Latest news with #TerraCycle
Cision Canada
18-06-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
School's Out, Pens Down: Staples Canada offers free recycling for used writing tools Français
More than 10 million writing instruments have been diverted from landfills through Staples Canada's partnership with TerraCycle RICHMOND HILL, ON, June 18, 2025 /CNW/ - As the school year winds down, Staples Canada is encouraging families to dispose of used writing instruments the sustainable way by recycling them for free through the Staples Free Recycling Program. As part of its commitment to providing unique recycling solutions for Canadians, customers are invited to drop off used pens, markers, mechanical pencils, etc. – items that are typically difficult to recycle – at all 298 Staples stores across Canada. "Reaching the milestone of 10 million recycled writing instruments is a powerful example of what's possible through great partnerships and the support of our customers," said Rachel Huckle, CEO, Staples Canada. "Participating is easy—just collect your used pens, markers, mechanical pencils, and other writing tools, and drop them off in the designated collection box at your local Staples. TerraCycle then recycles the materials responsibly, helping to keep waste out of landfills and contribute to a more sustainable future." Despite their daily use, writing instruments such as pens, mechanical pencils, and markers are often overlooked in traditional recycling programs due to their mixed-material construction. Recognizing this gap, Staples, in partnership with TerraCycle, established the Staples Free Recycling Program—one of the Canada's few in-store solutions for recycling writing tools. Once collected, these items are sent to TerraCycle, where they are cleaned, sorted, and transformed into raw materials for new products such as outdoor furniture, storage bins, and playground surfaces. Since its inception, the program has successfully diverted over 10 million writing instruments from landfills, surpassing its 2025 sustainability target ahead of schedule. "Staples Canada has created an easy way for families to keep millions of hard-to-recycle items out of the trash," said Tom Szaky, Founder and CEO of TerraCycle. "It's a great example of how everyday actions—like emptying a school backpack—can add up to real environmental impact." The Staples Free Recycling Program is open to individuals, schools, offices, or community organizations. For more information on TerraCycle's recycling programs, visit In addition to writing instruments, Staples locations accept other hard-to-recycle items for free, like electronics, batteries and more. To learn more about those programs and the company's sustainability goals and waste diversion initiatives, visit About Staples Canada Staples Canada is The Working and Learning Company. We are a Canadian company committed to helping parents, teachers, businesses, and entrepreneurs work smarter, learn more and grow every day. We deliver EASY, solution-focused experiences that simplify the way Canadians work and learn — through curated product offerings, knowledgeable in-store associates, and seamless service. Our network includes 298 stores across Canada and printing and shipping services at Staples Print, and Staples Studio co-working spaces. To service the unique needs of businesses, we also have a number of dedicated B2B brands that support business customers of all sizes, which include Staples Preferred, Staples Professional, Supreme Office Supplies and Furniture, Denis Office Supplies, Monarch Office Supply Inc, and Beatties. Headquartered in Richmond Hill, Ontario, we are committed to the communities we serve across Canada. We are a proud partner of MAP through our Even The Odds fundraising and awareness initiative that aims to eliminate critical gaps in health equity. Visit for more information or engage with @StaplesCanada on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or TikTok. About TerraCycle TerraCycle is an international leader in innovative sustainability solutions, creating and operating first-of-their-kind platforms in recycling, recycled materials, and reuse. Across 21 countries, TerraCycle is on a mission to rethink waste and develop practical solutions for today's complex waste challenges. The company engages an expansive multi-stakeholder community across a wide range of accessible programs, from Fortune 500 companies to schools and individuals. To learn more about TerraCycle and join them on their journey to move the world from a linear economy to a circular one, please visit
New York Times
07-05-2025
- General
- New York Times
These Companies Want Your Hard-to-Recycle Stuff. Should You Pay Them to Take It?
