Sky Ocean Rescue commends Canary Wharf Group’s sustainability drive

The Canary Wharf Group’s ‘Break the plastic habit’ programme has been commended by Sky Ocean Rescue.

Fiona Ball, group head of inspirational business & Sky Ocean Rescue, Sky, said the recycling and sustainability initiative was ideal for a near ‘micro-city’ such as the Canary Wharf estate.

‘Breaking The Plastic Habit’ is a 12-month programme to promote a culture of reduction, re-use and recycling to challenge single-use plastic within Canary Wharf.

“It’s a huge opportunity – a ‘micro-city’ is enclosed and you can control what comes in. Doing something jointly with partners [businesses on the estate] is good – with real business leaders making a commitment and taking a stance,” she said.

Up to 120,000 people travel to the Canary Wharf estate every day – both working and visiting.

John Garwood, managing director and group company secretary of Canary Wharf Group, said: “The aim was to encourage move away from throw-away plastic culture. ‘Break the plastic habit’ programme has enabled us to eliminate one million pieces of single use plastic from the estate and a further four million plastic items have been recycled.”

Martin Gettings, group head of sustainability at Canary Wharf Group, announced that 4.2m coffee cups have been recycled at the estate (much of each through using Smart Planet Technology’s reCUP), and cut the use of 1.2m straws. “This is not an initiative, this has to be business as usual,” he said.

Sky’s Ball added that up to 40m people have been made aware of the issues surrounding single-use issues through TV coverage on SKY, BBC and Netflix.

She confirmed that Sky’s own goals include a commitment to be single-use plastic-free on operations, products and supply chain by 2020, particularly product packaging sent to customers.

Last year Canary Wharf become the first UK site to offer a deposit return schemewith a functioning machine.

In January the Canary Wharf Group launched the HELPFUL mobile app – a plastic recycling and rewarding app.

HELPFUL simplifies and incentivises reuse and recycling for consumers, helping visitors to correctly recycle waste, switch to reusable products and collect rewards.

Participating retailers at Canary Wharf support the app with QR code points to claim reuse coin rewards, include Café Nero, Carluccio’s, Crussh, Eat, Krispy Kreme, Leon, Notes Coffee, Ole & Steen, Paul, Pret a Manger, Scribbler, Starbucks and Ted Baker.

Additionally, the Canary Wharf Group was included as one of the highest voted inspirational businesses driving sustainability forward in Edie’s Business Leadership Survey 2019 and named as an ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development – United Kingdom’ in the Capital Finance International Sustainability Awards 2018.

Smart Planet Technologies to speak at the Rising Tide Summit

Leading engineering company for sustainable packaging materials, Smart Planet Technologies, to speak about the reCUP® recyclable paper cup and EarthCoating® with ocean conservation leaders and businesses

Smart Planet Technologies will be presenting at the Rising Tide Summit, scheduled to take place in San Pedro, CA on the 27th and 28th of March, 2019. The materials engineering and intellectual property company will be speaking about reCUP and EarthCoating, their recyclable solutions designed to address the 50 billion paper cups that end up in US landfills each year.

Paper cups are a mixed material, comprised of paper and plastic. Conventional recycling systems are not designed to process the plastic coatings usually found in paper cups, so paper cups are typically diverted to landfills.

Smart Planet Technologies has developed EarthCoating, a barrier coating for paper cups and other paper products that is fully compatible with conventional paper recycling. EarthCoating contains 51% less plastic than conventional coatings, and the reCUP, made with EarthCoating, can be pulped into recycled paper using conventional paper recycling equipment. A paper cup that is compatible with recycling systems is a valuable material to recover for use in the production of recycled paperboard products.

Recycling is an optimal end-of life solution for paper cups because it supports a circular economy, as paper materials can be recycled up to seven times. The solution has already become a global phenomenon, with millions of paper cups across having been sold by packaging manufacturers and distributors including Detpak, CupPrint, VaioPak, Pureco, Linstol, Bunzl, Sysco, and more.

Attendees of the event will be served coffee in reCUPs, which will be collected for recycling into new paper products by Allan Company, a leading materials recycling service provider, upon the completion of the 2-day event.

