I know I said I was going to have a juicy email for you today about all things composting BUT I just got done with Dodan’s “Story to Sustainability,” which I wish to share with you. I intend on submitting it to some of my colleagues in the publishing world to see if it would resonate with their readers/subscribers; if so, perhaps we could get some coverage. Let’s say HURRAY for free press!
Granted it is a little cheesy and I definitely tout my own horn a bit, I think it still helps to convey our understanding of sustainability, which sets us aside from our competition.
The part that gets good is after the “this brings us up to present day” section because it discusses how “sustainability” for us is an ever-evolving concept that draws on much more than marketing claims but an integrated approach to a constructed ethos. Sounds heady, huh?
Because…I have a new Sustainability Initiative to oversea at Dordan. And you, my diligent blog followers, are the first to know!
Dordan Manufacturing Company Incorporated is proud to announce its goal of becoming a zero waste facility!
We will begin to approach this goal by purchasing a composter for the food and yard waste generated by Dordan’s employees and facility…
We will then use this compost to nourish our “Victory Garden,” which will produce organics for local charities, community events, and ME (maybe I will share with other employees if I’m feeling generous…)! Just joshing; I’m happy to spread the joy!
Because Dordan sits on a nice piece of earth and because everyone likes gardens and fresh veggies, we thought that this would be a great place to do well by our community and our environment. I don’t know why but I am positively tickled pink that I got the green light to pursue this initiative.
And how funny... picture us, at Dordan’s booth at Pack Expo, giving out fresh produce to passer buyers (no pun intended)...
A Dordan rep says, “You want a green package? How about some organics grown from our garden fertilized by our own organic waste! BOO YA greenwashers!”
A little spicy, yes, but still, it tells a nice story. And I think the value in all of this is being able to develop a brand and tell a story that will resonate with consumers looking to do well by themselves and the environment. Cool beans!
Granted a goal of zero-waste is an almost impossible goal to attain, it does give us something to work towards… AND, I have spent most of my time at Dordan creating a pro-plastics argument in the context of sustainability and packaging, which is all fine and good and someone needs to do it, but it doesn’t really set us apart from our competition, that is, other Midwestern thin-gauge custom thermoformers.
SO that is when we thought the idea of zero waste was a good one. I don’t know why I get so surprised when sometimes, good works=good business; I guess they aren’t mutually exclusive…who da thunk?
I’ll be honest—I was feeling a little without direction as my work with the Canadian retailer is moving along slowly…very slowly. I think I was just so super excited to be managing a Committee that wanted to recycle thermoforms like me that I kind of lost site of the reality of the situation, which is, that this is business. Granted people do care about the environment and recycling, but often times, said sympathy is catalyzed by business interest. In the case of recycling thermoforms, everyone wants to do it, but no one is ready to step up and take responsibility or the risk. I do know that a lot of people want the post-consumer material and that the demand will continue to rise, especially if retailers start “suggesting” a percentage of post consumer content in packaging sold; what I don’t know, however, is if the economics will support the recycling of thermoforms in the States…ever.
I’ll keep you posted on my work with my clamshell recycling initiatives. Right now, as directed by my co-lead for the Committee, I am shelving my work until the communication of the Committee is better managed for easy correspondence.
BUT, what that does mean, is now I will be blogging about my work on recycling clamshells and our day-by-day attempts to become a zero-waste facility. Oh boy!
Hello my packaging and sustainability friends! It is great to be back. The wedding was a wonderful affair; everyone had a gay ole time!
Look how pretty the Bride is, who coincidently, is this sister of the author of this blog!
I’m so proud!
Anyway, enough emotional embellishments, let’s get down to business.
Prior to leaving for the wedding, I sent out a boat load of emails, inquiring into this and that. The first I sent was to my contact in the government who works on waste management policy: I inquired into the amount of plastic bales exported out of the country each year. Because the supply and demand balance is a bit disproportionate in North America (HUGE demand; limited supply due to limited collection and quality), a colleague suggested limiting the amount of PET recyclate that leaves the country. Here’s what I wrote:
Greetings my friend!
Hello!
How goes it?
Do you know how much plastic scrap is exported in Canada each year? Do you know of any legislation or initiatives that look to restrict the amount of plastic bales leaving the country? Or, better yet, do you know anyone that would know this information that you could refer me to?
In addition, your MetroWaste calendar said it no longer collects thermoforms via Blue Box program. Is this true? If so, do you know why? Do you have any contacts at MetroWaste that would be able to explain why certain materials are collected and others are not?
