Local Elementary School Takes Action Against PPE Waste Crisis with TerraCycle

BOUCHERVILLE, QUEBEC / AGILITYPR.NEWS / February 08, 2021 / LOCAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HELPS COMMUNITY TO RECYCLE THE UNRECYCLABLE AND ADDRESS PPE WASTE   Boucherville Elementary School Reinforces Commitment to Sustainability with Help of Zero Waste Boxes from TerraCycle®   Boucherville Elementary School has partnered with TerraCycle to offer the local community a convenient solution to recycle traditionally unrecyclable PPE, school supplies, and coffee product packaging through the Zero Waste Box program. As an educational institution, Boucherville Elementary School is committed to raising awareness among its student body and parent community about the importance of recycling to protect the planet.   “Every little act counts and just because there is a pandemic doesn’t mean that we have to pause our initiatives,” said Jenny Brousseau, Principal of Boucherville Elementary School. “We cannot imagine just how many masks will be thrown away. It is actually heartbreaking to think about it.”   By placing a Coffee Capsules Zero Waste Box in the break room, a Safety Equipment and Protective Gear Zero Waste Box in the main doorway, as well as the Markers Zero Waste Box, and Alkaline Batteries Zero Waste Box in the office area, Boucherville Elementary helps students, teachers, and parents divert waste from landfills while instilling sentiments of sustainability throughout the community.   Like most plastic packaging, the collected waste would have otherwise been landfilled, incinerated, or may have even contributed to the pollution of marine habitats. The collected packaging will now be recycled into a variety of new products such as park benches, bike racks, shipping pallets and recycling bins.   TerraCycle, the world’s leader in the collection and repurposing of complex waste streams, created the Zero Waste Box program to provide solutions for difficult-to-recycle waste that cannot be recycled through TerraCycle’s brand-sponsored, national recycling programs or via standard municipal recycling.   Boucherville Elementary School hopes its implementation of TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Boxes will help encourage other schools to become mindful of their waste production and prevent “recyclables” from ending up in landfills and oceans.   “We only have one health and so does the earth,” said Brousseau. “We cannot protect one at the detriment of the other!”   More information regarding Boucherville Elementary School can be found by visiting their website, https://www.rsb.qc.ca/school/boucherville-elementary.   When customers return a PPE Zero Waste Box for recycling, it is received at a regional TerraCycle warehouse where the waste is manually sorted by material type. Once the material types have been sorted, the individual waste streams are sent to third party specialty subcontracting facilities for mechanical processing. After undergoing mechanical processing, the resulting material can be remolded into a variety of new products such as plastic shipping pallets, railroad ties or outdoor furniture.   Any recycling partner who purchases a PPE Zero Waste Box through Shopify can request a certificate of destruction (COD) once a year. The COD certifies the date and weight of the material received and guarantees that it has been properly defaced and recycled. TerraCycle does not incinerate or landfill any of the PPE that is accepted for recycling —all compliant materials are mechanically recycled. For more information on TerraCycle, please visit www.TerraCycle.ca. ABOUT US