We’ve all wrestled with a product package that’s almost impossible to open. In addition to being frustrating, plastic packaging is wasteful. But, some manufacturers are starting to make greener packaging for their mail-order products.

We at ecycler.com recently bought two Logitech web cams — one from a major electronics retailer and the other from amazon.com. The one from the brick and mortar store was encased in hard-to-open plastic inside a brightly colored box about three times its size.

The one that came in the mail was a simple cardboard box. Printed on the inside was a message from Logitech saying, “This box never has to deal with a store shelf. It doesn’t require layers of plastic — so you can open it easily. It can use fewer materials than our retail package — which can make recycling simpler.”

So while you save time by ordering online — and money by not having to pay sales tax — doing so can also be greener. On its box, Logitech also says, “A brown box may not be pretty, but we think the results are beautiful.”

We do, too.

The expansion to the existing Massachusetts bottle bill (House Bill 3515) is dead. Again…

The bill was elegant and smart, and it would have brought a little money with it.

It would have given a makeover to the state’s bottle redemption law, which puts a refundable nickel deposit on some drink containers to encourage consumers to return them rather than throw them in the trash.

The 1982 law was written before the explosion of the snake-oil industry more commonly known as the bottled water business. And so it applies only to carbonated drinks — not water, sports drinks, or teas. Those drinks account for at least 1 billion of the more than 3 billion drink containers sold in Massachusetts each year. Only a third of those excluded containers, at best, are recycled (compared with 80 percent of bottles that carry deposits).

The rest — enough plastic bottles to fill Fenway Park, according to a Sierra Club estimate — are tossed into landfills each year.

The bottle bill update would have kept most of that plastic out of landfills and sent it to redemption centers. Those centers get 2.25 cents from beverage distributors for every bottle they handle, and the bill would have raised those handling fees by a penny — the first increase for struggling recycling centers since 1990.

The state said the new law would save cities and towns up to $7 million a year in trash costs and add $20 million to the $38 million the state already gets each year from unclaimed deposits.

Not surprisingly, the beverage industry went to work on legislators to snuff out the whole thing. After all, the new law would cost distributors money, making them responsible for even more bottles, when what they really want is to be responsible for none of them.

The companies that seem to have had no problem jacking up prices over the decades when it meant profits for them suddenly found grave concern for the well-being of their customers: There was no avoiding passing their extra costs along to Joe Six-pack, they said, and that wouldn’t be fair to him.

They were über-tree huggers, too, they said, and they worried that encouraging more bottle redemptions would undermine curbside recycling. As if we couldn’t — or shouldn’t — do both.

Despite their efforts, the bottle bill update got further than it has in the 16 years advocates have been trying to get it passed. A compromise made it out of a Senate committee for the first time in mid-July.

“I’ve worked on a lot of bills, and I really thought they were going to do it this time,’’ said Phil Sego, spokesman for the Massachusetts Sierra Club.

The bottle bill was done in by the dreaded T-word. Critics called the deposits a tax. And legislative leaders would rather eat their own heads than pass anything that even remotely resembles that evil specter.

Never mind that the five-cent deposit is fully refundable. Never mind that the bill would save cities and towns cleanup costs and fund water supply improvements. Never mind that the bill would offset the much bigger and more permanent cost of clogging landfills with plastic forever.

If intransigent legislators understood those nuances, they had no appetite for communicating them to voters in an election year, or no faith that their constituents would get it.

RIP (for now…)

Additional Information on Existing MA Bottle Bill: http://www.mass.gov/dep/recycle/reduce/bbillcon.htm

Original story written by Yvonne Abraham, a Globe columnist–it may be found here at The Boston Globe.

ecycler has taken its popular Crush that Can web series to a new level. In addition to our YouTube and Vimeo channels, we have now syndicated our series to Apple’s iTunes platform–the full videos are easily available on your iPhone, iPod or iPad. All for free!

Crush that Can is a series of videos–short, humorous videos to demonstrate different ways to decrease the size of aluminum cans in order to prepare them for recycling in non-bottle bill states.

We strive for ways to promote recycling in an exciting way!

You may subscribe to ecycler’s Crush that Can podcast by either searching “Crush that Can” on iTunes or by subscribing directly at http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/crush-that-can/id372750658.

ecycler TV options:

iTunes: Crush that Can podcast

YouTube: youtube.com/ecycler

Vimeo: vimeo.com/ecycler

RSS feed: feedburner.com/CrushThatCan

Enjoy the Crush that Can series on any of these platforms. We’re always open to suggestions for additional formats–let us know through our ecycler Contact Us page.

