Categories
GreenBlue Sustainable Packaging Coalition

Environmental Trade Offs: A look at the sustainability of bag-in-box packaging

As more companies incorporate environmental sustainability into their business practices and long-term corporate goals, there are often trade offs and compromises between environmental and economic desires. A company’s primary drivers may or may not align with environmentally beneficial choices, and companies often straddle that delicate line between seemingly incompatible objectives. Ideally, they end up going for the best possible choice that meets both their economic and environmental desires, as well as their consumer’s needs.
BigBox_504x672Recently, Aristocrat Vodka unveiled their new bag-in-box (BiB) packaging design, which uses a plastic pouch and spout housed within a waxed cardboard box. The benefit of the BiB design is that the packaging holds more than double the volume as their traditional 750 ml bottle, so shipping becomes more efficient by volume, which may result in better fuel efficiency. Typically, the BiB design – commonly used for dispensing large volumes of liquids – consists of a flexible plastic pouch or bladder with a plastic spout housed within a corrugated cardboard box. The wine industry noticeably popularized this packaging in the past few decades. Companies have issued LCA studies for BiB packaging in comparison to other conventional packaging option for liquids – including PET bottles, LDPE bottles, aseptic bottles and glass bottles – and many studies have concluded that BiB packaging is environmentally competitive, and in many cases superior to, other commonly available packaging formats. Also, BiB packaging makes wine and other spirits a feasible option for large outdoor events, particularly if glass is prohibited. It’s generally viewed as a sustainability success when BiB packaging eliminates bulky materials, ships more efficiently, and adds consumer value.
But the individual components of the package reveal a more nuanced narrative in the switchover from the plastic bottle to the BiB package. On one hand, the plastic pouch uses less material, contributing to an overall reduction of plastic, but the caveat is that the flexible plastic pouch is not as widely recyclable as the plastic bottle in most communities. The flexible plastic pouch in the BiB packaging is a composite #7 plastic, whereas the plastic used for the traditional 750 ml bottle is PET, which is more widely accepted and recycled across the country. In 2013, EPA concluded that about 29.8% (75.8 million tons) of the MSW stream is packaging waste. Of that, about 18% (13.98 million tons) is plastic packaging waste and 27% (3.78 million tons) of all plastic packaging waste in the MSW stream is flexible plastic wraps, bags, and sacks. The majority of flexible packaging waste ends up in landfills because it’s often composed of multiple resins that are difficult to separate and because recyclers do not have the capabilities to accurately capture composite films and pouches.
Just as important to BiB packaging as the plastic pouch interior, the material of the exterior shell contributes to a package’s overall recyclability. However, unlike boxed wine packaging that uses a clean, corrugated cardboard exterior that’s fully recyclable, Aristocrat Vodka chose a waxed cardboard exterior. What are the benefits of this design? Waxed cardboard, which has been treated, coated, or saturated with wax, provides a waterproof barrier for moisture control. This feature allows consumers to either freeze or fill their boxes with ice to chill the product to temperatures more suitable for consumption.
While the chillable packaging offers consumer convenience, waxed cardboard is not considered recyclable by the majority of paper mills across the country because non water-soluble wax coatings will eventually create problems in the repulping process. While paper mills can handle a small amount of wax, they generally prefer clean cardboard and paper that is free of coatings, films, and liners; these substances will adhere and persist through the pulping process, impacting the longevity of mill equipment and contaminating the final product. From a market standpoint, it’s more challenging for a paper mill to produce high-grade product when the feedstock includes waxed cardboard that can cause imperfections, particularly when the residual wax and additives decrease tensile strength and reduce tear resistance. Wax chips also result in spots and can inhibit inks from drying properly on the final product. Since paper mills prefer clean corrugated cardboard, many communities have explicitly banned waxed cardboard from their recycling collection stream.
Fortunately, waxed cardboard is recoverable as organic waste and useful as feedstock for backyard composting. Additionally, there are new technologies that allow paper mills to process waxed cardboard, including a series of washers that separate a significant amount of wax. But access to these technologies and facilities is still largely limited. While 47 alternative wax coatings currently available on the market have undergone testing by the Fibre Box Association to be deemed “recyclable”, wax alternatives still have some limitations. They often only mimic certain characteristics of standard wax coatings, and they may not meet all performance criteria (temperature, moisture, light, oxygen) in the same way that standard wax meets all these criteria across the board. Nevertheless, recyclability of the BiB packaging could be improved if it used an alternative wax coating. Until economic feasibility exists for expanded use of these wax-processing technologies and wax alternatives, manufacturers, brand owners, and consumers should expand their knowledge about beneficial disposal options for waxed cardboard.
BiB packaging certainly facilitates more efficient shipping and offers certain consumer benefits such as portability. Despite the potential benefits, Aristocrat Vodka’s BiB package is a lost opportunity to offer a recyclable package. It’s encouraging that a major brand like Aristocrat Vodka is pushing for creative packaging that could move the liquor and spirits market toward more widely utilized sustainable packaging options, but work remains to pinpoint the best solutions that meet environmental sustainability, economic preferability, and consumer needs.

