Jesse Sartain Preservation

Seven Myths about Plastic and Plastic Recycling

Seven Jesse Sartain Myths By Catherine Lee.

Myth # 1: Plastics in your household recycling bin get recycled.

Not necessarily. Collecting plastic containers at curbside fosters the belief that, like aluminum and glass, the recovered material is converted into new containers. In fact, many of the recovered plastic containers are not being made into containers again but are being made into new, secondary products such as textiles, parking lot bumpers, or plastic lumber. These are all un-recyclable products.

Myth # 2: Curbside plastic collection will reduce the amount of plastic that goes to landfills

Not necessarily. If collection makes plastic packages seem more environmentally friendly, people may feel comfortable buying more. Curbside plastic collection programs, intended to reduce municipal plastic waste, might backfire if total use rises faster than collection. Since only a fraction of certain types of plastic could realistically be captured by a curbside program, the net impact of initiating curbside collection could be an increase in the amount of plastic landfilled. Furthermore, since most plastic reprocessing leads to secondary products that are not themselves recycled, this material is only temporarily diverted from landfills.

Myth # 3: Our choice is limited to recycling or wasting.

Source reduction is preferable for many types of plastic and isn’t difficult. Opportunities include using refillable containers, buying in bulk, buying things that don’t need much packaging, and buying things in recyclable and recycled packages

Plastic packaging has economic, health, and environmental costs and benefits. While offering advantages such as flexibility and light weight, it creates problems including: consumption of fossil resources; pollution; high energy use in manufacturing; accumulation of wasted plastic in the environment; and migration of polymers and additives into foods.

Plastic container producers do not use any recycled plastic in their packaging. Recycled content laws could reduce the use of virgin resin for packaging. Unfortunately, the virgin& resin plastics industry has resisted such cooperation by strongly opposing recycled -content legislation. This has defeated or weakened consumer efforts to institute stronger laws. Plastic manufacturers recently decided that they will not add post consumer materials to their resins used in the USA.

There is a likelihood that establishing plastics collection might increase consumption by making plastic appear more ecologically friendly both to consumers and retailers. Collecting plastics at the curbside could legitimize the production and marketing of packaging made from virgin plastic. Studies of garbage truck loads during the recent plastic pick-up pilot program showed no reduction of “recyclable” plastic containers being thrown away in the pilot areas (in fact, there was a slight increase).

Plastic recycling is expensive  and does little to achieve recycling goals. A recent cost/benefit analysis for implementing curbside plastics collection in Berkeley, California showed that curbside collection of discarded plastics: involves expensive processing; has limited benefits
in reducing environmental impacts; and has limited benefits
in diverting resources from waste.

Processing used plastics often costs more than virgin plastic. As plastic producers increase production and reduce prices on virgin plastics, the markets for used plastic are diminishing. PET recyclers cannot compete with the virgin resin flooding the market.

Increasing the capture rates of glass, paper or yard debris could divert more resources from landfills than collecting plastics at curbside.

Myth # 4: The “chasing arrows” symbol means a plastic container is recyclable.

The arrows are meaningless. Every plastic container is marked with the chasing arrows symbol. The only information in the symbol is the number inside the arrows, which indicates the general class of resin used to make the container.

Myth #5: Packaging resins are made from petroleum refineries’ waste.

Plastic resins are made from non-renewable natural resources that could be used for a variety of other applications or conserved. Most packaging plastics are made from the same natural gas used in homes to heat water and cook.

Myth # 6: Plastics recyclers pay to promote plastics’ recyclability.

No; virgin resin producers pay for the bulk of these ads. Most such ads are placed by virgin plastic manufacturers whose goal is to promote plastic sales. These advertisements are aimed at removing or diminishing virgin plastic’s greatest challenge to market expansion: negative public conception of plastic as un-recyclable, environmentally harmful, and a major component of wastes that must be landfilled or burned.

Myth # 7: Using plastic containers conserves energy.

When the equation includes the energy used to synthesize the plastic resin, making plastic containers uses as much energy as making glass containers from virgin materials, and much more than making glass containers from recycled materials. Using refillable containers is the most energy conservative.

