Green Recycling Products Blog

Fibrex Group Manufactures Recycling Units for Repreve Manufacturing Plant

Joseph Coupal - Friday, May 29, 2015

The Fibrex Group is pleased to manufacture our Mobius DS1 unit for the Unifi production facility in Brazil, South America. This facility produces the Repreve recycled fiber that is then turned into fabrics for major retailers such as North Face, Quiksilver, Volcom, Roxy and Patagonia (to name a few).

Repreve helps turn recycled plastic bottles into cool things we can wear and use every day. Toss your plastic bottles in the recycle bin, NOT the trash. Recycled bottles are cleaned, chopped, melted and turned into little plastic chips. Chips are transformed into Repreve recycled fiber, and then into fabrics. Look for brands that are made with Repreve when you shop.

In 2013, Repreve turned more than 740 million recycled bottles into fiber, allowing the brands you love to #TURNITGREEN.

About Unifi: Unifi Manufacturing, Inc. is a leading producer of multi-filament polyester and nylon textured yarns and related raw materials. They provide innovative, global textile solutions and unique branded yarns for customers at every level of the supply chain.

Unifi is driven by innovation and committed to global product commercialization. Our goal is to provide both customers and consumers with products that enhance the value of everyday products; from hosiery and apparel to contract furnishings and from industrial applications to automotive upholstery.

Since their founding in 1971, Unifi has remained committed to excellence. They take pride in the manufacturing of their products and strive to provide customers with exceptional quality and service around the world. These are the common threads that unite everything we do.

For more information about the Fibrex Group’s Mobius line of recycling/waste receptacles please give us a call at 1.800.346.4458.

Work. Play. Recycle.

#FibrexGroup
#TurnItGreen
#repreve

Fibrex Group assists Nestle USA in Achieving Zero Waste to Landfill

Joseph Coupal - Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Nestlé USA announced on May 22, 2015 that all of its 23 factories – spanning confections, dairy, frozen and refrigerated meals, ice cream, baking ingredients, and beverages – are now landfill-free, contributing zero waste for disposal. This important milestone supports Nestlé USA's commitment to environmentally sustainable business practices to protect future generations.

"We are incredibly proud of the effort it took to accomplish this goal," said Paul Grimwood, Chairman and CEO Nestlé USA. "This is an especially noteworthy achievement given the breadth and complexity of our manufacturing operations across a variety of categories. We are committed to working with our employees to ensure our factories remain landfill-free and are striving for new ways to reduce our environmental impact at each stage of the product lifecycle."

As part of this effort, Nestlé USA is continually looking for new ways to reuse, recycle and recover energy when disposing of manufacturing by-products. The company's current efforts include composting, recycling, energy production, and the provision of safe products for animal feed.

Employees also take actions to minimize by-products, and engage in robust recycling programs and partnerships with credible waste vendors that dispose of manufacturing by-products in line with Nestlé's environmental sustainability guidelines and standards. All of Nestlé USA's factories employ ISO 14001 certified environmental management systems to help manage their environmental impact, including waste elimination.

"Environmental sustainability is part of Nestlé's commitment to Creating Shared Value in society," added Grimwood.  "Our goal is for our products to not only be tastier and healthier, but also better for the environment."

Globally, Nestlé has committed to improving resource efficiency in its operations. Fifteen percent of all of Nestlé's factories worldwide (72 in total) achieved zero waste for disposal for all of 2014. This achievement exceeds Nestlé's goal of having 10 percent of its global factories at this stage by 2015.  More information is available at www.nestle.com/csv/environmental-sustainability.

As part of this effort, Nestle has worked closely with the Fibrex Group, Inc. in Suffolk, Virginia to develop a custom triple stream indoor recycling cabinet to continue their zero waste to landfill efforts. The new rust resistant, 18 gauge galvannealed steel unit has the ability to collect a triple stream of 21, 40 & 21 gallons respectively (82 gallons total). With no exposed fasteners and an architectural powder coated finish inside and out, this new cabinet is functional as well as attractive for any indoor setting. Lid openings & color selections can even be changed-out depending on the needs of any facility at any time. The smart design recycling cabinet can also be shipped unassembled to reduce freight costs and is easily assembled with standard tools.

Please check out www.fibrexgroup.com to see how we can help you reach your recycling initiatives. Or give us a call at 1.800.346.4458.

**Original info provided by/PRNewswire-USNewswire on April 22, 2015

Best Practices for Increasing Recycling at Workplaces

Joseph Coupal - Friday, May 15, 2015

A simple step—providing employees with a desk-side recycling bin along with smaller trash bin—can lead to a 20% increase in office recycling, according to a new study.

The “Recycling at Work” study was commissioned by Keep America Beautiful. The study was aimed at defining best practices for recycling programs that foster improved recycling behaviors in the workplace and result in an increase of quality and quantity of materials collected.

