Thursday, October 22, 10am-12pm PST / 1-3pm EST
The quest for Zero Waste to build a circular economy demands innovation. Despite decades of herculean efforts by recycling program leaders, citizen participants and businesses across the country, more than 60 percent of total US waste generated is still being disposed or incinerated, with just 35 percent or less recovered for recycling or composting—and those numbers are predicted to decline even further due to impacts of the 2020 global pandemic.
This webinar will highlight leadership in rethinking and redesign to phase out unrecyclable materials by supplanting them with reuse systems, alongside better recovery of packaging which has been designed for viable recycling. Grassroots organizing and shock therapy is afoot in small town USA, where leadership development to implement waste reduction solutions, coupled with public education campaigns that create behavior change for the cultural shift to reuse systems.
Packaging is being meaningfully redesigned for sustainability, with accurate handling information conveyed to consumers with the How2Recycle label. A newly introduced returnable, refillable packaging system for popular, brand-name products has rolled out nationwide. And advocacy for a national bottle bill that would eliminate state-to-state inconsistencies is anticipated to increase recovery from 33 to 80 percent, while creating jobs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, litter and marine debris. Please join us to learn more and be inspired.
Panelists:
- Marialyce Pedersen, National Recycling Coalition Board of Directors, Moderator
- Nina Goodrich, Sustainable Packaging Coalition
- Susan Collins, Container Recycling Institute
- Tony Rossi, TerraCycle/Loop
- Margaret Gainer, Zero Waste Humboldt