Five Strategies to Reduce the Environmental Impact of Plastics

1. Reduce use
Source reduction Retailers and consumers can select products that use little or no packaging. Select packaging materials that are recycled into new packaging – such
as glass and paper. If people refuse plastic as a packaging material, the industry will decrease production for that purpose, and the associated problems such as energy use, pollution, and adverse health effects will diminish.

2. Require the producers to take back resins
Get plastic manufacturers directly involved with plastic disposal and closing the material loop, which can stimulate them to consider the product’s life cycle from cradle to grave. Make reprocessing easier by limiting the number of container types and shapes, using only one type of resin in each container, making collapsible containers, eliminating pigments, using water-dispersible adhesives for labels, and phasing out associated metals such as aluminum seals. Container and resin makers can help develop the reprocessing infrastructure by taking back plastic from consumers.

3. Reuse containers
Since refillable plastic containers can be reused about 25 times, container reuse can lead to a substantial reduction in the demand for disposable plastic, and reduced use of materials and energy, with the consequent reduced environmental impacts. Container designers will take into account the fate of the container beyond the point of sale and consider the service the container provides. “Design for service” differs sharply from “design for disposal”.

4. Create legislative requirements for recycled content
Requiring that all containers be composed of a percentage of post-consumer material reduces the amount of virgin material consumed.

5. Standardize labeling and inform the public
The chasing arrows symbol on plastics is an example of an ambiguous and misleading label. Significantly different standardized labels for “recycled,” “recyclable,” and “made of plastic type X” must be developed.

Environmental Protection Starts With You

Environmental Protection and Jesse Sartain By Mike Selvon.
If it were a race to produce the most waste, then the United States would be leading the pack. Over 18.5 million tons are produced each year and a majority of this could be avoided by citizens joining in a recycling program.

Yes, Americans have made great strides towards environmental protection, as 35 percent of people recycle their garbage each year and help landfills avoid the constantly overflowing recyclables that clog up the landfill. But it is not enough. Further steps need to be taken to ensure that people know how to protect their environment.

It is amazing how simple recycling can be once you know what to do. Your first step is separating your garbage waste from the recyclables. Environmental protection begins at home with you dropping the appropriate trash into its special waste bin.

It is that easy. Sometimes there is money involved, as is the case with recycling aluminum cans. You take in a bag filled with cans and you get money back. How great is that?

Many schools and work places are not part of a recycling program. However, if recycling bins were supplied and appropriately labeled for glass, aluminum cans, plastic and paper, then no doubt people would join in the recycling movement and place their garbage in the appropriate containers.

Have your employer send out a memo asking them to do so. Lead by example and always do your part. If others see your commitment, then they will likely follow suit.

Make sure you buy recycled goods. This helps recycling industries know that there are people out there who are concerned with the environment. Many of our day-to-day products can be purchased that contain recycled materials.

You can buy notebook paper made from recycled paper goods. Many detergent and household cleaning products come in bottles made from recycled plastics. By taking this small step into consumerism you can help further the cause and still have the items you need for your home.

There may not be a way to change the fact that the United States produces the most garbage of any country in the world. But considering that only thirty-five percent of the garbage is being recycled leaves a lot of room for improvement. Those numbers take time to change.

Those numbers can and will go up eventually if environmental protection becomes something that everyone is aware of and doing their part to rectify. It may start with one home but it has to spread in order for it to be effective in keeping recyclables out of our landfills.

Jesse Sartain Petroleum Conservation

By Jesse Sartain about preservation in our professional foodservice life.

We, in the foodservice industry can have a great impact on petroleum conservation and the preservation of fossil fuels. Every day, we as an industry, consume vast amounts of petroleum, but we also have the power to reduce this consumption and make a huge positive impact on the environment.