We were recently featured as a telnic .tel Story, check out the full story!

Ecycler based out of Lake Forest, IL (USA), creates a new way to recycle by connecting people discarding cans, bottles and newspapers with those wishing to collect them. Ecycler makes recycling easier for households and businesses in Canada and the US.

Tim Laurent shares his experience with .tel, and his views on the future of .tel technology.

As an Internet company, Ecycler relies on leads from the Internet, and 100% of our user base is Internet capable. Therefore, we try to be as accessible as possible. We allow communications through traditional forms (email, contact us page, blog, forums) and the social media channels (twitter, facebook, youtube, etc.). We are also actively engaged in a lot of social media channels; Twitter, Facebook and Youtube to name a few. We believe that everyone approaches life differently, so we are prepared to have a presence where ever we are needed. Many of these communication avenues are now consolidated through the ecycler.tel resource, which feeds into the idea of meeting our customers where they are.

We finally made the move and registered ecycler.tel about four months ago after seeing other .tel sites start to pop-up. We thought the idea of a simple, fast loading directory as a “must have” ecycler digital asset. Building the ecycler.tel site was relatively straight forward. And, it’s easy enough to update when needed. Of course, the fact that the .tel sites are search engine friendly is quite a plus.

Today ecycler.tel continues our philosophy of brand recognition. We consider it a core aspect of our communications strategy.

I think anyone who’s serious about an online presence can benefit from a .tel domain.  The .tel is a universal online phone book (directory). It’s a central communications hub for you or your business. When someone needs to find your phone number, or email address, or whatever, they can be assured that your .tel will have that information.

I think, .tel is going to continue to have an impact on the world. As more and more websites come online, we see .tel becoming even more important for people to more easily find what they need via an easy to use, fast loading framework.

ecycler goes to Canada

Today, 21 July 2010, ecycler launches in Vancouver, Canada.

As part of our continuing efforts to find innovative and cost effective methods of reducing, reusing and recycling we are excited to launch e-cycler.ca which will provide an easy way for collectors and discarders to connect online.

Ecycler creates a new way to recycle by connecting people discarding cans, bottles and newspapers with those wishing to collect them.

E-cycler.ca provides an alternative to the many Canadian households and businesses that are not offered curb-side recycling. It’s also an option for people who have to pay for curb-side recycling or who want to have their recyclables picked up when and where they desire.

Ecycler is partnering with Keystone, an established recycler and waste management firm located in Vancouver. This strategic relationship is to bolster each other’s strengths into a winning combination. The springboard into Canada follows the successful launch of ecycler USA ten months prior.

For the individual (or group) collecting recyclables, ecycler provides an entrepreneurship opportunity. Ecycler is driven by these collectors who establish an ecycler recycling program in their community. Collectors can download personalized business cards and posters generated by e-cycler.ca and then post them in public places. Collector accounts also include a customizable ecycler URL, i.e., their profile page. Anyone who has access to the Internet can become an ecycler collector.

Discarders can do their part for the environment while at the same time helping collectors in need of additional income. The discarders’ recyclables are “collected” by these individuals or groups and redeemed for cash at a local recycling center. Ecycler supports this community building for groups such as the Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, Church groups, social clubs, etc. by making available the same marketing materials used by individual collectors on e-cycler.ca.

Ecycler encourages people to discard their recyclables for free; however, discarders can request a portion of the proceeds from the collector. Discarders can track their carbon credits on the site. In addition to the automated calculation of materials recycled though e-cycler.ca, discarders have the option of listing how many recyclables they’ve given away on their own to be included in their total.

E-cycler.ca provides an accountability tool by allowing collectors and discarders to rate their experiences with one another.

Our official Press Release.

Something not everyone knows about recycling is that water and soda bottles should be emptied before being placed in recycling bins.

Full bottles, or bottles with any liquid in them, mean extra weight in the trucks that transport recyclables – and the more a truck weighs, the more gasoline is consumed, making the whole process less environmentally friendly.

When Tim, the other ecycler cofounder, and I set up some recycling bins at a conference we experienced the non-empty bottle problem. We setup up wireframe style recycling bins that hold a trashbag. Throughout the day we watched the bags fill up. When we went to take down the bins at the end of the day we almost could not pick them out without the trash bag breaking. We found that many of the beverage bottles were more than half full!

To encourage people in offices and public places to properly recycle their plastic bottles, ecycler recommends placing recycling bins next to sinks or drains so that people can empty the bottles first. Or placing a sign on the recycling bin to remind people to empty their bottles before depositing them in the bin.

As introduced, Oklahoma’s bottle bill is sparse on details. This is deliberate, and many changes are expected throughout the legislative session.

