The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), Washington, has developed resources for pharmacies to recycle stock bottles. In support of APR’s primary goals to increase the supply and enhance the quality of recycled plastics, pharmacy stock bottles have been identified as a highly marketable, quality stream of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), the organization says.

“Pharmacies offer a unique grocery store waste reduction opportunity,” says Liz Bedard, APR rigid plastics recycling director. “Many pharmacies are making the switch from disposing of large volumes of stock bottles to setting up dedicated pharmacy stock bottle recycling collection bins.”

Pharmacy waste is divided evenly between stock bottles and paper, the APR says. Through the combination of a pharmacy stock bottle recycling program and a paper recycling program, grocery stores and pharmacies can achieve zero waste status with no incremental labor costs, waste hauling and disposal savings, as well as potential revenue.

“As we have seen the Recycling Grocery Rigid Plastics program grow to include 32 states, 10 national chains and 4,500 stores, a Pharmacy Stock Bottle Recycling program was the next logical step,” says Steve Alexander, APR executive director. “These new resources expand on APR’s efforts to enhance the quality and increase the supply of recycled plastics through extensive technical resources.”

The APR says its pharmacy resources have been added to the “How to Recycle Grocery Rigid Plastics Guidebook” and include simple steps for a recommended approach to starting the program, photos, potential revenue figures, sample signage, frequently asked questions and a case study outlining the success story of a Stop & Shop pharmacy. 

“Grocery rigid plastics have proven to be a good, clean source of HDPE,” says J. Scott Saunders, general manager of KW Plastics Recycling, Troy, Alabama, and chair of the APR board of directors. “The pharmacy stock bottle recycling program is yet another example of how APR works to seek additional feedstock of material to recycle.”

More information is available at http://recyclegroceryplastics.org. 

Researchers Ning Ai, Ph.D., and Nancey Green Leigh, Ph.D., FAICP (Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners), authors of “Planning for Sustainable Material and Waste Management,” a new Planning Advisory Service (PAS) report from the American Planning Association (APA), say cities cannot be sustainable if they generate more waste than it can assimilate.

Ai is an assistant professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago with a joint appointment at the Institute for Environmental Science and Policy. Her research focuses on urban environmental planning, material and waste management and system analysis of urban sustainability.

Leigh is a professor of city and regional planning at the Georgia Institute of Technology and associate dean for research in its College of Design. Leigh has published five books, including Planning Local Economic Development, sixth edition, as well as resources for planning practitioners. Her research focuses on sustainable economic development.

In their paper, Ai and Leigh advise planners to look beyond waste disposal to examine the entire life cycle of materials and products and to focus on material-centered systems and closed-loop programs to help communities understand how economic, environmental and social implications are interconnected.

Drawing from various studies and practices across the United States and beyond, they present six key strategies for creating a sustainable material and waste management program:

• Implement regulations across all environmental media instead of focusing solely on one specific type, such as land, water or air.
• Engage in infrastructure planning that addresses the local needs of material and waste management through the logistics chain.
• Take a more strategic approach to financing by addressing the costs and consequences of material and waste management.
• Create more green jobs by promoting R3 (reuse, recycle and remanufacture) activities.
• Balance equity and efficiency in material and waste management.
• Adopt emerging technologies and implement regulations for more efficient data collection and more effective waste diversion.

It’s important for planners to fully understand the nature of sustainable material and waste management to advise community leaders on how to reduce the impact of environmental hazards while improving economic development and promoting social equity, the authors say. “Planning for Sustainable Material and Waste Management” is intended to give planners the tools they need to work with smart technologies and gain stakeholder support at multiple agency levels.

Members of APA, which has offices in Chicago and Washington, have free digital access to “Planning for Sustainable Material and Waste Management” and the entire digital PAS report library. 

Thirty-one percent of McDonald’s Corp. shareholders supported a proposal from Oakland, California-based nonprofit organization As You Sow asking the company to phase out expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam packaging globally, according to vote results announced at McDonald's annual meeting May 24. 

The vote exceeds the average voting result of 20 percent for social and environmental issue proposals.