Let’s look at the overall picture. We pull great amounts of fossil fuel out of the earth, not because we need it, but because we have grown dependent on it. Our economy is dependent on it. This does not mean, however, that we can’t use fuel more efficiently or that we can’t reduce our use of fuel. Industries, as a whole, use approximately 40% of the total commercial energy used in the country. So industries that are able to lower their energy consumption can make a huge impact.

Trucking:

About 70% of all retail and manufactured goods in the country are transported by truck, but trucking is in decline. Some 480 trucking companies went under during the first quarter of this year. That follows the closing of 3,000 trucking businesses in 2008, which analysts say took seven of every 100 trucks off the road. What we’re seeing is a drop in demand. What foodservice outlets and other retail outlets can’t sell, trucks can’t truck. Of course rising fuel costs are a factor as well. Buy local!

Menu Choices:

Menu diversity to include vegetarian items and beverages in bulk (less packaging) can reduce the use of fossil fuels. Unfortunately, organic menus have proven to actually waste petroleum resources due to poor growing and shipping practices. Vegan menu choices utilize less energy than
meat-based choices due to the vast energy needs required by meat production.

Petroleum-Based Takeout Containers:

For decades one of the great appeals of plastics has been their low price. Yet in recent years the cost of plastics has been rising dramatically. A major cause is the sharply rising cost of petroleum, the raw material that is chemically altered to form commercial plastics. A slow, but steady trend is towards the use of alternate materials, particularly biodegradable materials. This is cost prohibitive now, but costs are steadily lowering.

Packaging Materials:

Again, any reduction in the use of polystyrene (found in most foam peanuts), Styrofoam or bubble wrap can reduce the use of petroleum. We can’t really specify that our vendors reduce use of these materials, but we can recycle these materials.

Construction Methodology and Practices:

Organizations such as the Green Restaurant Association award points towards a green restaurant certification. In new builds, for example, awards are given in the following categories:

• Water Efficiency
• Waste Reduction & Recycling
• Sustainable Furnishings and Building Materials
• Sustainable Food
• Energy
• Disposables
• Chemical & Pollution Reduction

Warehouse Lighting and Energy Conservation

Jesse Sartain Warehouse Lighting by Budda Oliver.

Storing an inventory of goods in your warehouse is a business that requires many facets to run properly. You must accommodate for all types of storage needs and provide the equipment to efficiently retrieve the items when needed for shipment. Warehouse management software is needed to keep a detailed inventory of all the stored goods and hire a workforce to operate the business. The large, open spaces of an industrial warehouse require adequate lighting so items are easily visible. Proper lighting will allow workers the ability to navigate through the aisles with no difficulty, therefore reducing the risk of accidents and damage to the stored items.

Adequate lighting is essential in the docking stations of a warehouse. Truck drivers and workers need to be able to see where they are going as they load and unload inventory. In a high volume warehouse where there is a lot of activity, it is essential that the docking area be properly lit so the risk of accidents and machinery running into each other is diminished.

When constructing a warehouse or purchasing an existing one, make sure it has the right amount of illumination. Remember to take into account the types of goods you’ll be storing, because some items are light sensitive and can be damaged by lighting that is too bright. Always keep your employees’ safety in mind. You need to choose lighting that will allow your workers to effectively get tasks done and contributes to their overall safety and security. In some warehouses, and depending on what types of items are stored, the use of skylights is a great way to provide natural light at no cost.

It is imperative to inspect the wiring of your warehouse lighting system. Make sure quality electrical cable is used and no wires are exposed. A short circuit or other electrical problems may cause a fire and damage or wipe out your entire inventory of stored items.

Take into account the amount of lighting fixtures and what type of bulb would provide the best illumination for savings on your energy bill. Fluorescent lighting is a great choice for bright and energy efficient lighting. Fluorescent bulbs last much longer -up to 10 times longer – than standard incandescent light bulbs and use less energy. Fluorescent bulbs produce 70% less heat than traditional lighting, making sure your warehouse doesn’t overheat and eliminating the need for excess air conditioning. This is also important for heat sensitive materials that can be damaged by the extra heat from incandescent bulbs. Remember to stock up on extra bulbs so they can be easily and quickly replaced when need be.