Burger King, Miami, has been awarded the “Made for Recycling” seal from Interseroh for its fruit pouches. The fast-food chain was recognized by Interseroh, an environmental service provider, for using the “Made for Recycling” method, which deemed the packaging for the new apple and banana fruit pouches from Burger King as “excellently recyclable.”
The pouch packaging, which launched in April, won 19 out of 20 points used in the method. As a result, the pouches were awarded the quality seal by Interseroh, which is a subsidy of the ALBA Group, an international recycling and environmental services company.
“We are pleased that increasing numbers of companies are using recycling-friendly packaging,” says Markus Müller-Drexel, managing director of Interseroh. “The better the recyclable loop works, the more effectively we can reduce the use of natural resources and ease the burden on the climate.”
According to a news release from Interseroh, Burger King’s packaging was selected because it’s made from 100 percent polypropylene. Conventional pouches, by contrast, often consist of three different materials plus aluminum foil, which makes their mechanical recycling either hard or even impossible.
“For us, the launch of new packaging is another important step forwards in the direction of sustainability,” says Klaus Schmäing, director of marketing at Burger King. “The ‘Made for Recycling’ seal supports our customers in making environmentally aware purchasing decisions.”
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced an investment of up to $14.5 million for research and development to cut waste and reduce the energy used to recycle single-use plastics like plastic bags, wraps, and films. This funding directed toward plastics recycling technologies advances the DOE’s work to address the challenges of plastic waste recycling and support the Biden Administration’s efforts to build a clean energy economy and ensure the U.S. reaches net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“For years, single-use plastics have had a detrimental impact on the environment—clogging landfills and polluting our neighborhoods, parks, and beaches,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “Innovation in plastics recycling technology is a triple win by cutting plastic waste we see in our everyday lives, reducing industrial energy use and resulting emissions, and creating clean manufacturing jobs for American workers.”
Single-use plastics are the largest subset of plastics found in landfills and among the most challenging to recycle. Plastic production accounts for more than 3% of total U.S. energy consumption and uses roughly the same amount of oil around the world as the aviation industry. Yet, less than 10% of plastics are currently recycled, most of which are “downcycled,” or repurposed into low-value products.
Through this funding opportunity, DOE will support a range of projects to develop economically viable solutions for converting plastic films to more valuable materials and design new plastics that are more recyclable and biodegradable. These solutions can increase investments in recycling processes and recycling jobs in the United States, reduce the amount of plastics that end up in the environment, and decarbonize the plastics industry.
Acquisition of Easement on Lounsbery Property Will Help Protect City of Ithaca’s Water Supply
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Finger Lakes Land Trust (FLLT) today announced the acquisition of a conservation easement on 126 acres in the town of Caroline in the Six Mile Creek Watershed as part of New York State’s Water Quality Improvement Project (WQIP) Program. DEC awarded FLLT more than $641,000 in a WQIP grant for this and other projects in the Six Mile Creek Watershed to help protect the city of Ithaca’s public drinking water supply.
“Protecting water quality is a top priority for DEC and our partners across New York State,” DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said. “Working with Finger Lakes Land Trust on projects like today’s acquisition announcement is proof of our sustained commitment to protecting drinking water and open space for future generations of New Yorkers.”
“This project will help ensure Ithaca’s drinking water supply while at the same time conserving an iconic family farm and scenic woodlands that provide a backdrop to the hamlet of Brooktondale,” said Finger Lakes Land Trust Executive Director Andrew Zepp. “The Land Trust is delighted to have the opportunity to work with the DEC and make projects like this possible.”
Known as the Lounsbery property, this parcel is upstream of the city of Ithaca’s drinking water supply and wholly within the Six Mile Creek watershed. The acquisition adds to a previously acquired conservation easement of more than 13 acres in the town of Dryden that was also supported by this WQIP grant. The parcel has more than 6,200 feet of frontage on Six Mile Creek. To protect the creek, FLLT established a 24-acre environmental protection zone around the water that will contain a riparian buffer that will be restored with assistance from the Tompkins County Soil and Water Conservation District. The FLLT also received funding from the city of Ithaca and Tompkins County to provide long-term stewardship of the easement.
The Lounsbery property covers approximately 48 acres of forested lands and more than nine acres of wetlands. These naturally occurring features contribute to critical source water protection, helping to slow down runoff after storm events, filtering and absorbing pollutants, and reducing drinking water treatment costs. Buffers also provide valuable wildlife habitat.