Categories
GreenBlue Recover More Sustainability Tools

Scaling Up Composting in the Charlotte region

By Ryan Cooper, LEED GA, Project Associate of the SPC. 138x138xRyan-Cooper-headshot-e1436541175621.jpg.pagespeed.ic.Uv-2bWd7Xv
With funding from U.S. EPA Region 4, Mecklenburg County, the University of North Carolina, Charlotte (UNCC) IDEAS Center, and in-kind contributions from Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) member dues, nonprofits GreenBlue and Elemental Impact, in cooperation with UNCC and composter Earth Farms Organics, are Scaling Up Composting in the Charlotte Region. The SPC is providing the initial funding for food waste generators to separate kitchen scraps and other organic materials from their trash. GreenBlue’s SPC recently recruited the Carolina Panthers franchise as a participant in this exciting program!test 01 (1)
The project aims to identify best practices for diversion of food waste from the landfill. The SPC will also provide local governments and businesses with a deeper understanding of the challenges and solutions associated with organics recycling. Data will be collected and analyzed for the weight and composition of the organic material, as well as the financial implications of participating in food waste collection.
Earth Farms Organics provides technical assistance, hauling services, and composting capacity for interested parties to recycle their organic residuals. Earth Farms’ proven success had already attracted many key stakeholders in the region, with names like Dole, Nestle, and Lance. Mecklenburg County also started a food waste collection pilot in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system, which has 164 schools and 144,000 students. In addition to the Panthers, the SPC has made it possible for the YMCA, Carolina Place Mall, and the Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) to start composting. The SPC also successfully recruited the Food Lion grocery store chain, with 100 locations in Mecklenburg County alone.
With help from Rick Lombardo at Natur-Tec and Sarah Martell at Innovia Films, the SPC gathered current curricula related to sustainable materials management and composting, as well as completed a composting lesson plan, for Nicolette Torres’ 6th Grade Environmental Science Class at Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy. The SPC is also working on coordinating waste diversion at Metrolina as a three-bin package (compost, recycling, and landfill trash).
At Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC), the SPC provided funding to start food waste diversion at the Harris campus and purchase compostable liners. The SPC also coordinated donation by Rubbermaid for “slim jim” bins.
Working with Earth Farms Organics, the SPC provided compost bins for attendees and food vendors at the South End Hops Festival. GreenBlue is working with Mecklenburg County to enhance their support for recycling and composting at larger, and especially smaller, events around the city. The SPC is also collaborating with Mecklenburg County and CMS to gain an understanding of their innovative program and where improvements can be made.
Tyler Gilkerson, a geology student at UNCC, was welcomed to this project in April of 2015. Tyler immediately perceived this project as an opportunity to make a positive impact on his hometown’s environment and community. As the son of a geologist and grandson of a farmer, Tyler grew up learning the importance of responsible waste management and fostering healthy soils. Prior to UNCC, Tyler attended Guilford College, where he became an integral part of his institution’s on-campus, organic production farm and food waste diversion program. Upon graduating in 2012, Agromatters, LLC, formed by Tyler and his father, was awarded a contract to co-manage the Guilford Farm and a small Type III composting operation. With hopes of applying this sustainable, “closed-loop” concept to a municipal scale, they began operating a large Type I composting facility in Cabarrus County. Tyler has since decided to postpone his business pursuits and focus on his formal education. Tyler ultimately aims to apply the lessons he has learned during this project to a career involving pollution prevention and remediation of essential natural resources.
Tyler has been using the Re-TRAC Connect program to analyze the weight data of participants’ food waste. Waste characterizations by Gilkerson had begun at participating CMS schools before the school year ended, examining the volume, density, and rate of contamination in the food scraps. The most exciting waste characterization so far might have been at the Bank of America Stadium after the CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer match.
Information about the grant program was featured in the May issue of BioCycle magazine, the industry journal for composting. The SPC is currently working with the YMCA on bringing in additional campuses as well as adding front-of-house composting collection.
Anne Bedarf, Program Manager at the SPC, is the principal investigator of the grant. However, with Anne out on maternity leave, Ryan Cooper, LEED GA, Project Associate with the SPC, has taken the helm. Ryan has extensive experience in using compost for organic farming and horticulture, started a small Type III compost facility at the Penland School of Crafts in western North Carolina, and worked with the City of Asheville, NC, to develop a feasibility study for curbside residential food waste collection. His thesis reviewed organics recycling programs in municipalities throughout Europe and North America. He writes regularly for BioCycle magazine.
Challenges for food waste generators include space, labor, cost, and logistics such as ramps on loading docks that facilitate the removal of rolling food waste carts. New management can also step in and put an end to existing waste diversion programs. Difficulty with implementing front-of-house compostable packaging solutions include concerns about the difficulty of replacing currently used food service ware, contamination, and cost. Many times, it seems that an unseen bureaucracy can stop a potential participant from joining the program.
However, the recent site visit and operations tour of IKEA, a program participant, was an impressive example of the success that businesses and institutions can achieve by diverting their food waste. Outreach via calls and email to address problems, providing resources to disprove perceived issues, trials with compostable materials, and persistence in communications and value proposition can overcome the common challenges.
GreenBlue strategic ally Elemental Impact,5LM07VQt a national non-profit based in Atlanta, recently visited Charlotte for a series of follow-up meetings with shopping malls, stadiums, a conference facility, and other key stakeholders. SPC Project Associate, Ryan Cooper attended these meetings, organized by Ei Founder Holly Elmore, on recycling refinement, including food waste collection for compost. “The recent Elemental Impact trip to Charlotte was incredibly successful” said Cooper.
The EPA Region 4 grant team is now planning for the SPC Advance session detailing the results of this project in Charlotte on October 8, 2015. In addition to adding more participants to this successful program, Ryan Cooper will be busy compiling the final report for the EPA, his presentation for SPC Advance, and a BioCycle article detailing the results of the project.
Ryan has extensive experience in using compost for organic farming and horticulture, has started a small Type III compost facility at the Penland School of Crafts in western North Carolina, and has worked with the City of Asheville, NC, to develop a feasibility study for curbside residential food waste collection. His thesis reviewed organics recycling programs in municipalities throughout Europe and North America. He also writes regularly for BioCycle magazine.
 

