Recycle 2 Save

No one enjoys taking responsibility when things go wrong. We are all eager to determine why a failure doesn't lie solely on our shoulders or why it's not our fault at all. Blame shifting is a common practice and phrase thrown around in our home.  "Well, if she didn't ...then I wouldn't have ... "  "If he wasn't didn't say ... then I wouldn't have said ..."  Although the blame-shifting technique is prohibited in our family, it still finds its way into many unfortunate situations.  Why does it matter? Taking pers onal responsibility helps to ensure the same thing doesn't happen again (and again and again). Situations usually have multiple actors that could all play essential parts in prevention, but what's important is that each player knows their role and how they can personally correct it. You are only able to control yourself, and sometimes, that proves difficult.  This is such a basic and juvenile conversation that it would see...

It's crazy - as I scroll through business social media posts I am seeing an uptick of anger in regard to plastics and recycling. Seemingly angry people call out others for irresponsible behavior, false information, and despicable treatment of our environment. Passionate comments, varying degrees of first-hand knowledge, and lots of blaming and pointing. This public platform seems to be what people need to vent or blame.   I struggle. Should I celebrate that people are taking notice? It seems like the wrong kind of notice, not necessarily productive or positive but attention nonetheless. I wholeheartedly agree that we have some problems when it comes to "stuff" I see these as the three most significant issues:  1. Litter is a big problem.  2. Items being landfilled are a big problem. 3. 100% recyclable (and in demand) items being littered or landfilled is a HUGE problem.  What solutions do we have?  Litter is a big problem . An unpopular but pretty basic iss...

You come home from work and in place of the organized and mess-free home, you left this morning, you enter chaos. Even an amateur hunter could follow the trail across the entire first level and lead to the bedrooms of the accused. Step by step, sock by sock and paper by paper anger rises as you walk. You are about to blow. With so many examples of wrong behavior, how can you open the door and celebrate the homework that is currently being worked on?  It may be a leap, but in my mind, this is the current state of recycling.  We read articles, watch news stories, and see blips on our social media. Recycling is going in the wrong direction and the pollution and destruction of our environment are at an all-time high, or is it? Sometimes when you are so close, you cannot even make out the big picture, you are not getting an accurate view, it's just all blurry and messy.  Recycling by nature is messy (both figuratively and literally). When you are dealing with "trash" you don...

  Holding way too much in my arms and hands, not a finger to spare (I am a huge fan of the lazy man's load - as my husband always tells me), I try to use my foot as the lever to open the door in front of me. After the first few failed attempts I struggle to shift the weight of the many overflowing items in my arms and reach with my elbow. Somehow, almost unexpectedly the door abruptly swings open, I lose the disheveled balance of every item that I was haphazardly clinging to, and one by one they crash to the ground. "Stupid door" is my immediate and gut response. As I look back and chuckle (now), how did I not think that would happen, how can I call anything but my actions "stupid"?   Despite my newfound clarity, after the fact, it is so hard in the moment to recognize that our own decisions are often what lead to unfavorable outcomes. Frustration, disappointment, embarrassment, and sometimes fear (during larger mishaps)  take over and we feverously search for a...

Sometimes it's all just about image but other times it really does go much deeper than that to real environmental and sustainability goals. The largest problem is cutting through the talk and determining what to believe and who is just greenwashing. There has been a good deal of negative talk lately about the use of plastics and their effect on our environment. When plastic items are not recycled and are landfilled, or worse, littered I agree, they have a large negative impact on our environment.  The idea of reducing or ending plastic consumption has opened doors to new products. Some of these options are catching on simply because they are not plastic. While some may be good options others are just a form of bait and switch, creating no real environmental benefit or at times negative effects.  https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2021/12/11/If-you-re-using-paper-but-you-re-putting-a-plastic-liner-in-it-you-haven-t-really-solved-anything-Footprint-talks-sustainable-packa...

 If we gave you .10 cents for every water bottle you recycled, would you recycle more?  https://www.news10.com/news/legislation-introduces-revised-bottle-bill-to-include-ten-cent-returns/ I can say with a great deal of confidence that it would not affect the recycling rate in my household. What would it affect? Well, that is a good question.  The stated goal of the bill is to increase recycling rates and promote recycling participation with some monetary motivation. The downfall is that much like most rebate/refund programs there tend to be those who try to exploit them. An episode of Sinfield speaks to bottle redemption road trips.  I have never enjoyed the muttered complaints without a solution but I don't think there is one clear, single solution.  I take that back. There is one clear solution that would make an enormous positive impact on recycling and launch forward the circular economy. The solution is so incredibly easy and I've said it so often that I ev...

