The NC Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service (DEACS) recently a new grant funding opportunity available to North Carolina local governments and private recycling businesses through the COVID-19 Recycling Relief Grant Program.

Proposals are now being accepted for projects to purchase equipment and/or resources to support residential recycling programs that have been stopped or impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. DEACS is seeking grant projects that support or improve an existing recycling program operated by a local government or a private recycling business. There is no deadline for grant proposals. Proposals will be continuously accepted, and awards will be made for the winning proposals on a rolling basis while funding is available.

For more information, contact:

Sandy Skolochenko at (919) 707- 8147, sandy.skolochenko@ncdenr.gov

Matt James at (919) 707-8133, matt.james@ncdenr.gov

As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has highlighted the progress the U.S. has made in recycling and outlined how it is working with its partners to address current challenges. According to the EPA, recycling benefits communities, the environment and the American economy, accounting for nearly 757,000 jobs and $36.6 billion in annual wages.

“Since EPA was founded in 1970, the U.S. recycling rate has risen from 10 percent to 35 percent, and we aim to push it even higher,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler says. “Later this year, EPA will establish new national recycling goals and take steps to support the recycling industry in new ways.”

When EPA was founded, the national recycling rate was less than 10 percent. Curbside recycling was not an option until 1980 when Woodbury, New Jersey, became the first city to offer collection at the curb. Today, recycling programs can be found across the country.

Last year, at the 2019 America Recycles Day Summit, EPA released the National Framework for Advancing the U.S. Recycling System, and Wheeler announced that EPA would establish a national recycling goal in 2020.

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Sonoco FRESH (Food Research Excellence for Safety and Health), a Sonoco and Clemson University initiative to develop new technologies and new forms of packaging to optimize the fresh food lifecycle, is pleased to host a series of events focused on innovations in packaging.

With the theme of “Safe. Secure. Sustainable.,” the February 2021 Summit, hosted on the campus of Clemson University, will offer a unique opportunity to stimulate high impact discussions on how the issues associated with each part of the food value chain can be used as opportunities to drive business and benefit society.

In preparation of the Summit, Sonoco FRESH will host sneak peek webinars September 22-23, 2020. To register for the sneak peek webinars, please visit www.SonocoFRESHSummit.com.

In addition, the Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics will host a virtual Sustainable Packaging Design Workshop September 23-24, a packaging primer that describes the role of designing for sustainability in a circular economy. T

Nestlé Waters North America (NWNA) today announced that three more of our U.S. domestic still water brands have started to convert their packaging to 100% recycled plastic. Ozarka® Brand 100% Natural Spring Water, Deer Park® Brand 100% Natural Spring Water and Zephyrhills® Brand 100% Natural Spring Water packaging, which has long been 100% recyclable, will now be both 100% recyclable and made from 100% recycled plastic. With the expansion of recycled plastic (rPET) to these brands, nearly 60% of all households in the U.S. will have access to one of our regionally distributed spring water brands in bottles made entirely with recycled plastic.