Categories
GreenBlue

Introducing our new Project Associate, Rosemary!

Rosemary Han, SPC Project Associate

Tell us about your background
I’m from Richmond, Virginia but originally grew up in New York, where I have childhood memories of helping my mom sort plastic and glass recyclables at our local grocery store’s reverse vending machines. I think that’s where my love affair with recycling began. In 2012, I completed my undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia, where I had the opportunity to work closely with the recycling department as a student employee. During my time there, I learned about pressing sustainability issues and implemented change through student-led and grant-funded projects focused on recycling and zero-waste initiatives. This experience, paired with my summertime job as a crew member for Clean Vibes, a recycling and waste management service provider for outdoor music festivals, cemented my desire to pursue a career in environmental sustainability. Prior to joining GreenBlue in July 2015, I worked for an environmental consulting firm supporting U.S. EPA and the Superfund Redevelopment program.
Why were you interested in working with GreenBlue?
I had known about GreenBlue for several years and always admired the company’s work. My prior experiences with recycling and composting exposed me to the end-of-life handling of materials, and I became curious to fully grasp the lifecycle of those materials from beginning to end. I learned about GreenBlue’s approach with closed loop systems and valued its research on sustainable packaging. Though there are many inherent complexities to environmental sustainability, GreenBlue proves to be a leader in tackling the issues, sparking dialogue among industry, and creating beneficial tools and resources. Beyond the subject matter of its  work, I also appreciate the company’s enthusiasm to investigate new approaches and implement innovative ideas.
What are you most looking forward to working on at GreenBlue?
I’m looking forward to engaging with a diverse array of stakeholders through the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC). More specifically, I’m excited to work with various members of the SPC in assessing industry trends and corporate sustainability goals. I’m also looking forward to challenging myself to learn new things within GreenBlue’s wide breadth of work and having opportunities to learn from my fellow GreenBlue colleagues who have subject matter expertise in niche topics.
Fun facts about yourself?
I am a volunteer on-air host for WTJU, the local non-commercial radio station here in Charlottesville. It’s a great way to share my passion for music and connect with the local community!
I’m fluent in French and have studied abroad in a few francophone countries, including France, Senegal, and Morocco.

