As part of our increasing work in recycling and recovery, Project Associate Danielle Peacock and Senior Manager Anne Bedarf are debuting a new recycling blog series, ReLoop, which will address different recycling topics, questions, and concepts. Danielle kicks the series off with a primer on single stream recycling. If you have a specific recycling topic you would like covered here in the future, let us … More
The SPC Spring Meeting in Toronto just wrapped up, and one of the highlights of the meeting was a tour of the Peel Integrated Waste Management Facility. The facility is the largest of its kind in Canada and houses a single stream Material Recovery Facility (MRF), a waste transfer station, in addition to an organics composting plant. Scott Ballantine, Packaging Project Manager for long-term SPC member … More
In late March, I had the opportunity to present at the Massachusetts Recycling Coalition 2012 Recycling & Organics Conference & Trade Show. Members of the Massachusetts Recycling Coalition (MassRecycle) include over 350 local recycling coordinators, non-profits, individuals, and businesses involved in the recycling and organics industry. I had the pleasure of meeting some of those members and presenting during a session on packaging waste with … More
Lately I have been feeling like a character in one of the children’s novels I have loved and reread numerous times over the years. Maybe it’s Alice in Wonderland, The Phantom Tollbooth, or perhaps Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? The central plot of these books features an average person transported to a fantasy world for a series of adventures each more fantastic, silly, puzzling, absurd, … More
Today we’re excited to release our new report that examines alternatives to material recovery in the US, where currently just one third of all municipal solid waste is recovered by recycling or composting. Closing the Loop: Road Map for Effective Material Value Recovery provides a detailed systems analysis of international packaging recovery systems, including successful collection, sorting, and reprocessing technologies and infrastructures, as well as … More
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, January 5, 2012 — Recognizing the limitations of the US waste management system, where only about one third of all municipal solid waste is recovered by recycling or composting, GreenBlue® has released a report that assesses a variety of material recovery systems around the world in order to inform US policies and approaches. Closing the Loop: Road Map for Effective Material Value Recovery … More
Today is America Recycles Day (ARD)! Brought to us by Keep America Beautiful, ARD brings together organizations and communities from across the United States to celebrate recycling. There are events scheduled around the country to bring awareness to the importance of recycling the valuable resources we all depend on for our lives and livelihoods. Like the “Every Day is Earth Day” slogan, integrating recycling more … More
We’re lucky to work with some great partners. Check out these fantastic wheels that are now rolling around our office: it’s the Sustainable Packaging Coalition Recycling Truck! Steve Mahler of SPC member company Caraustar Industries sent us this truck made from his own two hands. In his words: It all began as a simple request from a five-year-old, “Daddy, can you make Thomas the tank … More
We have received substantial interest in the Packaging Recovery Label System after our announcement of the initial pilot participants this month! We also received some comments focused on the Resin Identification Codes (RICs) for plastic packaging (and durable goods), so I’d like to provide some clarification and additional information about why we are proposing an alternative approach. When we refer to “replacing” the RICs, we … More
Danielle Peacock joined GreenBlue this past August as a Project Associate for the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. In this role, she will be providing research support for the SPC’s growing portfolio of projects on packaging and sustainability. We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Danielle to the GreenBlue team! Earlier this week, we interviewed Danielle to help introduce her to all our stakeholders, and you can find … More