Collection corner

Cash for cans

Aluminum is infinitely recyclable, and companies such as Rexam Beverage Can North America want to increase the nonferrous metal’s recycling rate. The global aluminum can manufacturer recently hosted its fourth annual Cash for Cans recycling event at its Chicago headquarters, collecting more than 3,500 pounds of used beverage containers (UBCs) for a total of $2,300 in donations to local charities.

Rich Grimley, president and CEO of Rexam, says, “This is a great opportunity for us to partner with our suppliers and focus on our common mission—increasing aluminum can recycling.”

The UBC recycling rate reached 67 percent in the United States in 2012 and in 2013, the highest rate since the early 1990s and the second highest since the Aluminum Association began tracking the rate in 1972, according to that group.

Converting cups

Do not throw that paper coffee cup away; it just might be recyclable. Paper cups and packaging typically used for hot and cold drinks and ice cream are usually tossed in the trash because of their 100-percent-polyethylene (-PE) coating. Newport Beach, California-based Smart Planet Technologies has introduced EarthCoating, a “highly mineralized coating providing high barrier and heat-seal performance while containing up to 60 percent less plastic than traditional 100-percent-low-density-polyethylene (-LDPE) coatings,” the company says.

Paper cups with EarthCoating with select specifications have successfully completed recyclability and repulpability testing at Georgia Tech’s Institute of Paper Science and Technology as well as at Newark Recycled Paperboard Solutions, Cranford, New Jersey.

Smart Planet says cups manufactured with EarthCoating can now make widespread paper cup recycling possible.

“The use of EarthCoating tackles the long-standing challenge to find a recyclable material for paper cups,” says Chris Tilton, chief technology officer of Smart Planet Technologies.

The paper cups are available on the website of California-based PrintWinner at www.printwinner.com.

Recycling celebration

Founded in 1997, America Recycles Day is the only nationally recognized day dedicated to promoting and celebrating recycling in the U.S. More than 2 million Americans participated in America Recycles Day 2012, registering more than 2,000 recycling-related events and collecting more than 3.7 million pounds of recyclables, says Stamford, Connecticut-based Keep America Beautiful (KAB), which started the program.

Of the nearly 95,000 individual pledges made to recycle more materials, aluminum used beverage containers (UBCs), plastic bottles and caps and unwanted mail topped the list of the most pledged items to recycle.

America Recycles Day takes place annually on and around Nov. 15 and recognizes the benefits of recycling while providing an educational platform that helps raise awareness about the value of recycling throughout the year, KAB says.

More about this national event is available at www.americarecyclesday.org.

Do you have a unique recycling-focused story? Please send a press release to Megan Workman at mworkman@gie.net.