Categories
GreenBlue Sustainability Tools Sustainable Packaging Coalition

Why Aren’t More Forests Certified?

Protecting and managing forests, and all the essential services forests provide, is critical to the well-being of our planet and its inhabitants. Forests provide clean air and water, wildlife habitat, and a home to an enormous and vast array of biodiveristy. Forest also provide recreational value, resources we depend on every day, and support economies all over the world. Forests are so much a part of our everyday lives they are often taken for granted. How can we protect forests when we depend on them for so much?
Active forest management, and particularly sustainable forest management (SFM), are strategies to help strike a balance in the relationship between society’s needs and maintaining forest health. Forest certification programs, first introduced in the 1990s, are one tool that have been established to assure stakeholders SFM practices are being followed. The Programme of the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) gives a good definition: “Sustainable Forest Management certification provides forest owners and managers with independent recognition of their responsible management practices … certification provides forest owners and managers — families, communities, and companies — with access to the global marketplace for certified products.”
Today only about 12% of the world’s forests are certified to third-party systems such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). This is despite the fact that many companies request certified wood for their products. Demand in many industry sectors — solid wood, paper, and packaging — is much greater than the supply of certified wood. It begs the question: Why aren’t more forests certified?
This was the fundamental question that SPC’s Forest Products Working Group (FPWG), a collaboration of 20+ companies across the supply chain, spent the last year and half trying to answer. Working across the forest products value chain, from landowners to brand owners, the the FPWG companies found that there are a number of reasons why forest certification has not been more widely adopted, with a specific focus on the United States.
Through a series of interviews, workshops, and research, the group has found that the underlying issue is that forest certification needs to offer a more compelling value proposition to small private landowners in the United States. Likewise, forest certification also needs to offer a more compelling value proposition to brand owners. Over the course of the next few months, the FPWG will be sharing their findings from this project, including the process the group used during the project called the Value Innovation Process, or VIP. An approach that was integral to developing our findings because we asked, first: “What is the job that forest certification is hired to do?” Or in other words, getting a better understanding of “what is the value of forest certification” before looking at ways to fix certification as is.

Using the VIP, the FPWG sought to understand why many landowners and forest managers have opted not to seek certification. At the other end of the value chain, we also explored the dynamics driving leading brands and other corporations to focus on buying certified products. We also reached consensus that there are many uncertified forests that are currently practicing sound, sustainable forest management. Against this backdrop, the group is seeking to find additional strategies to enhance the value of certification.
The FPWG interviewed numerous members of the value chain including landowners, foresters, loggers, merchants, printers, manufacturers, brand owners, associations, consultants, and more. The FPWG hosted two in-person Summits where we brought value chain members and representatives from FSC, SFI, and ATFS to discuss strategies to better drive the value of forest certification. The findings were numerous. Often complex. And in the spirit of innovation, not surprisingly, findings varied enormously. In the next few months the FPWG will be discussing sharing in more detail what we heard across the value chain.
In the context of the VIP, we continue to seek answers to complex questions such as:

  • How might we gain assurance of Sustainable Forest Management when certification is not an option?
  • How might we focus on value chain members who can have the most impact on driving the value of forest certification?
  • How might  we address feedback that certification is overly complex, expensive, and does not deliver optimal desired value?
  • How might we stimulate better dialogue across value chain from landowners to brand owners?
  • How might we overcome perceptions that landowners are not practicing sustainable forest management?
  • How might we educate multiple stakeholders about forestry and forest ownership?
  • How might we create a better value proposition for small private landowners and brand owners?
  • How might we create market incentives, policies or other mechanisms that will fundamentally help keep forests as forests?
  • How might we explore innovative strategies to go beyond certification?
  • How might we gain a better understanding of supply and demand?

In the spirit of innovation, we welcome input from multiple stakeholders as we continue to tackle these complex issues.  Stay tuned for more findings and notices of upcoming events.