By working cooperatively with landowners and local communities, the Finger Lakes Land Trust has protected over 26,000 acres of the region’s undeveloped lakeshore, rugged gorges, rolling forest, and scenic farmland. The FLLT owns and manages a network of over 35 nature preserves that are open to the public and holds perpetual conservation easements on 157 properties that remain in private ownership. Additional information about the Finger Lakes Land Trust may be found at Finger Lakes Land Trust’s website
Additional DEC Efforts to Protect Drinking Water Sources
Earlier this month, DEC and the New York State Department of Health (DOH) announced a new initiative, the Drinking Water Source Protection Program (DWSP2), in collaboration with the Departments of Agriculture and Markets and State to assist municipalities with developing and supporting drinking water source protection programs. As part of DWSP2, communities can take advantage of a number of implementation strategies to protect their source of drinking water. Implementation strategies may include zoning ordinances, intermunicipal agreements, training, or land acquisition. For communities who choose to use land acquisition as an implementation strategy, WQIP land acquisition funds could be a great resource for them to protect their source water. Up to 40 volunteer communities, including the city of Ithaca, will work with technical assistance partners to develop programs that proactively protect public drinking water supplies. To learn more about DWSP2, visit the DEC website.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo continues to increase investments for clean water infrastructure projects, including the State’s unprecedented $4 billion commitment to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to clean water. As part of the state’s Environmental Protection Fund, the WQIP supports projects to improve water quality, reduce the potential for harmful algal blooms (HABs), and protect drinking water across the state. DEC has announced more than $37 million for 37 land acquisition projects to date. In addition to land acquisition projects for source water protection, WQIP grants are awarded for municipal wastewater treatment, nonagricultural nonpoint source abatement and control, salt storage, and aquatic habitat restoration.
The Food Innovation Center at Rutgers is offering a Food Business Basics Workshop for early-stage entrepreneurs on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 1 -2, 2021 from 9:00 am-1:00 pm. This is a WEBEX virtual workshop.
Food Business Basics is a unique opportunity for food entrepreneurs to learn critical aspects of entering or growing their business in the prepared food and beverage industry. Attendees will be in front of movers and shakers working in the industry, who will give advice on how to create, commercialize, market, and sell in this competitive market.
On day one, there will be an introduction to the Food Innovation Center at Rutgers University, consumer trends, category overview, brand strategy, tax benefits and breaks for the entrepreneur, packaging trends, and protecting your intellectual property.
On day two, we’ll have presentations on product development to commercialization, sales strategy, food safety, developing your business plan, an entrepreneurial success story, and a virtual tour of the FIC South will be available to provide further information on our capabilities.
PLUS, get your questions answered and learn from people who are in the know! Following the two-day event, you will have the opportunity to receive a one-on-one session with the experts directly. Advance sign-up will be required.
The Food Business Basics Workshop keynote speaker is Linda M. Doherty, President & CEO of the New Jersey Food Council (NJFC), a Trenton-based business trade association representing supermarkets, convenience stores, and the food distribution industry in the Garden State. NJFC represents some of the largest and finest employers in NJ, with a $136 billion economy feeding almost nine million New Jerseyans a day. Ms. Doherty is the fifth and longest-serving NJFC President in its 52-year history.
Hot Panel Discussions & Panelists (as of 05.07.2021) will include:
Renowned actor Michael Keaton is joining the growing green movement in Pittsburgh. “Growing up, many of my neighbors worked in Pittsburgh’s famous steel plants; the lore was that a businessman would take an extra white shirt to work because the one he started with would get so dirty from the mills’ polluted air that he’d have to put on a fresh one to come home,” Keaton, who was born and raised in the Pittsburgh area, said in a statement on April 22.
To be part of the effort to ensure a more sustainable future, Keaton is taking an ownership stake in a partnership with Nexii, a Canadian enterprise and Trinity Commercial Development, based in Pittsburgh, that will develop a sustainability-based manufacturing plant. The plant, which will be built by Nexii Building Solutions Inc., is the first plant built entirely from Nexii’s sustainable concrete alternative, Nexiite.
In fact, the company will be producing the material and building the plant at the same time. Nexii’s sister Pennsylvania plant, which will open in Hazleton, will produce the Nexiite panels and other materials used to build the Pittsburgh plant. The lightweight panels, which are both thermally efficient and less carbon-intensive than concrete, will be shipped to Pittsburgh and assembled onsite, which will reduce build time by 75% as well as on-site waste. The plant, which will be on a redeveloped brownfield site, is set to open in 2022.
“Nexii’s new plant will create more than 300 green, healthy job opportunities and help revitalize my hometown in a way that helps folks right now while paving the way for future generations,” said Keaton.
The website is a valuable resource for land planners, scientists, policymakers, students, and the general public, providing extensive peer-reviewed data gathered from more than 50 partners in governmental agencies, academic institutions, and other data collectors. The data, stretching over decades, is enhanced by interactive graphs, maps, trend analysis, and condition tracking tools.
The website is focused on the impact of climate change on human health and the environment in the United States. It addresses the following general topics: greenhouse gases, weather and climate, oceans, snow and ice, human consequences, and adaptation and resilience.
USEPA Administrator Michael S. Regan called the website “a crucial scientific resource that underscores the urgency for action on the climate crisis. With this long-overdue update, we now have additional data and a new set of indicators that show climate change has become even more evident, stronger, and extreme – as has the imperative that we take meaningful action.”