So you want to go the extra mile to get rid of your unwanted stuff and give it its best shot at avoiding the landfill. Should you pay Ridwell or Trashie, or any other company, to do that? The most obvious free alternative is to do an old-fashioned drop-off, such as at your local e-waste center, charity center, or collection point. Some municipalities allow you to schedule special pickups for hazardous items, such as light bulbs, batteries, and electronics, which are dangerous to throw in the trash. For packaging that isn't type 1, 2, or 5 plastic, free drop-off options are more limited. Municipal recycling programs rarely accept common packaging plastic, including plastic film, multilayer plastic, and unlabeled plastic (to-go food-container lids, for example). There are some options, like drop-off partnerships with organizations such as Pact. But for many kinds of unaccepted packaging, the advice goes, you should just throw it away — otherwise, you're passing on the sorting to the facility and possibly dooming an otherwise recyclable batch to the landfill, too. In contrast, Ridwell's and TerraCycle's proposition is that actually, you can, and maybe even should, recycle more than you think. The sustainability arguments for pickup and mail-in services often boil down to efficiency, consolidating transportation instead of relying on individuals taking multiple car trips. 'One thing I surely wouldn't do is drive all over the place in order to recycle,' said Lifset. 'That's just going to be counterproductive.' Another efficiency point is that these paid services meet you where your habits already exist. In the case of Trashie, if you're in the habit of shopping for clothes online, ordering a bag, filling it, and dropping it in the mail like you would an online return probably doesn't seem like much of a mountain to climb. And Ridwell's pickup service mirrors what you already do with your other household waste on a daily basis. Research supports the intuitive idea that convenience can increase participation, said Jessika Richter, an associate senior lecturer in industrial environmental economics at Lund University, in an email. There's a third efficiency point in favor of a service like Ridwell's. Because it relies on customers to presort items, overall, the percentage of what Ridwell collects that it must throw away is more likely to be low, and its system costs can stay down. Ridwell's CEO, Ryan Metzger, told me that an average of 97% of materials the company collects are successfully recycled or reused. Ridwell touts its transparency and shares its recycling partners on its website, listing them by material and region. I reached out to a few of them, including Solutions Plastic. According to Patrick Leahy, CEO of Solutions Plastic parent company Firststar Recycling, 100% of multi-layer plastic from Ridwell is recycled into lumber or pellets that are resold for use in pallets, turf mats, and chemical recycling. What's more, 'materials from Ridwell are low in contaminates, especially compared to single-stream, curbside, or store take back collection methods,' Leahy said in an email. Trashie, on the other hand, takes sorting into its own hands at designated spaces in facilities in Texas. Historically, low-value but technically reusable or recyclable clothing has gone into a mixed bundle, leading to more textile waste. What sets Trashie apart, according to CEO Kristy Caylor, is the detailed, market-focused nature of Trashie's sorting. 'Currently, approximately 70% of the textiles we receive are reusable in their original condition, while 20-25% are suitable for recycling,' a Trashie spokesperson shared. About 45% of reusable items stay in North America, and all recycling happens in the United States. 'On average, 5% of collections are truly waste and are landfilled in the US.' As to what happens to the recyclables, a spokesperson referred to 'a large global network specializing in various recycling methods, including wiper and rag production, mechanical recycling, and emerging technologies like chemical and advanced sorting,' as well as 'actively piloting innovations to expand what's possible in textile recovery.' I was unable to confirm with any recycling partners what actually happens to items that Trashie processes. Transparency in recycling for challenging streams is, well, challenging. Case in point: A few years ago, reporting by Bloomberg on TerraCycle, perhaps the most recognizable name in intermediary recycling services, underscored how opaque and unwieldy some recycling streams remain. But how much of the stuff you try to recycle will actually be recycled may not be the point — or at least, not the only one. 'I don't think that that means you shouldn't go through with these practices,' said MIT's Jeremy Gregory, speaking generally. 