Categories
GreenBlue Recover More Sustainable Packaging Coalition

Conversation about current challenges in the recycling industry

I’m not usually a talk radio person, but a talk radio show has very much caught my attention recently. Last week, The Diane Rehm Show on National Public Radio explored New Challenges to Recycling in the United States. The guests engaged in a conceptual yet pragmatic discussion about how previous policy decisions in recycling are now starting to cause problems, and how different communities could approach these issues going forward. The conversation included some interesting details about the connection between the price of commodities and recycling, such as how the price of oil impacts whether companies choose to manufacture products out of recycled materials.
Another part of the discussion explored how a recent increase in size of curbside recycling bins has resulted in a greater volume of materials being sent to recycling facilities. Unfortunately, an unintended consequence of that increased volume has been an increase in what waste management professionals deem “aspirational recycling,” or consumers indiscriminately throwing miscellaneous materials into their recycling bin, in hopes everything will somehow get recycled.
The problem with that kind of sorting behavior, according to the guests of the show, is that some of those items can cause interruptions and mechanical snags in the recycling process. An example provided was a rubber hose: if its presence wasn’t detected on conveyor belts shortly after reaching the recycling facility, it likely would later become entangled in one of the machines, requiring a temporary shutdown of recycling operations.
The show also looked into how consumers feel and behave around these issues. One call-in listener provided unique anecdotes about her pleasant experience in Sweden, where she sorted her recyclables into sixteen different bins.
As a new Project Associate for GreenBlue working primarily on the How2Recycle program, this show particularly interested me as someone who is eager to interpret the most recent and controversial issues in recycling. These often confusing topics can be difficult for even a well-intentioned recycler and environmentalist like myself to wrap my head around. For example, why do American localities have such vastly different recycling and composting systems?
Consider the following example: I recently relocated to Virginia from Oregon. As a resident of Portland, I had curbside composting in addition to recycling (with glass in a separate bin; or, I could return glass to the grocery store to receive a deposit refund). But as a resident of Albemarle County in the greater Charlottesville, Virginia area, I now don’t have access to a curbside recycling program, even though my not-too-distant neighbors closer to downtown Charlottesville do have curbside recycling—and the instructions for sorting there are different than in Portland.
It’s mind-boggling how different communities seem to recycle in such conflicting ways; the guests of Diane Rehm skillfully explain how and why. What’s fascinating is that those differences between communities, in turn, uncover a great deal about the complexities of culture and economics in the United States. The podcast is not only a solid listen for recycling professionals who want to hear about the contours of current tensions within the industry, but also anyone who is broadly curious about the future of recycling.

Categories
GreenBlue Sustainable Packaging Coalition

Introducing our new Project Associate, Kelly!

Kelly Cramer, Project Associate Sustainable Packaging Coalition
Tell us about your background.

I identify as a first generation Southerner; my parents are originally from the Upper Midwest, but I grew up in Franklin, Tennessee. I spent the last five years in Portland, Oregon, where I studied environmental law at Lewis & Clark Law School. Some of my formative experiences include exploring the Smoky Mountains during college, a summer in San Diego spent eating bean burritos and staring at the ocean, and having the fortunate opportunity to spend some brief but meaningful time in Latin America. I’ve been an environmentalist probably ever since a Keep America Beautiful commercial made me cry when I was 5.
Why were you interested in working with GreenBlue?
I was initially drawn to GreenBlue for its pioneering spirit; because GreenBlue is so oriented toward the future and innovation, it means the organization has unlimited potential for growth. Closely related to innovation is GreenBlue’s emphasis on collaboration. What’s compelling about collaboration is that GreenBlue is able to accomplish a tremendous amount for sustainability very quickly — sometimes simply by listening and facilitating conversations in a dynamic, objective way.
Coming from a legal background, I understand how trying to better the environment in an adversarial context comes with its own set of challenges: litigation and policy reform can take a lot of time and money, and involved parties usually have to resolve conflict in a relatively traditional way. Working with that sort of constant intensity and within such defined boundaries can often be impactful, but GreenBlue occupies a unique space outside that framework. It’s a space I find to be incredibly rare and powerful.
What are you most looking forward to working on at GreenBlue?
On a practical level, I’m excited about encouraging more and more companies to join the How2Recycle program, and see the label designs I help implement on products I use myself. Conceptually, I’m enthralled by the potential to help guide the future of sustainable materials management, and design strategies to support a circular economy for next generation environmentalists.
Fun facts about yourself?
I live on a farm and am pursuing friendships with six daring and elusive peacocks; my favorite writer and poet is Jim Harrison; I’m fascinated by pop culture, celebrity and television.
 