“The first step to getting paper cups recycled is to make them valuable and easy for recyclers to process through their conventional recycling equipment,” said Todd Gasparik, Vice President of Business Development for Smart Planet Technologies and presenter at the Rising Tide Summit.

“Solving tough problems requires a thirst for innovation.” Said Vipe Desai, Founder of the Rising Tide Summit and CEO of HDX. “Smart Planet Technologies is bringing forth a solution that is long overdue and is already having an impact on the marketplace. It’s exactly the type of innovation needed and attendees are going to have a chance to experience and learn all about their technology.”

The Rising Tide Summit is underwritten by the X Prize Foundation and Marisla Foundation, and will be attended by several NGO's that are focused on waste diversion, plastic reduction, increased recycling rates, and ocean conservation. Some of the participating NGO's are Ocean Institute, 5 Gyres, Final Straw, and AltaSea.

Panel info:

Environmental Entrepreneurs: Problem Solvers in Action

Entrepreneurs are hard wired to solve problems and in this conversation, President and CEO of the Ocean Institute, Dan Pingaro, will sit with two entrepreneurs who are using business as a force for good. The problems of single-use plastic straws and un-recyclable paper cups might just be about to meet their match.

Their businesses are built on solving issues related to waste and we’ll learn how they’re doing, where they’re going and what can businesses and NGOs learn from their efforts.

Moderator: Dan Pingaro, President and CEO, Ocean Institute
Panelist: Emma Rose-Cohen, Founder, FinalStraw
Panelist: Todd Gasparik, Vice President of Business Development,Smart Planet Technologies

More information about the Rising Tide Summit to be held in San Pedro, CA on March 27 and 28 can be found here.

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EarthCoating awarded Triple A certification for recyclability from The Green Dot

Smart Planet Technologies’ reCUP recyclable paper cup with EarthCoating® is awarded the highest-possible certification for recycling from The Green Dot in Europe.

The U.K.’s reCUP recyclable paper cup with EarthCoating® has been awarded the highest-possible Category AAA Recyclable certification per The Green Dot (Der Grune Punkt) recycling standards. In addition, the paper cups are classified for recycling compatibility and collection streams alongside premium uncoated paper grades such as office paper. The Green Dot recognizes standards for recyclability claims in 31 countries, including the U.K. and Ireland.

According to reCUP supplier Smart Planet Technologies, given the U.K.’s coffee cup recycling debate and interest in reducing plastic content in packaging, it is a remarkable achievement for a paper cup technology to not only achieve the highest rating available for recyclability qualifying for a collection category (Path 13) alongside office paper, but also reducing plastic content in paper cups by 40%.

The reCUP utilizes EarthCoating, a paperboard packaging coating producing paper cups that look and work the same as any conventional paper cups. The difference is that EarthCoating is designed to be universally compatible with conventional paper cup recycling systems, avoiding the challenges that have been found in recycling of paper cups and other plastic-coated foodservice paperboard packaging.

With less plastic and easier repulping, paper cups made with EarthCoating can also improve paper cup processing and efficiency in the U.K.’s efforts in specialist paper cup recycling schemes of conventional paper cups, currently at a 4% recycling rate.

The double-wall reCUP receiving certification contains these highlights:

• 95% fiber recovery

• Highest classification for recyclability alongside premium uncoated paper such as office paper

• 40% less plastic content than conventional paper cups

This certification for paper cups with EarthCoating is compliant with the Packaging Recovery Organization Europe “PRO” program per EU Directive 94/62. The Triple-A Green Dot Certificate is available in the EarthCoating Repulping Report.

Paper cups with EarthCoating are widely available for sale in the UK and Ireland. For a list of manufacturers and distributors of paper cups with EarthCoating, visit SmartPlanetTech.com or reCUP.earth. 

Watch a video on reCUP.

Detpak’s RecycleMe™ System

As seen in Convenience & Impulse Retailing Magazine

https://www.c-store.com.au/2019/01/31/detpaks-recycleme-system/

Detpak’s award-winning RecycleMe™ System provides an environmental solution for takeaway coffee cups and lids, and is now endorsed by leading environmental foundation Planet Ark.

