Recycle 2 Save

Things are finally looking up in the recycling industry. It has been a long and difficult journey that unfortunately many didn't survive. Positive changes are underway; end-users are now seeking material that collection centers and materials recovery facilities were recently begging & paying to move. Another positive step is that more and more companies are making commitments to increase the recycled content in their products and aiming towards the goal of a truly circular economy. This is amazing news that benefits not only the recycling industry but our environment as a whole.  With all the positive trends there does remain one consistent issue. End-users will require quality material in order to make quality products. The number one issue that directly contributed to the crumbling of the recycling industry remains the number one issue with recycling; contamination. Outreach, education, and investments by so many have helped to make the information more available and easier t...

Funny but true. Our bins are begging for a quality control person ... "Recycle Man". Are you willing to fill the position? What could you do to police your bins without hovering over them? 1. Start with correct and complete labeling. Clearly label what the bin is intended for. Next, clearly explain what should NOT be placed in the bin, make it guess free. 2. Be sure that you have both garbage and recycling bins in all locations. Often people try to do the right thing by limiting where they place garbage bins (or recycling bins), ultimately forcing people to recycle or avoid contamination in the recycling.  The issue with this is that it causes a lot of contamination or failure to recycle. People who care about recycling will do the right thing but those people would also be likely to seek out a recycling bin. People who wouldn't have made the effort to find the recycling bin will throw contaminants in the wrong bin unphased. Although we feel the placement of b...

Recycling markets are in a very tough spot right now. While some individuals and businesses may not know most have felt the strain or have at least heard the buzz. The bulk of the issues have been an issue for a really long time it's just gotten a lot worse. It's kind of like when your child tries to go on a hunger strike and will only eat dessert. You can let it go and hope for it to pass, with the likelihood of it spreading to your other children, or you can put an end to it (or at least put a plan in place to slowly put an end to it). In the recycling industry we need a plan. My plan starts with education by explaining what I believe the real issues are. 1. Contamination is real and the absolute HUGEST issue. Some recycling rules can be extremely confusing; items that are accepted, preferred, and completely fine in one program can cause big issues for another. Other times (lots of times) there are items that are clearly NOT recyclable that are carelessly placed in th...

We are thrilled that so many people want to do right by our planet and recycle. BUT... what happens when an attempt at doing the right thing goes all wrong?? More in your bin DOES NOT always equal more recycled. In fact, more of the wrong items in your bin can cause contamination of other good recyclable. Please, always recycle but do so with care!

So, I'm not sure if you've been paying attention but if you have, you've heard (repeatedly), that the recycling markets and industry are in trouble. A number of factors have come into play to create the "perfect" storm. Despite the name there is little positive about it. We are all happy to receive some rain but when the waters keep rising many are found praying for the Sun and a nice long dry spell. We know about the challenges so how do we help? As we've posted about previously there are a few factors that are outside of our hands as individuals or businesses. There are also a number of things that you can do to really make a positive impact in your recycling efforts. The single largest way to positively effect your recycling efforts is to follow bin & program instructions and keep out contaminants, contacting the program directors when needed to clarify those confusing recycling messages. Let's say you are an avid recycler and you've done...

"Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without loss in quality or purity - something few food and beverage packaging options can claim." By the Glass Packaging Institute.  Glass is an amazing material that can be recycled (and recycled, and recycled, and recycled....) glass can also be reused BUT... it currently poses many, many challenges to MRF's (material recovery facilities). Glass has been a problem for quite some time now but with the increase in single stream collection it's become an even larger hurdle. The good news is that it seems that the recycling of glass has increased but the bad news is that, at this point, in the form that it's often received in, it is not unilaterally able to be recycled. We need help and here's why:  1. Glass is breakable. As glass is placed in bins, transported, dumped at drop center(s), and processed the whole bottle tends to become many, many pieces. The pieces get mixed with...