Comments on: 100% Recycled – A Greenwashed Claim that Still Persists

By: Annie

Annie — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:25:38 +0000

Whatever happened to the wise practice of charging a deposit on the container (like bottles used to be), and then refunding a portion of the deposit when it is turned in to be recycled? And make the % of deposit returned proportional to the ability for the material to be recycled. (Which would encourage bottles and aluminum usage, rather than the crazy pileup of plastic going on.)

By: Loveandlight

Loveandlight — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:51:40 +0000

People who want to buy recycled toilet paper should check out the “Seventh Generation” brand. It’s 80% post-consumer, comes in two-ply double-rolls, and it’s a decent combination of soft, strong, and absorbant qualities. Apologies for getting way to TMI here, but I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, so that means I’m in something of a position to appreciate quality TP!
Green Forest is the most well-known “recyled” TP brand, but it contains only 10% post-consumer.

By: Marc

Marc — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:21:32 +0000

There are industries with certification organizations, like print and building, that have a fairly rigorous certification process. FSC and SFI are sustainable forestry certification organizations, which you’ll sometimes see on the back of catalogs or other publications, which certify the amount of recycled or sustainable material in paper stock, or in lumber. Fortunately, it’s not all greenwashing.

By: Garbi

Garbi — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:49:12 +0000

What about this scenario: I have a product that I am making from scrap provided by another manufacturer who WOULD, in fact, be throwing all of the material out or at least returning it to some other sort of recycling center that would use it as a percentage of their product. Wouldn’t my product be considered 100% recycled? I have caused NO new material to be used due to demand for my product, and I am a separate entity from the company where my material comes from.
What about product made from partial use of such “trim” scrap? If we only consider POST-CONSUMER recycled product – i.e. part of the material has been sold to consumers, used, returned, and refashioned – then recycling of scrap material from manufacturing processes couldn’t even be used as a percentage measure for many products, recycling centers, and re-manufacturers.
I believe the proper concept of “recycled” is: “No new raw material (by %) was required to create the product.” That would, of course, carry the stipulation that normal production scrap is being minimized as much as possible – but that is every manufacturer’s goal. Manufacturers make better profits by keeping scrap to a minimum than they would if they tried to inflate their recycled products by increasing scrap – that would just be stupid.
Of course, there is a bit of a gray area: Once a manufacturer has developed a product and processes to make that product entirely from their own scrap [from other processes], does that mean that this is now just a standard manufacturing process and not so much a recycling process?
Maybe we should have a label for “Remanufactured” as opposed to “Recycled”??? Maybe that could be part of the differentiation if a standard is developed…

By: Lisa

Lisa — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 19:58:51 +0000

I am doing a project.
when did we start seeing markings on commercial goods that say “made of 100% recycled materials”
if you could shoot me an email if you have the answer that would be great
Thanks
Lisa

By: The Entrepreneurial Mind

The Entrepreneurial Mind — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 08:12:04 +0000

Carnival of the Capitalists Goes Back to College!

Before we get into our usual Carnival of the Capitalists rants, we wanted to take a few moments to remember one of the greatest management thinkers and visionaries of all time, Peter Drucker, who passed away this past week….

By: alexander horre

alexander horre — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 17:27:36 +0000

I hate greenwashing. I can’t wait until a department in the government creates a unanimous standard for domestic upcycling pratices. Too many mixed standards; this isn’t the technology market fighting for market share.

By: beev

beev — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 21:21:16 +0000

Companies should definitely not be able to use misleading labels on their products. I’m going to be checking a bit more carefully from now on…