4 tips for changing consumer behavior
Today's guest blog is authored by Lauren Phipps, Director & Senior Analyst, Circular Economy at GreenBiz Group.
When I cover solutions to the plastic waste crisis, I typically focus on infrastructure development and bringing recycling systems to scale, standardizing materials, inventing new ones and designing out unnecessary single use items, and rethinking business models and supply chains.
But once these structures are in place, they only work if consumers embrace new models and ensure that materials move through the system as planned. Otherwise, the entire system breaks down.
Read more | Comments (0) | Jan 26, 2021
Studying the Recyclability of Pizza Boxes
This week's guest blog is courtesy of The Recycling Partnership. Its original publication can be found here.
PizzaBoxRecycling.com launch fueled by new studies and new messaging resources
One of the heated debates we hear in recycling is whether or not pizza boxes are recyclable. A new study by corrugated pizza box manufacturers, processors, and discussions with paper mills found that grease and residual cheese are not a problem in the recycling process. Just like other boxes, as long as they are empty, pizza boxes provide valuable feedstock for new paper-based packaging.
The Recycling Partnership dug a little deeper. We surveyed 1,400 people across the U.S.
- About half eat pizza once a month or more (this survey was conducted prior to Covid-19).
- Most people believe pizza boxes should be recycled.
- When asked whether or not they empty their pizza boxes, 77% said they always empty their pizza…
It’s All in the Details
Today's blog is authored by Arturo Santiago, the Managing Editor of MSW Management magazine. The original post is located here.
The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc (ISRI), and the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) joined forces with materials recovery facilities (MRFs) owners and operators, suppliers, battery associations, battery recyclers, and more to create a new guide that helps MRFs safely manage lithium-ion batteries (LIB). The guide is not a one-page poster or flyer or a colorful brochure. It is a detailed document that tells MRFs how to properly manage and dispose of LIB. It instructs how to respond correctly in case of a fire and then how to manage a fire if one does break out.
Kirk Sander, NWRA’s Chief of Staff and Vice President for Safety and Standards, says, “As the number of fires at MRFs increase due to the prevalence of lithium-ion batteries, we believe strongly…
Plastic Wars
Today's guest blog is authored by NERC board member Chaz Miller. It originally appeared on the website of Waste 360.
Everyone hates plastic, or so it seems. Several months ago, Frontline, PBS’s investigative news program, added to the fire when it ran Plastic Wars. NPR followed up several months later with an abbreviated version of that show. Both depict plastic recycling as a con, a cynical attempt by the oil industry to convince the public that plastic products can be recycled when, in fact, they can’t.
The show is an indictment of the plastic industry, and, by extension, plastic recycling. It also has inaccuracies, is misleading and makes virtually no attempt to acknowledge America’s plastic recycling…