Categories
Recover More Sustainability Tools Sustainable Packaging Coalition Uncategorized

Target & How2Recycle

Target’s Kim Carswell explains why the retail giant decided to join the How2Recycle program

Kim Carswell, Senior Manager of Packaging for Target

At Target, our guests are the center of everything we do.  We have a strong connection to our guests, and we continue to seek ways to be relevant to them.  Adding the How2Recycle label to our owned brand packaging is a way to heighten this relevancy.
Why did you decide to use the label?
Two reasons: our guests and our company strategies.
We know that how our guests manage their packaging when they are done with it is a key way for them to live sustainably. Adding the H2R label to our packaging will help them dispose of it the right way.  Using the label also increases the transparency between Target and our guests, which is important to us.
The label aligns with our three sustainability strategies:

  1.  Provide our guests with ways to live more sustainably
  2.  Offer a great assortment of sustainable products
  3.  Reduce waste

How did you go about it?
We were very intent to attach this work to other brand redesigns already in the works.. We are looking at a long term schedule that will allow the work to grow organically. We are keen not to create packaging waste when we change our packaging designs. We plan to flow through the changes so that old inventories can be depleted. Another key goal is to embed the addition of the label into current processes as much as we can to set ourselves up for a robust and sustainable approach.
What Target products currently use the label?

We have the How2Recycle label on our food brands including Market Pantry, Archer Farms, and Simply Balanced.  It is also on a wide array of our up&up products and select Spritz party supplies items.
And finally…
Here are 10 things we learned along the way and want to share with you. Success for Target, the Sustainable Packaging Coalition and all the other How2Recycle label users is for more and more companies to sign on, so we are delighted to share what we learned.

  1.  Tie H2R to company strategies
  2.  Take internal partners and engage them
  3.  Find and tap into internal leaders
  4.  Share the story
  5.  Attach this work to planned brand designs
  6.  Go to where people are
  7.  Keep a close connection with the SPC
  8.  Be flexible
  9.  Keep sharing the story
  10.  Recognize and celebrate the people and work

 

Categories
GreenBlue Sustainable Packaging Coalition Uncategorized

In the Loop – Sustainable Brands '15

In the loop SB15
 

Executive Director Nina Goodrich (front right) Digging in on Circular Economy at SB15sd. Nina says “It’s not well understood in US.” (Photo courtesy of ThinkStep)

This week, GreenBlue’s Executive Director Nina Goodrich headed across the U.S. to moderate at Sustainable Brands 2015. Sustainable Brands is one of the largest global conferences that answer the question: How can you successfully innovate your brand for sustainability?
Nina moderated the “How to Structure Effective Recycling and Reuse Initiatives: Case Studies of Innovative Partnerships” session within the Circular and Sharing Economies track. Nina regularly speaks about the Circular Economy at conferences and loves to educate industry and consumers about how the Circular Economy can boost sustainability in their lives.
Speakers in the session included:


Carrie Majeske Carrie Majeske Ford Motor Company

John Gardner John Gardner Novelis

Meagan Smith Meagan Smith PepsiCo

Geof Rochester Geof Rochester The Nature Conservancy

SBLiz Maw Liz Maw Net Impact

Darren Beck Darren Beck Sprint

Michael Meyer Michael Meyer Goodwill Industries …

Like what you hear? Email Nina at Nina.Goodrich@Greenblue.org to discuss the Circular Economy further or tweet @GreenBlueOrg to tell us what you think!
 

Categories
Eliminate Toxicity GreenBlue Member Spotlight Uncategorized

In The Loop — GreenBlue heads West

In the loop 5-18-15 This week, GreenBlue is heading across the U.S. to meet with sustainability leaders in Berkeley, California and Spokane, Washington.
Nina is an invited speaker at the Washington State Recycling Association (WSRA) 35th Annual Conference and Trade Show in Spokane.She will be speaking at this afternoon’s “Designing for Zero Waste, Starting the Conversation” breakout session with Dylan de Thomas of Resource Recycling and Matt Stern of Waste Management.  This session takes a close look at the dramatically changing types and volumes of packaging materials and products entering the waste stream and the financial implications of these materials on our recycling systems. Together, manufacturers, MRF operators, and municipalities will look upstream and discuss how products and packaging can be designed to be sorted at the MRF and recycled to improved value both for recyclers and producers.
WSRA_Conference15_logo_FINAL
James will be participating in The Collaborative Network’s Cancer Free Economy meeting in Berkeley, California. He will be speaking about how material health fits within a theoretical cancer-free economic system. GreenBlue has two projects that fit within the material health sector: Material IQ and CleanGredients. Both projects aim to make ingredients and materials more transparent within the supply chain, and ultimately promote safer chemicals and materials.
If you are in the Berkeley or Spokane area let us know! We love to meet members who live across the country!

