The Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC), a project of GreenBlue, is pleased to announce additional participants in the soft launch of its pioneering How2Recycle on-package recycling labeling system. Major brand names, including Best Buy, Clorox, and Minute Maid, will be joining 10 other leading companies already participating in the soft launch, including Costco Wholesale, General Mills, Seventh Generation, and REI, in implementing the label on select packaging available nationwide in early 2013. Additionally, the SPC has announced its five-year plan for the labeling system.
How2Recycle was developed to reduce consumer confusion around recycling in the United States with a clear and consistent recycling label and corresponding informational website, how2recycle.info. It provides companies with an easy way to conform to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) “Green Guides” while using nationwide recyclability data. While several other recycling labels and symbols exist, the How2Recycle Label is the only one that communicates recyclability across all material types and gives explicit directions to consumers to influence their recycling behavior. It also specifies when a package component is not recyclable.
The How2Recycle Label will be appearing on a new juice product from Minute Maid, Clorox’s Scoop Away products, and select Exclusive Brands products from Best Buy.
“Reducing our environmental footprint is important to Clorox. One way we can do this is to encourage consumers to recycle our packages. Consumers understand the concept of recycling but are frequently confused on what packages can or can’t be recycled. They want the process to be easier and we think the recovery label does just that,” said Gwen Lorio of Clorox. “As we enable consumers to recycle correctly, we ensure more quality recycled material is available for us to use, our consumers send less waste to landfill, and we can reduce the energy needed to create new packages. Overall, this can be a win for us all.”
The How2Recycle Label can already be found on numerous products available (or soon to be available) in the marketplace, including Esteé Lauder’s Aveda Outer Peace Acne Pads; a variety of Kirkland products from Costco Wholesale; General Mills’ Yoplait yogurt brand; Microsoft computer accessories; REI’s Novara bicycle accessories, multi-towels, and hang tags; most Seventh Generation products; and Sealed Air’s Fill-Air inflatable packaging. A photo gallery of the packages carrying the label that are currently in the market is available here.
The soft launch of the label will run through the first quarter of 2013. Full implementation of the label will begin thereafter and will incorporate feedback gathered during the soft launch period from consumers, retailers, participating companies, local governments, trade associations, and recyclers. The SPC plans to add up to 20 additional participants after the soft launch phase and aims for the label to appear on the majority of consumer product packaging by 2016.
Companies interested in using the label on their products after the soft launch period can contact GreenBlue Senior Manager Anne Bedarf for more information at 434.817.1424 ext. 314 or anne.bedarf@greenblue.org.
“We look forward to taking this long-term SPC project to the next level,” said Bedarf, who along with GreenBlue Project Associate Danielle Peacock has shepherded the process. “With the revision of the FTC’s Green Guides now out, attention again has turned to accurate and transparent recyclability messaging, and the SPC’s How2Recycle Label is quickly becoming the industry standard. We designed the business model with a tiered structure to encourage participation by businesses of all sizes, and we look forward to working with a diverse group of forward-thinking companies as we enter the next phase.”
Month: November 2012
On November 12-13, I had the pleasure of attending the Southeast Food Waste Reduction conference, presented by the Carolina Recycling Association along with government and non-profit partners. The presenters and exhibitors showcased a compelling array of activities, ranging from industry initiatives in food donation, organics and compostable packaging collection and processing, and understanding the myriad of triple bottom line benefits associated with waste diversion, including compost (the noun) and composting (the verb).
I presented on the SPC’s new project, “Scaling Up Composting in the Charlotte Area,” for which we recently received a grant from US EPA Region IV and matching funds from Mecklenburg County in North Carolina. The project will be co-led by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s IDEAS Center—Infrastructure, Design, Environment & Sustainability Center. Additional partners include Elemental Impact, with their partner the National Restaurant Association, and Earth Farms composting. Mecklenburg County’s recently conducted a food waste study showing major food waste generators, and potential collection and transport options, which our work through this project will help to scale up.
You may be wondering, how is packaging a part of the food waste issue? Packaging often protects the product and enhances shelf life, resulting in “less waste in the first place.” Additionally, certified compostable foodservice packaging such as plates, cups, and utensils enable the consumer to easily separate the compostables into one bin.