McDonald’s has phased out EPS foam beverage cups in the United States but continues to use them in international markets identified as having high levels of plastics deposition onto land and waterways, including Hong Kong and parts of the Philippines, according to As You Sow. The organization says EPS foam used for coffee cups, takeout containers and packing materials is recycled in low numbers, is often swept into waterways and is one of the top items found in ocean beach cleanups.

“The company was concerned enough about the environmental impact of polystyrene 27 years ago to stop using clamshell EPS foam-based burger containers,” says Conrad MacKerron, As You Sow senior vice president. “It’s disconcerting that it did not follow through to fully remove polystyrene across its packaging system. This vote sends a signal to management that it’s time to finish the job.”

McDonald’s phaseout of foam burger containers in 1990 which, along with other changes in packaging, saved the company an estimated $6 million per year, and in the decade following these actions, helped the company reduce restaurant waste by 30 percent, according to the Environmental Defense Fund. As You Sow says it was a catalyst for McDonald’s to phase out use of EPS cups in the U.S. in 2013.

In April 2017, As You Sow withdrew a shareholder proposal with Target Corp. asking the company to phase out EPS foam packaging in its e-commerce operations after it agreed to work with its value chain and industry peers to discuss replacing EPS with less harmful alternatives, according to the organization.

Fifteen major brands, including Coca-Cola Co., Danone, Dow Chemical Co., L’Oreal, Marks & Spencer, Mars, PepsiCo Inc., Procter & Gamble Co. and Unilever recommended replacement of EPS foam as a packaging material in a report released in January 2017 by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has determined that styrene, used in the production of polystyrene, is a possible human carcinogen. EPS foam packaging materials break down into small indigestible pellets, which animals mistake for food, resulting in death to birds, fish and other marine animals, says As You Sow. Foam also may pose a higher risk to marine animals than other plastics; research indicates it can accumulate high concentrations of waterborne toxins in a short time frame, the organization says. 

Nine countries and more than 100 U.S. cities or counties have banned or restricted EPS packaging. 

Ranjit Baxi of U.K.-based J&H Sales International Recycling and president of the Brussels-based Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) said the organisation has planned the first Global Recycling Day  because “is an untold story.” The day, which is scheduled for 18 March, 2018, will give recyclers an opportunity to tell the public, governments and policymakers about the crucial role the recycling industry plays in “creating a clean and sustainable environment for us all and for future generations.”

Baxi chose the second meeting of the World Council of Recycling Associations, held at the BIR World Recycling Convention & Exhibition in Hong Kong, to announce that the inaugural Global Recycling Day which coincides with the 70th anniversary of BIR’s formation. The intention was to coordinate pro-recycling initiatives across perhaps 50 or more countries, he said.

“Recycling doesn’t begin and end in the USA or in Europe; its story needs to be told all around the world,” Baxi said. He urged all members and national associations not only to consider ways of promoting Global Recycling Day in their own countries but also to seek out partners to support the growth of what would be an annual celebration of the social, economic and environmental positives delivered by recycling.

Between now and next March, BIR will launch various initiatives and calls to action, as well as approach potential partners, to help build toward Global Recycling Day. Information on the latest developments will appear on the dedicated Global Recycling Day website, www.bir.org/conventionwebsite/globalrecyclingday/project-2.

A succession of high-ranking officials from member organisations of the World Council attended the meeting in Hong Kong and offered their thoughts on the Global Recycling Day initiative.

Brian Shine, chair-elect of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, hailed it as “a big step in promoting the industry’s image.”

Salam Sharif, president of the Bureau of Middle East Recycling and chairman of BIR’s Ambassadors Committee, welcomed the opportunity it would provide to send out a “loud and clear” message about the recycling industry’s environmental contribution. He suggested that recyclers around the world should sign off all their emails with a note underlining their personal commitment to the initiative, which Baxi said was an “excellent” promotional idea.

As part of its mission to promote research that generates hard data in support of the recycling industry’s contribution, the World Council of Recycling Associations will seek to commission separate studies on recycling’s economic and social benefits, Baxi said. The new body, which he again described as “the United Nations of Recycling,” also will approach the Chinese government for a dialogue to clarify the practical implications for recyclables trading of its National Sword import control initiative.