A welcome reminder

DeAnne Toto

As we wrap up production on the May issue of Recycling Today, more than 1 billion people around the world are celebrating the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement, April 22, 1970, or Earth Day, according to the Earth Day Network (EDN). The nonprofit organization says it works with more than 22,000 partners in 192 countries to broaden, diversify and mobilize the environmental movement.

Recycling is an important component of the environmental movement, conserving raw materials and reducing energy used during product production.

EDN singled out Apple this Earth Day for strengthening its commitment to environmental sustainability, including making its new Apple Campus 2 more environmentally friendly by increasing its use of alternative power. Apple also has pledged to send less electronic scrap to landfills, EDN says.

Apple has revamped its environmental responsibility minisite, www.apple.com/environment, to detail its environmental initiatives. The company reminds visitors that its stores will take back Apple products for free, responsible recycling. Apple also says it has set up recycling programs in cities and on college campuses in 95 percent of the countries in which it sells products, diverting more than 420 million pounds of electronic equipment from landfills.

Since 2010, Apple says it has recovered for recycling 85 percent of the products it sold seven years earlier. “But,” the company continues, “our larger goal is to identify new recycling technologies that can help us recover additional materials and increase resource efficiency.”

While recyclers know the significant impact recycling has on the environment and the benefits of a circular economy, they are probably thankful that Earth Day helps to remind others of these benefits, spurring them to action.
 

Correction: In the article, “Canada Fibers adds Bollegraaf equipment at dual-stream MRF,” posted Jan. 10, 2014, to www.RecyclingToday.com/canada-fibers-van-dyk-bollegraaf-mrf.aspx, ownership of the Hamilton, Ontario, material recovery facility (MRF) in question was incorrectly attributed to Canada Fibers Ltd. (The article has since been corrected.) The MRF is owned by the city of Hamilton, which financed the sorting equipment for the original container line installed at the facility as well as the upgrade detailed in the article. Canada Fibers operates the MRF under contract with the city of Hamilton, which owns all of the recyclables processed there.

Recycling Today apologizes for the error and thanks Emil Prpic, manager of recycling and waste disposal for the Hamilton Public Works Department, for pointing out this mistake.