APRIL 26th- Upcoming Vote for Zero Waste Fee-Based Plastic Packaging Collection








Upcoming Vote for Zero Waste Fee-Based Plastic Packaging Collection
When:  April 26th, Tuesday night, 7pm General Meeting

Where:  St. Francis Xavier School, 763 President Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues

What:  Phase II of the TerraCycle collection will allow for collection of a very broad array of plastic packaging waste from products sold at the coop.  This waste will be upcycled and repurposed to create long lasting useful items (e.g., decking and fencing, planting barrels, garbage cans, etc.)

This vote is for a year long trial which will allow for a full assessment of use and participation.  It should be noted, the Coop is under no contractual obligation with this program. We can discontinue the trial at anytime, if needed.

How: In addition to our current participation in 6 free brigades (small bulk bags, food storage bags, cling wrap; Brita filters; baby food pouches; toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes; cereal bag liners; and energy bar wrappers), if approved, we will participate in TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Fee-based Plastic Packaging Waste Collection.

When are collections:  Collections for the free brigade items (see above) are currently the Second Wednesday of the month (4 to 6pm) and the Fourth Saturday of the month (2 to 4pm).  If approved, the plastic packaging waste will be added to these collection times. We expect to add additional collection times in the future.

Cost:  Participation fee for the Zero Waste Plastic Packaging Collection is $208 per bin (15 x 15 x 42 inches and includes shipping costs). Based on preliminary compressing trials, these bins will hold a very high volume of compressed plastic packaging waste.  The proposal is capped at a budget of $5000 for the year, which allows for 2 bins per month. Members can choose to make a donation when making deposits to help with the cost.

Participation: Participation for deposits to the 6 free brigades is open to members and non-members.  Deposits to the fee based plastic packaging collection will be limited to coop members only—a coop membership card will need to be shown prior to a deposit.  All free brigade waste will be sorted first into appropriate collection bins and remaining plastic packaging waste will go into the fee-based bin.

Members will be asked to limit their deposits to plastic packaging waste generated from produce/products bought at the coop.

Let’s be responsible with the waste we produce and see to it that our plastic packaging waste is upcycled and repurposed and not sent to landfills.

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