Maplewood, Minnesota-headquartered 3M has announced that it has joined the Cowes, United Kingdom-based Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Circular Economy 100 (CE100).

The CE100 platform brings together businesses, cities, governments and universities to collaborate on the transition to a circular economic model built on designing for the prevention of waste, the reuse of products and the recycling of materials.

“3M is moving to more recycled and renewable materials in our product and package designs, but no one company can do it alone,” says 3M Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer Gayle Schueller. “We are excited to engage with a committed group of leaders focused on innovative approaches to driving a circular economy based on sustainable use and reuse of finite resources.”

"We are delighted to welcome 3M, another major U.S. brand taking a leadership position on circular economy," says Joe Murphy, CE100 lead for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. "We look forward to 3M contributing to our diverse and dynamic community to achieve faster, greater success than any individual organization could alone."

Beginning this year, all of 3M’s new products entering the commercialization process are required to describe their positive sustainability impact, the company says.

Scotch-Brite Heavy Duty Scrub Sponges, sold in the U.S., are now made with 100 percent recycled scrubbing fibers. To create an alternative to down, 3M Thinsulate Recycled Featherless Insulation is launching a new product with 100 percent recycled content from plastic bottles.

Within its supply chains, 3M says it also continually looks for ways to recover, reuse and recycle byproducts and other waste. For instance, 3M’s Health Care Business Service Group helps extend the life of about 150,000 devices each year globally, which keeps electronic waste out of the landfill.

The Pacific Northwest Secondary Sorting Demonstration Project, a 60-day recycling demonstration project, launched in Portland, Oregon, June 19. The project aims to demonstrate how a wider range of materials can be captured from the curbside recycling stream, the Plastics Industry Association (Plastics), Washington, says.

The project involves installing a portable, secondary sorting system at the Far West Recycling material recovery facility (MRF), which is being provided by Concord, California-headquartered Titus MRF Services. 

Selected materials from four regional MRFs will be further sorted using this system, creating six additional streams of recyclables. It will be managed by Plastics with funding from the American Chemistry Council, Americas Styrenics, Berry Global, Carton Council, LyondellBasell and Greater Portland’s Metro government agency.  

“MRFs across the country are doing their best to extract value and marketable commodities for domestic markets, but many are technologically limited in what they can recover and sort for,” says Kim Holmes, vice president of sustainability at Plastics. “With this project, the funders hope to show what is possible when secondary sorting capability is brought into a region to further sort that valuable material, sending it to market rather than the landfill.”

The materials collected, which include a wide range of packaging forms, types of plastics and gable-top and aseptic cartons, will be measured, sorted and marketed to show how the efficiencies and economics of recycling can be positively shifted with added secondary sorting capabilities.

The data collected through this project can help inform communities across the U.S. about the new streams of material that could be captured from their curbside programs, Plastics says. For the funders of the project, creating new streams of valuable recycled materials will help them, and many others meet the growing postconsumer recycled (PCR) material demand.  

Roy Brower, director of regional waste programs for Metro, a regional government agency serving the greater Portland metropolitan area, says, “Metro is working with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, local recyclers and others to ensure that the region has a strong and resilient recycling system in the future. Metro is supporting this demonstration project because it will test a potential innovative sorting approach that could increase recycling.”

"Titus MRF Services is excited to work with the Portland Area MRFs,” says Mike Centers, founder and president of Titus MRF Services. “Together we will use the portable sorting system to demonstrate sorting technologies, conduct material audits and use that data to learn how best to sort more materials placed in the recycling bin by the area’s homeowners.”  

How2Recycle, the U.S. and Canada-based recycling label that was developed by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, has announced its newest member: Ontario, California-headquartered Niagara Bottling. By incorporating this label on its product packaging, Niagara takes the guesswork out of recycling, the company says, supporting its sustainability initiatives.

Niagara says it always has been passionate about providing the market with products that not only benefit its customers but also the environment. Niagara’s Eco-Air Package for its multipacks of bottled water reduces carbon dioxide emissions by removing the package’s cardboard tray, allowing more cases to fit on a pallet and reducing total shipments. Because of its reduced weight, Niagara’s Eco-Air Bottle has reduced its use of plastic by more than 60 percent in the past 15 years. The public can participate in the efforts made by Niagara to produce 100 percent recycled water bottles by replacing the cap on the bottle and recycling it when finished, the company says.

“Niagara Bottling has always been a leader in packaging innovation, plastic reduction and recycled content usage and, as such, it is encouraging consumers to recycle their valuable package more and more accurately,” says Caroline Cox, project manager with the How2Recycle program.

The How2Recycle label can be included on various products, no matter how big or small, and is applicable to a wide range of materials. Instructions that clearly demonstrate a package’s proper disposal is essential in educating the public on the importance of waste reduction, the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, Charlottesville, Virginia, says.

Braskem America, a subsidiary of Braskem S.A. headquartered in Philadelphia and a producer of thermoplastics polyolefins, and Philadelphia Union, a Major League Soccer (MLS) team, jointly announced that they have formed a multiyear partnership to advance the circular economy with the St. Louis-based Closed Loop Recycling program and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education initiatives with local youth.

Jean-Paul Dardenne, Philadelphia Union senior vice president of corporate partnerships, says, “As a club, we pride ourselves on innovation and a community first approach on and off the field. We are excited by Braskem’s vision of sustainability and furthering STEM education in our schools. This partnership is a commitment to a brighter future for our fans and surrounding community.”

Core to the new partnership is a Closed Loop Recycling program. Philadelphia Union will work through this program, in conjunction with Braskem, to promote the collection and recycling of polypropylene (PP) cups and caps used at the Talen Energy Stadium, Chester, Pennsylvania. The program is aimed at diverting thousands of pounds of PP cup usage annually at the stadium. Through the Closed Loop Recycling program, all plastic beverage cups sold in the stadium will be made of PP, which is fully recyclable. PP cups and caps will be collected at all events taking place at the stadium.

Recycled cups and bottle caps collected from the stadium will be used for a range of initiatives including plastic applications within the stadium itself as well as fan engagement activities and the construction of a promotional structure at the stadium to further encourage fans to participate in the Closed Loop Recycling program. 

To further extend the partnership engagement within the community surrounding the stadium, Braskem will launch a STEM education program in direct coordination with Philadelphia Union across 10 public schools located in Delaware and Gloucester counties. The partnership’s STEM education program will highlight the benefits of sustainability, environmentally conscious plastic use, recycling, as well as sports, health and fitness.

Mark Nikolich, Braskem America CEO, says, “Braskem and the Philadelphia Union’s new partnership focused on advancing the circular economy, as well as STEM education, reflects our joint commitment to a more sustainable future as well as our pride in being active and engaged in making our communities better.”

To facilitate the process, Philadelphia Union will place PP cup collection bins with Braskem branding on the stadium concourse and around the main entrances. To encourage fans to participate in the program, recycling bins will include messaging about the new PP cup recycling process that is consistent with other messaging throughout the stadium, including LED signage and public event announcements.

In support of the partnership’s new cup and cap collection and recycling program, Philadelphia Union has also created reward programs to incentivize both fans as well as stadium hospitality employees to actively participate. At select Philadelphia Union games, a fan seen properly recycling stadium cups will be awarded a Fanatics gift card. During Union matches, each relevant vendor at Talen Energy Stadium will be incentivized to collect all beverage caps for recycling. There will be a cash prize at every Philadelphia Union game for the hospitality employee who collects the most bottle caps for recycling.