Oklahoma Bottle Bill 2010

The bill specifies that the program shall be administered by the Department of Environmental Quality and the accounting functions shall be performed by the Oklahoma Tax Commission. These departments may create additional rules to implement the act.

Oklahoma’s bill declares an emergency relating to public peace, health and safety, and thus makes the bill effective immediately after its passage.

Opposition to an Oklahoma bottle bill is strong; so supporters of container deposits are encouraged to get involved and contact their legislators, focusing on the following key issues:

1) Jobs, jobs, jobs!

• This bill is a job saver and creator. Specifically, it saves jobs like those of ours in the glass industry and others using recycled content to reduce energy consumption and costs.
• The bill allows for redemption centers. This will create a new industry for entrepreneurs to open businesses and hire people to operate and maintain them.
• Transportation jobs for trucking recycled materials.

2) No mandates and not a tax!

• Our bill does not mandate any store owner to have reverse vending machines on their property. Although, grocers should understand if there is a redemption center between two local grocery stores, he will not be able to guarantee the customer will enter his store with the redemption receipt to buy more products.
• This is a return on investment. The only way a consumer would lose money is if he/she chose not to redeem their bottles and cans. For those who don’t return their empty beverage containers, we say “thank you” for helping build the unredeemed deposit fund.

3) A complement to curbside recycling

• Bottle bills and curbside recycling are not mutually exclusive; they work best when they are combined.
• Curbside recycling only targets residential.
• Deposit laws target mostly beverage containers consumed away from home.
• Curbside recycling is not free; municipalities must budget for the extra pick-up, handling and space. Taxpayers foot the bill.
• Deposit laws put the cost on the producers, not the consumer.
• Co-mingled material from curbside and single-stream recycling is much more difficult to be reused by manufacturers. The material has to be sorted and has much higher levels of contamination. You can’t unscramble an egg!
• Bottle bill states produce “pristine” recycled material for optimal reuse.
• Statistics show (Container Recycling Institute), states having bottle bills have much higher overall recycling rates than other states. It becomes part of the culture.
• Lessens trash going to landfills.

4) Significant environmental benefits

• Reduction in energy use.
• Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
• Reduction of virgin material extraction.
• Litter reduction along roadsides, parks, lakes, rivers, farmer’s fields and city areas.

5) Self sustaining

• The unredeemed deposit fund allows for a self-sustaining project. No taxes or public funds! This could be a huge amount of money, especially when the project first gets going, since many people won’t redeem their containers. It is up to the state to decide how they want to use it, but there could be many benefits, especially at a time when there are so many budgetary short-falls.
• We like the idea of charities and/or churches getting involved to be redemption centers. This could raise a significant amount of money for their causes and put people to work.

For more information: http://www.bottlebill.org/legislation/campaigns/oklahomac.htm

We’ve entered the Myoo Create “The Beat Waste Startup Challenge” contest.

Come Vote for ecycler!

On the ecycler contest page, click on the “Vote for it!” below the video… It will most likely ask you to register which takes less than 120 seconds.

The registration process is easy, it will ask for an email address, username and password. It will then send a confirmation message to that email account. To finish the registration (thus the vote for ecycler), you’ll need to go to your email and confirm with the link provided in the message from Myoo Create. BTW, this is a spam-free site…

We really appreciate the vote! Please also tell your friends and family.

ELEVATOR PITCH:

At ecycler.com we bring together those who have recyclables to give away with those who want to collect those recyclables. Many US households or businesses are not offered curb-side recycling; we’re giving them that option.

The collectors—or community entrepreneurs—will redeem the recyclables they collect for cash.

Ecycler further enhances the social value of recycling as the discarders will feel good about the environment and helping someone in need. They also have the ability to track their recycling in terms of the number of units and their combined carbon offsets.

We currently are trying to reach people who would like to become ecycler discarders; we hope to get businesses apartments and groups of friends to start saving their recyclables for their local collector. Also we are looking for people to become a local ecycler collector and pick up recyclables from the discarders.

Don’t forget: Check out the contest and Vote for ecycler, we really appreciate it:

http://myoocreate.com/challenges/the-plastiki-beat-waste-startup-challenge/entries/295

UPDATE

Many thanks to everyone that made the effort to vote for ecycler. Unfortunately, we were not selected for the subsequent rounds of competition. However, stay tuned, we have some excellent news to share.

The California Grocers Association is expressing support for a proposed law in the state legislature that would introduce a state-wide standard for disposable shopping bags.

