Together We Can Do a World of Good

For almost fifteen years now, MBDC has been helping companies design products and processes to be more ecologically intelligent.

One of the first things we do is ask our clients to imagine that the materials used through their business process are food or nutrients. What goes in must come out. And what comes out must be reusable. This simple analogy of re-conceiving the purpose of materials as vital nutrition for their business metabolism has inspired companies to think through their products end-life.

But no matter how much work is done to design products as nutrients for the industrial metabolism, we are dependent upon the actions of consumers and local, state or federal governments to build an effective recycling economy.

Or are we?

We will always need the help of consumers to help create a world without waste, but some of us are not waiting for government agencies to take the initiative, but rather are forming partnerships to see if we can build a market-driven as opposed to a regulation-driven materials economy.

One of the most exciting aspects of the re-source™ project was the successful partnership of a group of companies committed to improving the recycling rate for PET beverage bottles. This partnership includes three critical stakeholders – an innovative, well recognized retailer, Whole Foods; a major national beverage company with a commitment to sustainability, Nestlé Waters North America; and a recycling partner with the ability to support recovery and recycling operations nationwide, GreenOps, (a division of Waste Management).

These companies are working together to educate their customers and consumers about the importance of recycling packaging materials and are attempting to create a new retail-based model of recycling that provides consumers with convenience and incentives to increase their participation and, thus, boost recycling rates. Using a “reverse vending” concept, this model is particularly useful for capturing “orphan” beverage containers consumed at shopping malls, airports, university and school cafeterias, parks, etc.

The idea was to create a system that could be a win-win for everyone. The retailer wins by offering their customers a convenient way to recycle and receive credits for making the effort (giving their customers one more reason to shop at their store); the manufacturer wins because they can help create better end-of-life options for their packaging materials and have direct access to a clean stream of material; the recycler wins because they gain access to additional sources of supply for clean and sorted plastics; and the consumer wins because they enjoy more options and receive greater value for their participation.

Ideally, this model, emphasizing mutual exchange across the entire value chain - from manufacturer to consumer - will make an important contribution to creating a world without waste that we are all working to make a reality.

--James Ewell, MBDC