the market show no signs of slowing down. As more large corporations adopt sustainability goals, the need for raw materials and finished goods changes. Successfully plastic recyclers are ones who keep their feet grounded in the present market, but always have their eyes and minds trained to the future.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Waste recycling of plastics is an important part of any recycling program and creating a business from the recycled bottle and containers can be environmentally and financially rewarding. Whether you’re starting a new business or have been establish for some time, it makes sense to be aware of the constant changes that are happening in the waste disposal and waste recycling world!

 

Waste Recycling At The University Of Colorado

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The University of Colorado is making a bold move and enhancing the recycling system in place for the school’s residence housing and cafeterias.

As the new school year started in early September, students, faculty, and staff at this Boulder, Colorad campus were greeted with a switch from separate recycling bins located throughout the dorms and eateries to single-stream bins.

The commingled recyclables, which included paper and bottles are being collected and processed by the non-profit group Eco-Cycle.

The switch to single-stream was done with the hope that recycling would become easier for all students and employees and therefore boost participation and the amount of materials that is waste recycled each month.

The University is staying with dual-stream recycling models for its academic and administrative building and over the year with collect data on which of the two methods was most successful for reducing waste disposal.

For this year, the school’s recycling goal is reduce the amount of landfill waste generated from one hundred and seventy pounds per person to one hundred and forty seven pounds per person pounds. The school is aiming for a waste recycling rate of ninety percent. The University began its recycling program in 1976 and its sports stadium is currently working toward a zero-waste goal.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Not sure what kind of recycling program to try in your business? Learn a lesson from the University of Colorado and conduct a trial experiment! The tools and services for waste recycling are always changing and improving so if you are willing to try something new you might just stumble upon a great new way to save your company some money!

 

Children Prompt Waste Recycling For Markers

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Dixon Ticonderoga, a leader in the writing utensil manufacturing market, has recently announced that it will establish a national magic-marker recycling program. The program was prompted by a letter writing and outreach campaign started by a group of elementary school students in California.

The company, which is primary known as the makers of yellow No. 2 pencils, said that it  is planning to increase the program so that it includes many of its other writing implements and art supplies. Many schools rely on these supplies throughout the year, so the waste recycling program is seen as a way to appeal to school districts wanting to reduce their waste disposal fees while providing a service that is environmentally friendly.

The decision to start the recycling program happened after students at the Sun Valley Elementary School launched an online petition on Change.org in early May, asking another popular manufacturer, Crayola, to provide a way to recycle used magic-markers. The students revived over eighty thousand signatures, but Crayola refused to implement a recycling program. This refusal prompted Dixon Ticonderoga, a Crayola competitor, to step up and offer a recycling program to school for their products.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Do you have a competitor who is refusing to address customers calls for recycling? By making the decision to “go green” your business can possibly attract new customers and add “green” to your bottom line!

 

Increase in Plastic Bag Bans Worldwide

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The call to ban plastic bags throughout Southeast Asia becomes louder with each passing month. Environmental supporters cite that the abundance of plastic bags is contributing to street flooding, clogged drains, and damage to marine life.

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam’s largest city, has been considering a ban on plastic takeout bags and Malaysia has imposed a ban on free bags one day a week in an effort to reduce. Current waste recycling efforts are very low in Malaysia with close to ninety-five percent of all waste being sent to landfills.

The rapid increase in the amount of waste generated throughout the region can be attributed to growing populations, economic growth, and greater affluence creating a large consumer class that did not previously exist.

Municipalities are most concerned with drainage issues created by the plastic bags which result in flooded streets, contribute to visual pollution, and are not biodegradable. In addition to reducing the amount of bags, officials are also trying to eliminate the habit of littering by promoting the concepts of reusing and recycling.

When the furniture and household goods retailer Ikea announced last year that its Malaysia store would eliminate all plastic bag use it said that it wanted consumers to think about their attitudes towards free plastic bags and encourage the habit of using reusable bags for their shopping.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Is your business considering an expansion in Southeast Asia? If you’re in the reusable container or waste recycling business, opportunities might exist for you!

 

Remyxx’s 100% Recycled Shoes

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How about this for an innovative business idea? Using a mixture of number 5 recycled plastics such as yogurt containers, Remyxx shoes is making a name for themselves while promoting recycling. Printed on the very top of the shoe, and making quite a statement, is the number 5 recycling symbol of a triangle made of three arrows.

Gary Gagnon is the founder of this new venture, and he is currently working on getting these shoes in front of a larger audience. The entire shoe is 100% recyclable from the bottom sole to the laces to the padding in-between. The idea for the Remyxx shoe came about when he noticed a pair of old sneakers in a trash can – ready to go off to a landfill. He  then met with a chemist who helped him to create the mix of plastics that go in to making his distinctive, unique sneakers.

The material created by the recycled plastics has the appearance of canvas, but is something else entirely. Remyxx has recently raised almost forty five thousand dollars through a fundraising campaign and plans on using the funds to make more of the eco-friendly shoes and officially start his business. The average cost of the shoe, which will be available in both youth and adult sizes, averages $65.

Each year over three hundred million pairs of shoes end up in landfills through traditional waste disposal means. The break-down time for most footwear is up to forty years depending on the material they are made of.

For buyers of the shoes, the company will offer the incentive program Reduce, Reuse, Remyxx, where their old Remyxx shoes can be sent back for recycling in return for a five dollar coupon for their next pair.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: One person’s trash can be another person’s goldmine! Take a look at what ends up in your trash bin. Are you missing out on an opportunity to make money and increase your business?

 

An End to Plastics Waste Recycling Codes?

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The plastics recycling industry has introduced a new community outreach and education plan that removes resin identification codes from plastics. The group cites that the codes prevent recycling as they cause confusion among most consumers.

The new recycling plan instead uses the six types of plastics that are most popular and easily identified by consumers.

Resin identification codes, which are a number located inside of a triangle made of arrows and stamped on the bottom of plastic containers, were initially designed for the recycling industry and not for household individuals. They have been in use for over twenty fice years. Consumers often have difficulty identifying the number or have uncertainties about which numbers are accepted by their municipality.

The new plastics recycling plan illustrates six different categories:

1) Plastic bottles
2) Plastic containers without thermoformed packaging
3) Plastic containers with thermoformed packaging
4) Rigid plastic without bags or foam
5) Plastic with bags or film wrap
6) Plastic without bags or film wrap.

Each category will have a corresponding graphic as well as facts designed to help individuals properly identify the plastic they are looking to recycle. The hope is that consumers will be able to easily and quickly determine which plastics can be put in their recycling bin without searching for resin codes.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If you’re looking to increase waste recycling in your home or business, make it as simple and easy as possible for everyone to know what belongs in the recycling bin and what goes out for the trash. Educating all involved will have to reduce your waste disposal costs!