'Sometimes you run into a chicken-or-egg situation, where you need enough volume of a recovered stream in order to create the demand for it to be used in those higher-value applications.' In other words, 'sending that stuff out can be helping to send a signal,' said Gregory. That's an economic signal, but it's also a technical one; manufacturers need to know whether they can reliably swap virgin materials for recycled materials without compromising performance. As an individual, 'the benefit that you provide to the environment for recycling a modest amount of trash is small,' said Yale's Reid Lifset. 'But the benefit, if you get the whole system to work, is much larger.' 'The point here is to develop viable systems,' he continued. 'And so the point here is not 'How much damage have I avoided by recycling some amount of packaging?' It's 'Is this company or this project likely to result in something that is financially viable and environmentally adequate?'' On that note, with any paid service, customers should be on the lookout for unsubstantiated claims, which Gregory raised as a red flag for greenwashing, as well as grand promises. For all the reasons stated, he said that he would prefer to see companies acknowledge that all of this is a work in progress.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Brewing Up Impact, Serving Change: Cambio Roasters Partners with TerraCycle® and 4Ocean to Fight Plastic Waste—On Land and at Sea
Cambio Roasters partners with TerraCycle & 4Ocean, leading the charge in ocean and land plastic waste reduction Charleston, South Carolina, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cambio Roasters is raising the bar on sustainable coffee. The brand known for turning everyday coffee moments into sustainability wins is making new strides in tackling plastic waste on both land and sea with new initiatives they are spearheading with its partner organizations: TerraCycle and 4Ocean. Beyond their creation of the world's first Keurig®-compatible aluminum pod, Cambio Roasters continues to make coffee consumption easier for all so that everyone can sip sustainably, recycle effortlessly and restore the planet with every cup of TerraCycle, Cambio Roasters is reshaping the future of coffee pod sustainability. Through the Cambio Roasters Free Recycling Program, anyone can recycle used aluminum pods for free—no matter what their local curbside recycling service accepts, ensuring their aluminum pods are kept out of landfills and incinerators. Now, Cambio is extending its impact even further—by taking steps with 4Ocean to actively remove plastic waste from the world's oceans. 'At Cambio Roasters, we believe that great coffee should never come at the expense of the planet,' said Cambio Roasters co-founder, Ann Huston. 'By partnering with TerraCycle, we're making it easy to recycle our pods. And with 4Ocean, we're taking it one step further—cleaning up plastic that's already polluting our oceans. Every sip matters. Every pod counts. And now, every purchase is helping to create a cleaner, healthier planet.' How It Works: Two Ways to Make a DifferenceBrew. Recycle. Repeat. The Cambio Roasters Free Recycling Program, offered in partnership with TerraCycle, makes it easy to recycle used aluminum pods and reduce waste. Just collect your spent Cambio pods in any box, then download a prepaid shipping label from the TerraCycle website and send them in. Once received, TerraCycle separates the materials, recycling the aluminum so it can be used to make new products, and sending the coffee grounds for industrial its partnership with 4Ocean, Cambio Roasters is actively removing plastic waste—one pound at a time. For every $40 purchase on one pound of plastic is extracted from oceans and rivers worldwide. Customers receive a unique Ecodrive Impact ID, allowing them to track their plastic removal journey from water to recycling plant in real time—making every cup of Cambio coffee part of the solution. Coffee That Cares Cambio Roasters isn't just about great organic coffee—it's about real impact. Beyond sustainability, Cambio donates 20% of all profits to support coffee-farming communities through their partnership with Food 4 Farmers, ensuring the people behind every bean can thrive. From reducing single-use plastics to restoring ocean ecosystems, Cambio Roasters is proving that every cup can create change. The Cambio Roasters Free Recycling Program is open to individuals, schools, offices, and community organizations. And now, through its partnership with 4Ocean, Cambio is helping to remove plastic from the world's oceans—one pound at a time for every $40 purchase made on their official website. Whether you're a daily coffee drinker or just looking to make a difference, Cambio makes it easy to brew responsibly, recycle effortlessly, and restore the planet—all with the same cup of coffee. For more information on Cambio Roasters' sustainability efforts, visit Non-Affiliation & Disclaimer Cambio Roasters and its products are not affiliated, associated, endorsed, or in any way connected with Keurig Dr. Pepper Inc. or Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. 