The California State Assembly passed legislation that would, if adopted by the Senate and signed by the Governor, begin a phase-out of all single-use plastic grocery bags at supermarkets, pharmacies, convenience and liquor stores in the state.

AB 1998 passed the assembly with 41 votes on 1 June 2010 and now goes to the State Senate. Governor Schwarzenegger’s office has signaled he is prepared to sign the bill.

The bill is aimed at reducing the more than 19 billion single use grocery bags generated in California annually. Consumers will be encouraged to bring their own reusable bags. Paper bags with high levels (40% postconsumer) recycled content would also be available for their actual cost, which currently ranges between 5¢ – 8¢ a bag.

Californians Against Waste (CAW) joined Assemblymember Julia Brownley and a coalition of environmental groups, grocery stores, and labor groups to announce a growing wave of support for legislation to ban plastic bags in California.

“These so-called ‘free bags’ are an environmental and economic nightmare,” said CAW Executive Director Mark Murray. “Californians use and discard more than 2 million plastic bags every minute of every day and many of those end up as pollution in our parks, streams and ocean.”

• Industry and Environmentalists agree that roughly 19 billion plastic bags are distributed in California annually.
• In 2006, CAW joined with retailers and the plastics industry in enacting AB 2994 (Levine), legislation aimed at increasing the recycling of plastic bags. However, despite that effort, less than 5% are currently recycled.
• Even when bags are initially properly disposed, they often blow out of trash cans, garbage trucks, and landfills and become litter.
• Most California retailers currently subsidize the cost of plastic and paper bags. This cost is estimated at more than $400 million annually, and is undoubtedly passed on to consumers in the form of higher grocery costs.
• In January, Washington, DC enacted a 5¢ ‘fee’ on grocery bags. That policy has been credited with reducing single-use bags by 65%.
• 60–80% of marine debris pollution overall, and 90% of the floating marine debris, is plastic litter.
• More then 1 million seabirds, 100,000 marine mammals, and countless fish die annually through ingestion of or entanglement in marine debris which includes plastic bags.
• AB 1998 is supported by Retailers, Environmental Groups, Local Governments, Labor, and the nation’s largest paper bag manufacturer (Duro Bags).

Check out the Californians Against Waste website for more information.

Delaware replaces venerable bottle deposits with recycling fee

Delaware has instituted a controversial 4-cent non-refundable recycling fee to replace its 28-year-old bottle bill that required a 5-cent deposit on plastic and glass soft drink and beer bottles.

What a tragedy!

“We are extremely disappointed they chose to repeal their law, rather than enforce it,” said Susan Collins, executive director of the Container Recycling Institute, based in Culver City, Calif. “This is really anathema to our approach. We support extended producer responsibility where producers and consumers pay for the life cycle costs of the packaging.”

The other ten states in the U.S. with bottle deposit bills have bottle recycling rates that exceed 70 percent. But Delaware officials testified during their legislative battle that the state’s bottle recycling rate was only 12 percent because many retailers refused to accept returned bottles.

The bill, which the Legislature approved May 11, establishes a 4-cent per container recycling fee, starting December 1. It is designed to provide start-up funds to help waste-haulers start single-stream curbside recycling.

The bill mandates that all municipal and private waste haulers provide such curbside recycling pickup for single-family homes starting September 15, 2011, for multi-family residences starting January 1, 2013, and for commercial sites by 2014.

The fee is scheduled for sunset December 1, 2014 or after $22 million is raised.

Delaware Gov. Jack Markell supports the bill and is expected to sign it into law. However, several Republican legislators have said they would challenge the law in court, as the tax amounts to a new fee. According to state law, bills that mandate new fees need a 75 percent majority to pass, which the bill did not receive.

Collins said the repeal of the Delaware bottle bill, while certainly unwelcome, won’t have much effect on the national bottle recycling rate.

Delaware has less than 900,000 people and its now-repealed bottle bill only covered 19 percent of beverages sold in Delaware, Collins said. “The impact to the national recycling rate is likely to be less than one-tenth of 1 percent.”

Conversely, the addition of water bottles to the Connecticut and New York bottle bills last year could increase the amount of beverage containers recycled nationwide by 2 percentage points if the bottles added to those deposit laws are recycled at the same recycling rate as in other bottle bill states, she said.

“This is a pretty unusual approach,” Collins said of the Delaware bill. “This tax places a burden on consumers only and has them paying for curbside, apartment and even commercial recycling. Consumers will be subsidizing the producers and that is unfair.”

The Delaware law goes against recent trends, as a number of states (Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma) are now looking at expanding bottles or at extended producer responsibility laws to reduce waste and advance recycling.

Original Story on Plastics News