Categories
GreenBlue Recover More Uncategorized

How2Recycle goes to high school

FullSizeRender
“Can I have a Pop Tart?”
This is one of the many questions I received while representing the SPC and my company, HAVI Global Solutions, at Antioch High School’s Earth Day fair in northern Illinois. I prepared for the fair by purchasing high school-friendly products that use the SPC’s How2Recycle Label. (The Pop Tarts, McDonald’s, and Keebler Fudge Sticks were a hit, particularly since the fair was at lunch time). The packages in the photo below are just a sampling of the items that now contain the label.
I have been working with the SPC on the How2Recycle Label for a few years now, so I consider myself to be pretty educated on the program and on recycling generally. However, I was struck by how much I learned as I looked at the various labels. For instance, without the How2Recycle Label present, I wouldn’t have known to keep the cap on the glass Honest Tea bottle or to keep the sprayer on the Seventh Generation cleaning spray.
The high school students ambled by and many looked at us skeptically as we asked them what they would do with a cereal box when they were done with it. Thankfully, this question was too easy for most of them as they knew to recycle the box. Then we asked about the plastic bag that held the cereal inside the box. This time, they were caught off guard and looked uncertain. Two out of the 200+ students and teachers that came by our booth got the right answer. Once we showed them the How2Recycle label on the cereal boxes, they were able to see that they could bring the cereal bag back to a store to place in the plastic bag recycling bins. The American Chemistry Council graciously provided magnets and notepads that we gave to students to bring home and educate their families about film recycling.
We were happy to teach the students something new and we left with some insights of our own. Some thoughts:

  • People think they know a lot about recycling — and many of them do. The students were more educated about recycling than many of the older people we have talked to, which is great news. However, they don’t know everything. This is where the How2Recycle Label can be helpful.
  • When people think they already know about recycling, they don’t necessarily want to learn more and may not check the package for additional information. The more easily the consumer can see the label, the easier it will be for them to recycle properly, even if they don’t actively look for recycling instructions. Special shout out to Seventh Generation for doing a great job on large, high-visibility labels and not being afraid to use the ‘Not Yet Recycled’ label.
  • When high school students have to squint to read the How2Recycle Label, it’s probably too small. I think it’s great that it is on there at all, but if 16 year olds can barely read it, it’s probably not big enough for my 94-year-old grandmother.
  • Incentives help a lot. Thanks to McDonald’s, the ACC, and Seventh Generation, we were able to give out some freebies to students who took the survey. Although we may not be able to give a S’mores Pop Tart to everyone each time they recycle, it is a reality that people are more likely to do something if they get something from it. We know that “Pay as you throw” policies aren’t a panacea, but they do provide economic incentive to recycle and thus increase recovery rates. Check out AMERIPEN’s 2013 White Paper for more information on this.

On a non-recycling note, this experience reminded me the importance of thinking big, even if an opportunity may be a long shot. Brenda Herman is a student at Antioch High School who reached out to the SPC without having any contacts there, asking if they would come to her high school’s Earth Day fair. The SPC is based in Virginia, so a staff member was unable to attend, but we were still able to have a presence at the high school since I am a local Executive Committee member. Thanks to Brenda for reminding us to take risks and ask questions!
IMG_8673Thanks also to HAVI Global Solutions for the priority placed on employees getting into communities and helping people. We have a popular annual tradition called the Week of Giving, which encourages employees to take time out of their work day in order to give back to our community. Through this program, we were able to participate in the Earth Day fair. These kind of activities help strengthen social capital, fostering the often-ignored social pillar of sustainability.
So, Readers: go connect with your community and share your sustainability expertise! Take a step away from our bubble filled with acronyms and technical jargon. You have plenty to teach and you’ll learn a lot as well.
Amy Duquette, SPC Executive Committee Member & Sustainability Project Manager for HAVI Global Solutions