There are now over 90 programs across the country where residents can place compostables into a curbside bin, and this number is growing. This conference reminded me just how important the expansion of this service is to moving us towards true sustainable materials management—reducing waste and finding a valuable product as a result.
We are excited to announce that the GreenBlue Board of Directors has appointed Nina Goodrich as Executive Director of the organization. Goodrich will also continue in her current role as Program Director for GreenBlue’s flagship project, the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC).
“We are thrilled that Nina is taking on the role of Executive Director for GreenBlue, and we look forward to the benefits that her innovative thinking will bring to all of our programs,” said GreenBlue Board Chair Guy Gleysteen, a Senior Vice President at Time Inc.
Goodrich is an internationally recognized leader with expertise in sustainability, innovation, and organizational development. She was previously Program Director for PAC NEXT in Toronto, an initiative of The Packaging Association that strives towards a “world without packaging waste.” Goodrich also founded consultancy Sustainnovation Solutions to inspire industry to understand the business opportunity that sustainability offers and the role it can play in re-inventing competitive corporate strategy.
GreenBlue is working to build a world where businesses are leaders for environmental stewardship and products are designed from the start with sustainability in mind. Since its founding over 10 years ago, the organization has grown from a small start-up with a pioneering strategy of working directly with business on product design to a well-respected thought leader in sustainability. Through successful projects such as the SPC, CleanGredients, the Forest Products Working Group, and Advisory Services, GreenBlue has earned a reputation for its scientific credibility and technical expertise in helping businesses implement concrete sustainability solutions and innovations.
“Nina’s passion and energy make her the perfect leader for both GreenBlue and the SPC,” said Jeff Wooster of The Dow Chemical Company, who is a member of both the GreenBlue Board of Directors and the SPC Executive Committee. “We are excited about the benefits this alignment will bring to the organization.”
This appointment of Goodrich as Executive Director recognizes the importance of SPC within the GreenBlue family while continuing to support the broader GreenBlue mandate.
“I see this as a great opportunity to work towards the GreenBlue vision of making products more sustainable,” said Goodrich. “GreenBlue and the SPC have a shared vision to develop the sustainability strategies and tools that can mobilize industry to embed sustainable thinking into their product development processes.”
Categories
Top Five Fun Facts: November
Eric DesRoberts continues his monthly series of facts and tidbits he’s uncovered during his research to better understand products and packaging. You can also check out his past Fun Facts here.
1. Roughly 35 million pounds of candy corn will be produced in 2012. This equates to roughly 9 billion individual pieces.
2. In 2011, the federal government provided $4.1 billion to Homeless Assistant Programs to provide for the more than 600,000 homeless people identified in the United States.
3. Forty eight million Americans get sick from eating tainted food each year. From January 2011 to September 2012, these illnesses led to 37 deaths and over $200 million in health related costs (including hospitalization, pain and suffering, and lost productivity).
4. The average shopper spent nearly $400 on Black Friday last year. Computers and electronics, clothing and shoes, and video games were the most popular items
5. Roughly 250 million turkeys were produced in 2011. This equates to roughly 7.3 billion pounds of turkey meat, or 16 pounds consumed per person. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, here is an interesting infographic illustrating the holiday.
As part of our increasing work in recycling and recovery, Project Associate Danielle Peacock and Senior Manager Anne Bedarf continue their recycling blog series, ReLoop, which will address different recycling topics, questions, and concepts. You can check out other posts from the ReLoop series here.
There are three primary ways to collect household recycling: source separation, single stream, and no separation from trash (or “all in one”), and each of these methods provides unique benefits and trade-offs. So far in the ReLoop blog series, we have covered source separated recycling and single-stream recycling. In this blog we take a closer look at “all in one” collection, also known as mixed waste processing (MWP) or using a “dirty MRF.”
MWP is a one-bin system where the consumer places all trash and recyclables in one bin with no separation. This material then proceeds to a sorting facility to glean recyclables. In our previous blog post on single-stream recycling, we discussed how a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) works. These facilities use a combination of machinery and human hands to sort.
MWP uses what is commonly called a dirty MRF because the incoming stream is household trash (also known as Municipal Solid Waste, or MSW). See this report for profiles of different types of sorting facilities, including pictures. This report also estimates that MWP facilities make up less than 5% of all MRFs in the US.