'Keurig®' and 'K-Cup®' are registered trademarks of Keurig Dr. Pepper Inc. Cambio Roasters' aluminum coffee pods are compatible with Keurig® machines, but Cambio Roasters is an independent brand offering an eco-friendly alternative. Cambio Roasters products are not sponsored, licensed, or approved by Keurig Dr. Pepper Inc. ### About Cambio Roasters Cambio Roasters is redefining the single-serve coffee market with innovations driven by sustainability, quality, and social impact. Led by CEO Kevin Hartley, formerly of Keurig Green Mountain®, the company focuses on delivering the finest organic coffees in recyclable pods. Cambio Roasters' mission is to transform the iconic coffee pod for the next 25 years, blending third-wave coffee culture with a positive environmental and social impact, while also elevating the entire coffee-consuming experience. Through focused farm-to-pod sourcing, community engagement, and product excellence, Cambio Roasters invites coffee enthusiasts to enjoy a richer, more meaningful coffee experience while contributing to a more sustainable future. Join the movement by visiting About TerraCycle TerraCycle is an international leader in innovative sustainability solutions, creating and operating first-of-their-kind platforms in recycling, recycled materials, and reuse. Across 21 countries, TerraCycle is on a mission to rethink waste and develop practical solutions for today's complex waste challenges. The company engages an expansive multi-stakeholder community across a wide range of accessible programs, from Fortune 500 companies to schools and individuals. To learn more about TerraCycle and join them on their journey to move the world from a linear economy to a circular one, please visit About 4Ocean 4ocean Public Benefit Company (PBC) is a global ocean cleanup company based in Boca Raton, FL, that's dedicated to ending the ocean plastic crisis. As a Public Benefit Corporation and Certified B Corp, they harness the power of business to fund a global cleanup operation that recovers millions of pounds of plastic and other debris from the world's ocean, rivers, and coastlines each year. To learn more about 4Ocean and their various initiatives, please visit CONTACT: Heather Holmes media@ 1+(828)332-5307Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Pet toy maker announces major changes to its dog chew products: 'Aligning our actions with our heart and purpose'
There's great news for adoring pet owners who love to spoil their furry besties. Chew toy maker Nylabone is celebrating its 70th birthday by ditching most of the plastic in its packaging and embracing eco-friendly alternatives. The company announced in a press release that it's swapping its old packaging for a "refreshed" design that reduces the plastic in its packaging and uses more recyclable paper materials. This move alone will help the company cut its yearly plastic use by more than 40 tons. This is great for pet parents who can treat their furry friend to a new toy, knowing it involves less plastic waste. Around 36% of all plastics are used in packaging, and about 85% of that can end up in landfills, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, so moves like these, especially from big companies, can make a major impact in reducing waste and pollution. When you're buying pet food, which of these factors in most important to you? Price Quality and flavor Healthy ingredients Eco-friendly ingredients Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Cutting down on plastic helps prevent pollution and the production of toxic gases that end up polluting our air. Plastic is made from dirty fuels, and these contribute to the overheating of our planet, which has a ripple effect seen in extreme weather events that affect our communities. Plastic waste also leads to microplastics that end up in our oceans, rivers, and eventually our food. If companies like Nylabone can change the way they do things, even in increments, it's a win-win for people and the planet. Also, recycling programs like TerraCycle have teamed up with companies like PetSmart to help consumers with hard-to-recycle items — but for now, there's only a program for Benebone brand chews. Hopefully, Nylabone can offer something similar as it continues working toward its environmental goals. In the meantime, YouTuber Mark Mason has a great hack for repurposing old Nylabones to make them safely last longer. Companies are noticing that many consumers prefer sustainable products that are kind to the planet. Supporting eco-friendly initiatives encourages more companies to embrace green practices. If you want to support brands with plastic-free packaging, we've covered many developments in the industry. Nylabone CEO Glen Axelrod said in the release: "As we celebrate our 70-year-long legacy of chewing excellence, we're also looking toward the future — and that includes continuing to create top-quality products that best serve dogs, pet parents, and our planet. "Through the new packaging design and its structure, we're aligning our actions with our heart and purpose, creating a healthier planet for generations to come." Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