Thanks my lady!
Best,
Chandler
And several hours later, I received the following response:
Chandler,
To answer your questions – we would have no clue how much plastic is exported from Canada every year. To be honest, we have a hard time tracking how much waste is exported, and that’s better tracked than recyclables. The closest we have is a 2007 report from Waste Diversion Ontario, which attempted to track the fate of residential blue box materials. You’ll see that they had many gaps in information, and were only looking at residential materials, not IC&I. But you might be able to find something in here http://www.wdo.ca/files/domain4116/Review%20of%20Blue%20Box%20Material%20Destinations%20Report%20Dec%2014,%202007.pdf???
As for my waste calendar (and to clarify, it’s for the City of Toronto. Metro Waste is a private company), yes it’s true that they aren’t accepting thermoform plastics, and when I called the general city hotline they told me they haven’t accepted them for awhile. I’m not sure of the exact reason, but I’d guess that it’s because they take up lots of space, are difficult to sort, don’t have great end markets, etc. You know the usual. I got a name of someone at the City you could call though…
Have a good weekend!!
The Metro Waste calendar my contact was referring to is literally a calendar, which is distributed to residence of Toronto and explains what materials/packaging types are collected for recycling and what are not. While staying at my friend’s house in Canada, I had the luxury of pursuing said calendar and was surprised to learn that the Blue Box program does not collect thermoforms. I found this surprising because several food-packaging thermoformers have recently released press pieces that explain how they will now be buying, cleaning, and extruding thermoforms into second generation thermoforms. How is this true if Canada, which has a much much better packaging diversion rate, doesn’t even collect and bale these materials for post-consumer market?
And, for your viewing pleasure, I thought I would include some of OUR EPR legislation. This stuff comes from California and helps put into context the way some of this legislation works. You can subscribe to this organization so you receive updates of all EPR legislation in California; oh boy!
Subject: CA Product Stewardship Bills: Legislative Update
CalRecycle Extended Producer Responsibility
This is an update on the product stewardship bills in the California Legislature.? This information is constantly changing.? Bills may be tracked at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov.
- SB 1100 (Corbett) Product stewardship: household batteries. Introduced Feb. 17, 2010.? Last amended June 15, 2010.? This bill would require producers of household batteries to, among other things, submit, individually or through a stewardship organization, a product stewardship plan to CalRecycle.? This bill is active and currently in the Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials.
- AB 1343 (Huffman) Solid waste: architectural paint recovery program.? Introduced Feb. 27, 2009.? Last amended in the Senate on July 13, 2009. This bill would create the Architectural Paint Recovery Program and require paint manufacturers to, among other things, develop and implement a program to collect, transport, and process postconsumer paint to reduce the costs and environmental impacts of the disposal of postconsumer paint in California.? This bill is currently held under submission in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
- AB 2139 (Chesbro) Solid waste: product stewardship. Introduced Feb. 18, 2010.? Last amended June 1, 2010. This bill would create the California Product Stewardship Act and would require, among other things, CalRecycle to submit a report to the Legislature with recommendations on products to include in a product stewardship program.? This bill failed passage from the Assembly Appropriations Committee and is no longer active.
- AB 2176 (Blumenfield) Hazardous waste: lighting products. Introduced Feb. 18, 2010.? Last amended April 22, 2010.? This bill would create the California Lighting Toxics Reduction and Jobs in Recycling Act and require producers of certain lamps to, among other things, submit a stewardship plan to the Department of Toxic Substances Control. This bill is currently held under submission in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
- AB 2398 (Perez) Product stewardship: carpet. Introduced Feb. 19, 2010.? Last amended on May 28, 2010.? This bill would require, among other things, carpet manufacturers to submit, individually or through a stewardship organization, a product stewardship plan to CalRecycle.? This bill is active and currently scheduled to be heard in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee on June 28, 2010.
-The CalRecycle EPR Team
To subscribe to or unsubscribe from the Extended Producer Responsibility listserv or other listservs, please go to http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/listservs.
While this legislation obviously does not concern packaging, it does help—at least for me—convey how these concepts may be applied to packaging waste in the future.
Tune in tomorrow to learn about, or attempt to learn about, how to quantify the environmental burdens associated with using inks, laminates and adhesives on fiber-based packaging applications. Its certainly is confusing!
Thanks for listening! My blog has had over 1,300 views! I feel like Julia from Julia and Julia! SOOOO exciting!
