July 2017 Newsletter

Advancing Waste Reduction and Recycling in the Carolinas Since 1989

Special Thanks to Our 2017 Sponsors!

Check out the CRA Sponsors

CRA Hosts First Community Outreach Series Event

Plastic Bag and Film Forum Held in Nags Head, NC on July 28

CRA's first Community Outreach Series event, the Plastic Bag and Film Recycling Forum, was held on Friday in Nags Head, NC. Around 40 attendees from various sectors including the recycling industry, officials & members of Eastern NC communities, and other stakeholders came to hear about and participate in the discussion. Forum topics included how to help reduce plastic bag and film waste, and how to ensure the materials are recycled properly at retail collection locations. Attendees heard from the plastics gurus at the WRAP Project, local government representatives, NC DEACS, and nearby MRF's during the event. They had a chance to participate in a round-table discussion as well as a networking lunch following the forum. Several organizations signed up as area campaign stakeholders including the NC Coastal Federation, League of Women's Voters, NC Aquarium at Roanoke Island and Hatteras Recycles.

"I was both pleased and surprised by the excellent turnout at the forum and how well it was received. There is high interest and passion around this subject and I think the stakeholders are energized to organize a campaign for this area. The knowledge they gained from attending the forum was crucial to make progress on recycling plastic bags and film properly," said Sara Hallas, Coastal Education Coordinator at NC Coastal Federation.

Click here for more pictures from the event

CRA Healthcare Sustainability Council Wants You!

New Council Seeks Stakeholders, Opinions, and Involvement

CRA's new Healthcare Sustainability Council's founding group is hard at work planning the council's goals and activities for the year. They are actively seeking out members who are interested in furthering healthcare sustainability in the Carolinas. Healthcare Facilities are largely uncharted territory in the recycling arena, with several of our council's own founders blazing the trail in medical waste recycling. Up to 80% of a healthcare facility's waste could be diverted from landfills, yet most have only scratched the surface of their diversion potential. Local governments, colleges and universities, metal and plastic recyclers, electronics recyclers, and waste haulers will all benefit from engaging with this new council. Networking and education in this arena is sorely needed, so CRA has stepped up to bring stakeholders together through the new council. The council has put together a brief survey to identify the needs and interests to best plan their activities.

Please take the short survey now!

CRA Healthcare Council Interest Survey

If you'd like more info on the council, please contact CRA.

USC Beaufort & Sea Pines Hosting Sustainable Resort Conference

September 6 - 8 at Sea Pines Resort in Hilton Head, SC

USC Beaufort and the Sea Pines Resort would like to invite you to join the 2nd Charles E. Fraser Sustainable Resort Development Conference. Keeping with Fraser's groundbreaking resort philosophy, representatives from coastal resorts, related businesses, local governments, universities and others will examine sustainability challenges and share replicable solutions, with an emphasis on the financial benefits of these sustainable practices. The goal is to arm attendees with the information, tools, and motivation needed to implement sustainable practices at their own resorts and organizations.

Session Topics:
Tourism and Environment; Resource Management; Coastal Resilience; Renewable Resources; Quality of Life

Click here for more info & registration for the conference

Dow Grant Program Aims to Boost Plastics Recycling

Two $50,000 grants available to establish Hefty EnergyBag programs

The Dow Chemical Co. has teamed up with national nonprofit, Keep America Beautiful, to award two $50,000 grants for organizations to establish Hefty EnergyBag programs in their communities. The program is an new approach to diverting traditionally non-recycled plastics-like chip bags and juice pouches-from landfills and converting the materials into valuable energy sources.

The grant application is open to municipalities, non-profits, materials recovery facilities, and other qualifying organizations through September 1, 2017. Dow will provide grant recipients with the blueprint to develop a successful Hefty EnergyBag program and will facilitate planning and implementation. Recipients will ultimately manage the programs and solicit involvement of key community stakeholders.

To learn more about the Hefty® EnergyBag program and apply, visit the grant website

New Resources to Encourage More Recycling of Foodservice Packaging

Foodservice Packaging Institute's Outreach Kit Available to Assist Communities

Communities and recycling professionals now have access to new recycling outreach materials, thanks to the Foodservice Packaging Institute's free Resident Education Kit. The comprehensive kit shares dozens of images, researched terms, best practices and other resources for adding foodservice packaging to new or existing recycling programs. Other complimentary resources include a customizable educational flyer; key takeaways from a foodservice packaging recycling survey; and a library of high-resolution images of clean paper and plastic cups, containers, pizza and sandwich boxes, paper bags and more.

"Whether you already have recycling outreach materials or you're starting from scratch, our kit gives you valuable resources and tried-and-true verbiage and images for a successful recycling campaign," said Lynn Dyer, president of FPI.

Check out the kit at FPI's website

America Recycles Day Registration Opens Aug 1

Take the pledge to reduce, reuse, recycle, & buy recycled!

America Recycles Day, a program of Keep America Beautiful, is a nationally recognized day dedicated to promoting and celebrating recycling in the United States. Every year on or around November 15 (America Recycles Day) event organizers educate neighbors, friends and colleagues through thousands of events. Keep America Beautiful created event guides, tools, templates and tips to make it easy to organize your local event. Get started planning your event now and take the pledge to #BeRecycled!

For more info, event planning guides, and events near visit KAB

Member Spotlight: The Recycling Partnership

Leading anti-contamination efforts with technology

The Recycling Partnership has launched a new contamination reduction pilot project in Atlanta called "Feet on the Street". The campaign, supported by a $240,000 grant from the national nonprofit, involves city inspectors looking inside recycling carts at the curb and checking for contaminants. Recycling inspections have been done before, but what's most interesting about this pilot program is the data-collection that goes with it. Inspectors will use tablets equipped with a custom mobile application created by Rubicon Global to record data on contamination at the household level, providing "an extremely surgical glance into what's going on and how our tactics are affecting behavior" according to Jason Hale, VP of Communications for the Recycling Partnership. Inspectors will leave "oops" tags to inform residents of what needs to be fixed in their recycling cart. Cascadia Consulting Group will provide a new level of data analysis with detailed before-and-after waste characterization studies to track the pilot's effectiveness. Based on these results, Atlanta then plans to roll out a citywide campaign about contamination and participation in 2018.

Click here for the full article at WasteDIVE