Posts Tagged ‘recycling’

Recycling Irony

Monday, February 7th, 2011

“All Danny Clark wanted was to leave an eco-friendly footprint for his children.

That and to ride the new wave of ‘green business’ startups by coming up with a way to make money and help the environment at the same time.

His idea was simple: If he could make plastic water bottles biodegradable, it would reduce the impact on landfills, curb roadside litter and reduce the amount of plastic garbage that eventually washes into the oceans.

Everybody wins. Well, not everybody.

The Mesa man’s small-business venture has run into opposition from a large and unexpected source: the $400 billion recycling industry, which fears that by making plastic bottles biodegradable, it will reduce the stream of plastic refuse used to make everything from carpet to clothing to new bottles. In addition, changing the makeup of plastic bottles could make it more difficult to recycle them, the industry fears.”

What do you think?

Chicken or egg? Should your old plastic junk be used to make new plastic junk, or should it biodegrade into the earth once its life is over? Which idea has a better business model?

Open-loop Recycling is…

Friday, August 21st, 2009

Open-loop recycling is when one material or product is recycled into the same material over and over again. For example, glass bottles can be recycled into more glass bottles many times.

Close-Loop Recycling is…

Friday, August 21st, 2009

Close-loop recycling is when one product is recycled into a completely different product that could be recycled, but won’t necessarily be. One example of close-loop recycling is when car tires are shredded, ground and turned into filler to make artificial turf fields.

Recycling is…

Friday, August 21st, 2009

Recycling is when used products and materials are processed and made into new products or materials that can be purchased or donated and used again. This reduces waste and lowers the environmental impact of resource consumption.

The Truth About Bagging Your Groceries

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
You might not have realized that you can change the world, save or destroy the environment with just two little words: paper or plastic.
  • Plastic grocery bags were introduced 30 years ago and today, hundreds of billions are dispensed each year.
  • A major problem with plastic bags is that they are rarely recycled and often end up becoming deadly traps for fish and birds.
  • It is generally agreed that paper bags pose less of a litter problem, but they require more water and energy to produce than plastic bags.

Facts & Figures

  • The plastic industry estimates that only 10% of Americans don’t reuse plastic bags, but the Environmental Protection Agency points out that they are recycled at less than one-third the rate of paper bags.
  • There have been some instances of discouraging plastic bag use: Ireland imposed a tax on plastic grocery bags in 2002, San Francisco banned plastic grocery bags in 2007, and China banned the distribution of free plastic grocery bags in 2008.
  • Recycling rates for plastic bags exceed 30% in some European countries.

Best Quote

“There is simply zero justification for manufacturing them anymore, anywhere.” – Achim Steinger, Executive Director of the U.N. Environment Program