Workers are needed in landfilling, curbside recycling and container deposit return, but which sector brings the most much-needed jobs to the struggling U.S. economy? Our authors provide a detailed analysis of the positive impact beverage container deposit programs can have on job creation. Returning to Work Click on the link below to see the full […]
Recycling
New Study on Reuse and Recycling Systems for Selected Beverage Packaging from a Sustainability Perpsective
A study just released by PricewaterhouseCoopers AG WPG in Germany assesses the existing systems for collecting and recycling beverage containers in Germany from a social, economic, and ecological viewpoint. It shows that for beverage containers, deposit-return systems are preferable to green-dot systems (industry-financed curbside collection) in that deposit-return systems acheive higher collection rates, create more jobs, […]
Newsprint on the Orient Express – 2011
Each year, Ontario municipalities collect just under 500,000 tonnes of printed paper for recycling. Newsprint, magazines, catalogues, phone books and household paper comprise more than half the total weight of all blue box recyclables collected. The volumes are significant, and are worth over $40 millionin the marketplace. For years the recycled fibres were used by […]
Understanding economic and environmental impacts of single-stream collection systems
In 2009, the Container Recycling Institute undertook a study on the impacts of single-stream collection of residential recyclables, with a particular focus on the economic and environmental impacts of this collection method on the final material sent to end-markets for recycling. The past decade has experienced a significant increase in packaging generation. At the same […]
An Overview of Plastic Bottle Recycling in Canada
Recovery and recycling of plastic bottles in Canada varies dramatically based on the province and the bottle type. In 2002, of the 235,086 tonnes generated, approximately 84,709 tonnes or 36% of plastic bottle material was recovered and recycled, based on available data. To date, deposit return systems for beverage containers are 2.3 times more effective […]
Recovery Questions (2011)
As the debate around strategies to recover beverage containers heats up again, so too does the interest in quality information. For readers interested in said illumination, Who Pays What 2010 (the fourth edition) fills the bill, as it houses everything one needs to know about beverage container recovery in Canada. While some might choose to […]
Beverage Container Recycling in Canada (2010)
Every two years, CM Consulting publishes Who Pays What — An Analysis of Beverage Container Recovery and Costs in Canada — a comprehensive report on the status of performance and costs of beverage container recycling programs in each Canadian province. Beverage containers are ubiquitous. In Canada, collectively, this worked out to about 1.5 million tonnes of […]
Single Stream Uncovered (2010)
Over the past decade, hundreds of communities throughout North America have shifted their municipal recycling collection program from a dualor multi-stream approach to one that commingles recyclables into one container, due mainly to the convenience factor for residents and costs savings for the local government. However, though municipalities may be switching collection schemes in droves, […]
Packaging Stewardship — A Package of Responsibility (2010)
With Maine’s recent passing of the nation’s first stewardship framework legislation,all eyes may turn to Central Canada, specifically Ontario, to see how exactly such a lawcould play out, in terms of industry funding, costs and how it could improvethe recycling of packaging and printed paper for municipalities. At the close of this past March, Maine […]
RVM: Reverse Vending Machines — Beverage Container Recycling (2009)
Reverse vending machines arrive… at last! “The age of automation is going to be the age of ‘do it yourself,” wrote Marshall McLuhan. Today we don’t think twice about using a bank machine, automated parking attendant, airport check-in, and self check-out at retail stores. So, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that machines designed for empty bottle […]
