Recycle 2 Save

As a materials recovery facility, we were/are passionate about composting and the potential for growth in that area. So passionate in fact that a few years ago we worked with a few local communities and companies to try and get a successful composting program underway. Despite a good deal of effort, there were a few reasons we could not get the program off the ground during the pilot process. Steps taken by Baltimore's Food Waste Pilot Program, as quoted in the article, would assist with many of them.  1. Unfortunately, due to being located in a semi-rural area, we could not get the saturation we needed to make the collection/transportation affordable. Having one collection point that the businesses, institutions, and community can pool their material makes participation possible.  2. The second and repeated issue with recycling and waste reduction programs; we had severe issues with contamination among the facilities that did agree to participate. If you send contaminated co...

I have scrolled through my business newsfeed and felt the need to fact-check or at least provide my input on some topics that have been shared and posted repeatedly. Many may not completely understand, at least from a materials recovery facility standpoint.  1. "Choose glass in place of plastic because it's more environmentally friendly."   A number of materials recovery facilities made the decision to no longer accept curbside glass. When collected in a curbside/residential recycling program, glass becomes color mixed and collects all the small contaminants (straws, lids, shredded paper, small pieces of plastic) which makes it much more difficult to sell and makes it nearly worthless or a negative value. Glass collected in this manner also has little end markets unless processed for alternative uses (drainage/septic/trenching/etc). Glass is also the most destructive of all recyclable materials that pass through materials handling equipment which makes it extremely costl...

I tend to believe that you can't really get too upset about anything if it's for the right reason and isn't causing any real negative impact. For example, I'm sure you know someone who likes to tell exaggerated stories, and although it may give you a chance to exercise your eyes from all the rolling, who is it really hurting? Does the same go for greenwashing - is it really hurting anything?  I was recently given an article about a pending lawsuit targeting a company founded to assist large, big-name brands make their packaging and/or products more recyclable. They came up with some pretty catchy ideas and were often cited in the news for their innovative office design that was just as eco-friendly as their business strategy. Their existence and mission sounded like a wonderful addition to the recycling industry.  They needed consumer buy-in. To get people on board, you must limit the amount of additional effort they need to put forth and make it sound simple. The messa...