There are varying estimates of the effectiveness of MWP facilities[1]:
- Kit Strange in Issues in Environmental Science and Technology estimates that 10-30% of waste entering a MWP facility is recovered as commodity grade recyclables, with contamination contributing to this low rate. Contamination is reduced when input comes from homogenous sources like office buildings.
- The City of Toronto studied various waste treatment and recovery systems, including dirty MRFs. They found that success relies on a clean and dry stream, and current recovery rates rest around 5–10% with a low quality output due to contamination. They ultimately chose a different course of action.
- StopWaste.Org (Alameda County, California) calculated the average recovery rate for MWP facilities in California at 19%, compared to 85% at single-stream MRFs.
- Pinellas County, FL also studied California facilities. They found a maximum recovery rate of around 30%, with a higher rate possible when co-locating with composting. It was not recommended as the primary method of recycling.
- R3 Environmental planned to co-locate a dirty-MRF with an incinerator in New Hannover County, NC. The project ultimately failed.
As with any recycling system, there are trade-offs:
Good – MWP requires no consumer participation, education, or sorting behavior. It can also be used to recover additional recyclables from the waste stream missed in recycling separation. MWP facilities can also co-locate with single-stream recycling MRFs, waste to energy, or composting facilities to maximize their impact. The quality of materials recovered through MWP is maximized if the source is homogenous, like office waste, or has organics removed prior to disposal.
Bad – The lack of consumer participation can also be seen as a negative, as there are no educational opportunities and consumers are less likely to make the connection to the impacts of their consumption habits. In addition, compared to the other methods, the potential for contamination is very high and the recovery rate is relatively low. Pre-separating organics and investing in technology can improve this process. However, these two options revert to consumer participation and require significant investment in machinery. Use of human labor exacerbates the potential for negative human health impacts on workers. Accepting all municipal solid waste into a MWP facility increases the likelihood of worker being exposed to dirty diapers, spoiled food, sharps, medical waste, and hazardous wastes. In his book Garbage Wars, author David Pellow describes such conditions for workers in a Chicago facility in the mid 1990’s, which used a combination of technology and hand sorting.
Contamination continues to be an important factor in the recycled commodities market. Contaminated materials require extra processing or are rejected outright and sent to landfills. The export market for these lower quality materials is also shrinking. Most recently, China has begun to crack down on unwashed plastic imports and contaminated paper bales.
The Grey Area – Like both of the recycling systems previously discussed in this blog series, decision makers must weigh the pros, cons, and costs of any system. What is the primary goal of the recovery system? Are you using MWP as the sole recycling system? Are you using it to glean additional recyclables from trash after single-stream separation? Are you co-locating with energy recovery or composting? How much are you willing to invest in technology versus human labor?
One East Coast city provides a particularly salient example. In this city, which will remain nameless, transparency is lacking at the local dirty MRF, and processes and recycling rates are unknown. Advertisements from both the dirty MRF and haulers falsely promote a recycling rate of 90%[2], push the dirty MRF as a superior recycling option, and confuse residents by labeling it “single-stream recycling.” Contamination is billed as “not a problem,” though discussions with local recyclers show significant concern regarding material from this source. Many residents adopted the dirty MRF as their primary recycling option though curbside and drop-off recycling were available. While some robust local dialogue occurred, there is still a prevailing misconception that the dirty MRF recycles 90% of all waste and is a viable recycling option.
So where does MWP fit? In my opinion, it is not appropriate as a primary recycling option. At present, the best opportunity for MWP is co-location with a landfill or waste to energy facility to provide a final sort of municipal solid waste prior to disposal. Concurrent organics source separation would greatly decrease contamination. This catches missed items and provides a last effort in areas with no recycling ethic or options. However, it should not be billed as a significant recycling option.
[1] For the purpose of this blog, recovery rates are the percentage of materials that enter the facility and are diverted to recycling. The remainder may be landfilled or sent to a waste to energy or incineration facility.
Recovery rate = Amount Recovered for Recycling / Total Input
Recovery rate = Amount Recovered for Recycling / Total Input
[2] The facility offers a sorting line designated only for construction and demolition waste. This line achieves approximately 90% recycling as a homogenous and dry stream.