In order for goals to be kept and exceeded people need to be motivated. Some people have an easier time getting and staying motivated all by themselves, others need periodic stroking, some need consistent prodding, while others may need to be pulled.  Knowing what motivates people to start as well as how to keep them going can help to shape your message and improve your impact. This would go for something as common as New Year health goals, organization practices, quitting smoking, eating healthier, or improving the recycling and waste reduction in a household, or business. We are very biased but we feel that recycling is pretty essential. We do also feel that following the first two R's first is necessary (1. Reduce & 2. Reuse). We want to be sure that as an organization we are helping to motivate residents and businesses alike to continue to improve their recycling impact.  So, please help us out.  Tell us what motivates you to recycle with care & reduce waste?...

You are on a business-focused social media platform and there is a great post motivating consumers to recycle their PET bottles. It's an encouraging video showing all the potential "new" products the "old", recycled PET can become. The post focuses on the idea that these bottles are not only recyclable but an in-demand raw material that manufacturers are actually seeking. This is all an attempt to stoke the interest of the public and motivate them to recycle and keep bottles out of the landfill or worse, discarded as litter. What possible negative reaction could this post get?  Insert a snarky comment by someone who knows someone who had a job, at one time, that is semi-related to a position that assisted in the recycling of PET. They fire back that PET recycling back into a PET bottle isn't possible and/or profitable. This one comment is followed up quickly by a few other recycling naysayers "recycling is dead", "recycling can't be profit...

This has been in the works for quite some time now. Manufacturers have been discussing the logistics and how to spark interest and participation. I think it sounds like a wonderful plan but it will take extra effort and participation. Are you willing to pay the extra deposit and take the extra time needed to return the reusable packaging?  In my opinion, it will depend on circumstances. There are traveling and vacation occasions that don't lend well to the extra steps that would be required. Daily though, if the setup is easy enough, it just might be worth the little extra effort.  I do worry because we have posted repeatedly about the failure of recycling efforts. I don't see how the reuse efforts would be any different.  The process is only as good as the participants.  https://apnews.com/article/europe-business-france-environment-and-nature-united-kingdom-bbd9e1e7bfe999ae749f39155fd63078

As an insider looking at the state of recycling and all the pitches at trying to "fix it" I am left scratching my head. Sure, there is plenty that can still be done to tweak and improve recycling. There is absolutely no negative impact of a stronger focus on a complete environmental approach as companies push towards a circular economy and true product recyclability. Those are all wonderful things.  A recycling bin which is clearly labeled "No Bags and No Metal other than alum/tin cans" in the bin you'll see MANY bags and a metal charcoal grill (complete with charcoal). Recycling with care?  All those great changes won't do much though unless we focus on the real recycling issue. I just can't help feeling like we are trying to put a band-aid on a toe while we have lost both legs. The real issue with recycling is us. Consumers, residents, the recyclers are doing a terrible job and most just don't care. They say the...

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...

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...

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...

"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...

If you are in the area and have happened to drive by our Hamburg, PA location I am sure that you have noticed our mountain of "glass". It's not just normal glass, it has been processed and is ready for use. We take great pride in using every possible item to its fullest recycling potential. An unfortunate side effect of transporting recyclables is broken glass (of mixed colors a.k.a. mixed cullet). Most producers who are in search of recycled glass need it to be segregated by color and cannot use mixed broken pieces. Since there was no "real" recycling options we have a large piece of equipment that acts like a giant stone tumbler. This equipment helps to remove plastic and other contaminants while getting it to a uniform size and tumbling it to remove sharp edges. While this material has obvious limitations (you won't be building your home with it) it also has a lot of areas that it excels at. The  material tested and approved (and in use) as a filteri...

We recently had a great giveaway on facebook that we asked our followers to guess what item in the picture was made from recycled content. I was hassled a little that everything in our offices should be made of recycled content. Unfortunately we aren't quite there but we are certainly trying. We have ensured that any new materials that we have purchased as promotional items contain a recycled content (if available).  Some products simply are not being produced using a recycled content but many are, it does sometimes require a bit more research and the variety is often more limited.  The good news is that it has never been easier. I have sometimes been left wanting but for the most part with a little determination, I have been able to find a product that falls within our requirements and was made from something that was diverted from a landfill. We need to let manufacturers know.. WE WANT recycled content products. The more we buy and the more vocal customers are the more op...

I've often explained that being kind to our planet goes much  further than recycling but also following through and buying recycled. We all must commit to supporting companies that have the correct environmental outlook and avoid those who do not. We need to make choices that are not only beneficial to us but also to our planet and generations to come. Navigating through greenwashing does make finding true answers exceedingly difficult but with a little practice it becomes easier to read between the lines. Two of our family favorites are GUD (made by Burts Bees) and our absolute favorite is Original Sprout.Both are healthy natural choices without all the extra "stuff", both work very well and smell amazing, and both are contained inside of bottles made from recycled content. I am by no means suggesting you run out and buy these particular products (unless you want to) but am suggesting that you evaluate what you are buying; what it's made from/of, the product packag...