Planet Ark has been leading environmental change in Australia for over 25 years, promoting positive behaviour change in people, businesses and governments.

Planet Ark Deputy CEO Rebecca Gilling said endorsing the cup recycling system was about supporting a credible solution for takeaway coffee cups and lids.

“We know what a problem takeaway coffee cups currently are for our environment,” Rebecca said. “Their plastic lining, which is not easily separated from the paper, means over a billion of these cups are being sent to landfill in Australia every year.

“RecycleMe™ cups have an innovative new lining that is able to be separated from the paper in existing recycling facilities. This means that these recycled fibres can live again as new paper products. Recycling is a great way to extend the useful life of valuable resources.

“The RecycleMe™ System can be easily incorporated into cafes and corporate environments, giving consumers the opportunity to successfully recycle their RecycleMe™ takeaway coffee cups. The system comprises of a specially designed collection station which allow consumers to empty any residual coffee and recycle the cup and lid into separate chambers.

“We undertook recent research that suggested that 80% of employees2 wanted to see more recycling in their workplace. We’re proud to endorse the RecycleMe™ System and excited to see how the future rollout of the system will positively impact our environment,” Rebecca said.

Detpak’s Marketing and Innovation Manager Tom Lunn said the RecycleMe™ System promotes a longer life for the paper cup fibre and supports a circular economy to keep products, components and materials at their highest utility and value for as long as possible.

“Our RecycleMe™ System powered by Shred-X is a total end to end solution, turning takeaway cups into recycled paper products, and contributing to positive global environmental change,” Tom said.
“We’re pleased also to have a solution for the lids, with these being recycled into plastic products such as photo frames,” Tom said. RecycleMe™ Cup today. Paper tomorrow.

Planet Ark Endorses Depak RecycleMe System

As seen in Bean Scene Magazine:

https://www.beanscenemag.com.au/planet-ark-endorses-detpak-recycleme-system/

Detpak’s RecycleMe system is now endorsed by leading environmental foundation Planet Ark.

Detpak calls RecycleMe an innovative cup and lid recycling system that is a positive environmental solution, guaranteeing all collected cups and lids will be recycled.

Planet Ark has led environmental change in Australia for more than 25 years, promoting positive behaviour change in people, businesses and governments. Deputy CEO Rebecca Gilling says endorsing the cup recycling system was about supporting a credible solution for takeaway coffee cups and lids.

“We know what a problem takeaway coffee cups currently are for our environment,” Rebecca says. “Their plastic lining, which is not easily separated from the paper, means [more than one] billion of these cups are being sent to landfill in Australia every year.”

RecycleMe cups use a new lining that is able to be separated from the paper in existing recycling facilities. This means that these recycled fibres can live again as new paper products. Recycling is a great way to extend the useful life of valuable resources.

“The RecycleMe system can be easily incorporated into cafés and corporate environments, giving consumers the opportunity to successfully recycle their RecycleMe takeaway coffee cups. The system comprises of a specially designed collection station which allow consumers to empty any residual coffee and recycle the cup and lid into separate chambers,” Rebecca says.

“We undertook recent research that suggested that 80 per cent of employees wanted to see more recycling in their workplace. We’re proud to endorse the RecycleMe system and excited to see how the future rollout of the system will positively impact our environment.”

Detpak’s Marketing and Innovation Manager Tom Lunn says RecycleMe promotes a longer life for the paper cup fibre and supports a circular economy to keep products, components, and materials at their highest utility and value for as long as possible.

“Our RecycleMe system powered by Shred-X is a total end to end solution, turning takeaway cups into recycled paper products, and contributing to positive global environmental change,” Tom says.

“We’re pleased also to have a solution for the lids, with these being recycled into plastic products such as photo frames.”

Visit stand #54 at the 2019 Melbourne International Coffee Expo on Thursday 7 or Friday 8 February at 11:30am to hear Planet Ark talk about the benefits of recycling and the RecycleMe System at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

For more information, visit recycleme.co.