{"id":1255,"date":"2022-11-30T15:16:25","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T15:16:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.earthadelic.com\/blog\/?p=1255"},"modified":"2022-11-30T15:16:25","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T15:16:25","slug":"an-update-on-earthadelics-recycling-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.earthadelic.com\/blog\/an-update-on-earthadelics-recycling-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"An Update on Earthadelic’s Recycling Initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"

Putting our planet first is at the forefront of Earthadelic’s mission.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, we have been exploring ways to become better friends with our planet and help out our community. Recycling is an essential aspect of all businesses and industries, but especially ours. Home construction, remodeling, and demolition services are responsible for 25-30% of America’s municipal solid waste.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of October, Earthadelic launched a company-wide recycling initiative that we take very seriously. In preparation for starting the program, a group of us visited the WestRock facility, which handles all of the recyclables collected in Knox County. What we discovered was completely eye-opening!<\/span><\/p>\n

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WestRock is an international company that creates sustainable packaging out of recycled materials. They acquire the materials they use for creating their various products through our everyday recycling of paper, cardboard, plastic, and aluminum.<\/span><\/p>\n

When our team visited the Knoxville facility, we were blown away by the technology and innovation contained within the plant. We discovered that 92% of the recycling collected and taken to the WestRock facility is fully recycled.<\/strong><\/em> Only 8% is considered garbage and taken to the landfill. That is huge! It is reassuring to know that your recycling is actually getting recycled. We went into the tour with a lot of skepticism from years of hearing rumors about how recycling just getting thrown into the landfill, along with the concept of \u201cwish-cycling,\u201d which is when someone throws something that is not recyclable into the recycling bin, the whole thing is contaminated and gets thrown into the landfill. We were relieved to find out that none of these rumors were true!<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most profound discoveries we made during our visit to WestRock is how harmful it is to put recycling in plastic bags and attempting to recycle hoses, cords, or string lights. These items clog up the system causing downtime at the sorting facility and requiring the workers to untangle anything that has gotten stuck, which is time-consuming and dangerous. The WestRock facility has a crew that focuses on pulling out plastic bags and anything non-recyclable off the conveyor belt. That is a lot of time and energy that could be spent more productively elsewhere. On that note, it is also better if you do not sort your recycling unless it is being taken to a recycling center that requires it to be sorted.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Also, the technology at WestRock is incredible! Some sorting machines even use military technology that can detect specific items and push them with a puff of air into another collection area. There is also a large reverse magnet that helps sort the aluminum by shooting it into a whole other section of the facility. It is quite the dance to watch! WestRock is truly an impressive and well-oiled machine sorting the recyclables right here in Knox County. You can watch an awesome video showing the process on WestRock’s website at this link<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are the things we are doing at Earthadelic to up our recycling game:<\/strong><\/p>\n