The research focused on the effects of office bin placement on recycling rates and level of contamination as well as other important factors to consider when setting up a workplace recycling program.

"We want to get smarter and better understand how we can be most effective at getting individuals to recycle more and recycle more of the right things," says Brenda Pulley, from Keep America Beautiful. "Much of the focus has been on curbside recycling, as it should be, since that's the low-hanging fruit. But when you look at other opportunities, the workplace setting appears ripe for making inroads."

The EPA has estimated that 45% of municipal solid waste is generated in workplace settings. That estimate may be too high, it still underscores the overall opportunity for improving recycling rates by reducing waste in those settings.

Four conditions were tested in offices in Atlanta, Boston, Houston and San Diego. Each city has single-stream recycling programs.

  • “Equal-size” provided employees with two equal sized recycling bins, one for recycling and one for trash. This is one of the more common office set-ups.
  • “Recycling only” provided employees only with a desk-side recycling bin, but no trash bin. The set-up was meant to draw attention to recycling while making it more difficult to dispose of trash.
  • “Little trash” gave employees a desk-sized recycling bin equipped with a small hanging trash bin. Having both bins makes recycling convenient while increasing the difficult of generating large amounts of trash.
  • Lastly, a control group was provided only with recycling information without a change in their office setup.

All conditions received an informational flyer on 10 items commonly found in offices—five recyclable items and five trash items. Recycling bins were also stamped with a logo created for the project featuring three common recyclable items—an aluminum can, a plastic beverage bottle and office paper. Meanwhile, trash bins were stamped with a “landfill” logo.

The results from the research were compared to baseline audits conducted before the new bins were put in place.

The study found that the “little trash” condition had the best results.

The “little trash” approach yielded improved quality of material collected in the recycling binan increase of 20 percent in the quality of recyclables—along with a significant increase in knowledge about recycling and proper recycling behavior. With the “Little Trash,” offices significantly increased the proportion of material in the recycling bin that was actually recyclable and decreased the amount of trash collected in the bin. There was also a decrease in the amount of recyclables improperly placed in the trash bin, especially that of office paper. Paper in the trash bin was reduced to nearly zero. Moreover, the respondents of the “Little Trash” approach had a positive experience with the program.

Pulley says. "We know that convenience matters. We know that ongoing, clear, concise communication matters. We know that having a champion matters. What we’re trying to do is figure out how to be most effective in those areas."

The data showed that use of the small bin resulted in "a 20 percent improvement in the quality of the recycling stream," Pulley says.

In terms of next steps, Pulley says KAB plans to promote the results of the study and share examples of the signage that was used in the test workplaces. It will also conduct additional studies.

Based on the frequency of the 10 targeted items in the recycling and trash, the study suggests the following items should serve as higher priorities for an office recycling program:

  1. Office paper is the most frequently recycled material, but it was still present in the trash in 50 percent of offices.
  2. Plastic beverage bottles and aluminum beverage cans are about equally present in recycling bins and trash bins. Similar to paper, these materials remain a priority.
  3. Paper towels were very frequently ending up in the recycling bin, with a steady decrease of presence over the course of the project.
  4. Food scraps had enough of a similar pattern to deserve a priority focus, though they were not present in recycling bins as frequently as paper towels.

For more information on desk-side office recycling containers, contact the Fibrex Group.

Waste360

Play Mart Holds Top Distributor National Summit in Kentucky

Joseph Coupal - Wednesday, May 06, 2015

Last week, the President of Fibrex Group, Ruben Leenders, had the pleasure of attending the Play Mart Playground sales forum at their corporate headquarters in Somerset, Kentucky. The Fibrex Group is the Play Mart distributor in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia, and New Jersey. Bringing all of Play Mart’s distributors together in one place to discuss sales strategies, marketing ideas, sharing success stories, discussing playground installations and simply putting faces to names were some of the topics during the two day meeting. The attendees were even given the tour of the factory where the recycled content play equipment is produced and shipped.

Play Mart Inc. designs their playground equipment to develop healthy, motivated, adventurous kids. Their nature play early childhood equipment products - Nature of Early Play - reconnect young children with the natural world. Play Mart engineers materials and product designs based on their impact on the world in which children grow. They aren't just "going green". They have been recycling, reusing, and reducing for over 30 years. PMI’s corporate offices do much more than just recycle office supplies – their main product is fully recycled! Constantly striving to streamline processes and redesign products to cut out waste and increase durability. This impacts you, us and our children far into the future. Rather than bottom-line driven, Play Mart is kid-driven. The Fibrex Group has been a Play Mart distributor for over 12 years.

For more information click Play Mart. Or in the states of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia or New Jersey, visit www.fibrexgroup.com.