As 2023 draws to a close, we want to take this time to celebrate all the good that this year brought to the waste and recycling industry, while acknowledging the steps we still have to take.
But first…
23 Reasons to Celebrate Waste & Recycling in 2023
For a celebration of all the best waste & recycling news and insights from the past year, Download the guide.
Cities around America are turning old landfills into solar farms. With a couple hundred so far, amazing progress has already been made – and with 10,000 disused or closed landfills across the United States, most of which are publicly owned, there’s an amazing opportunity for far more positive change.
Operating in 12 locations around the world, 4ocean is the global leader in cleaning up ocean plastic — and this year, they crossed a historic, record-setting cleanup milestone. The company officially surpassed 30 million pounds of plastic waste and man-made debris from oceans, rivers, and coastlines since their 2017 inception.
Kraft Heinz has introduced its first 100% recyclable cap that will appear on ketchup bottles. Heinz claims that this sustainability move could save nearly 300 million plastic lids from landfills each year globally.
A new ReFED report shows the percentage of retail food waste in the U.S. has dropped in the past three years by 0.3 percent.
In Africa, despite a recycling rate of only 4%, there’s signs of hope.
Kubik, an upcycling startup in Kenya and Ethiopia, was recently named Startup of the Year at the 2023 Global Startup Awards
Kubik is removing about 45,000 kilograms of plastic waste from landfills every day by turning hard-to-recycle plastics — like polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene — into affordable and low-carbon building materials, aptly called ‘plastic bricks.’
In addition to the environmental impact, Kubik is also helping solve the lack of housing available for the fastest-growing continent in the world.
The White House said “Over a third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions — and many of the toxins and pollutants that harm public health — come from the production and processing of materials that people use every day. That is why recycling and reducing waste as much as possible is so important.
By recycling, we send less waste to landfills and reduce the need for raw materials, thereby saving energy and conserving valuable natural resources. Still, our country faces too many barriers to recycling.
Some Americans are unsure about which materials can be recycled, and municipalities struggle to establish connections with markets that can use their recycled materials.
Many people, especially people of color and low-income Americans, have suffered disproportionately from the damaging effects of pollution, including landfilled, dumped, or incinerated waste.”
As well, The University of Colorado said “Recycling seems like a seamless solution to the plastic waste issue plaguing our oceans, air, and soil. However, there are many challenges faced by the recycling industry that individual consumers can alleviate. “
Putting A Bow on 2023
2023 may be coming to a close, but Recycling never stops. With that in mind, here’s 9 Recycling Trends to Look Out For in 2024.
