Hey, you, ordering that takeout: You can recycle your containers into PPE in Charlotte
The evidence of more time spent at home surrounds us during the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re running out of things to watch on Netflix. We’ve laundered more sweatpants than work clothes. And our trash and recycling bins are filled to the brim with takeout containers.
Envision Charlotte wants to help. While the company can’t fix your Netflix addiction, it’s seeking to turn your love of Charlotte’s culinary scene into PPE for Charlotteans on the front lines of the coronavirus fight in hospitals and companies around the Queen City.
While you may attempt to recycle your containers already, the local Material Recovery Facility doesn’t consider all takeout containers recyclable, even if they are plastic. Instead of these containers heading straight to the landfill, Envision Charlotte has set up drop-off locations for residents to bring clean takeout materials to be repurposed into filament for 3D-printed PPE.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
If you want to help create PPE for those on the front lines during COVID-19, there are two ways to get involved with this Envision Charlotte initiative.
The easiest way is to enjoy your favorite takeout meals from restaurants around town — and then save and clean the containers for donation. You can leave your containers at the temporary Innovation Barn drop-off location (1105 Otts St.) or the 7th Street Public Market (inside the breezeway at the 7th Street entrance).
Right now, Envision Charlotte is only looking for heavy plastic takeout food containers from restaurants — they must be clean and without stickers. The company is not looking for fruit containers, yogurt/sour cream containers, rotisserie chicken containers, Solo cups or egg cartons.
There’s also an opportunity to help on-site. Envision Charlotte will host a weekly Volunteer Day, where you can help sort and break down plastics. Volunteer Day occurs each Thursday from 9 a.m.-noon, where you can select from three 1-hour shifts at the Innovation Barn (932 Seigle Ave.). Stations are spread out to follow social distancing guidelines, and you will need to wear a mask. Gloves are recommended, as you will use heavy scissors to break down donations. If you’re interested, you can sign up here.
WHAT IS ENVISION CHARLOTTE?
Envision Charlotte is a public-private collaboration between Duke Energy and Charlotte Center City Partners to increase the energy-efficiency of commercial buildings. Together, these businesses seek to enhance sustainable practices using a pro-business approach: By reducing use in energy, air, water and waste, it should decrease the cost to do business in Charlotte.
To make this vision a reality, the company created Circular Charlotte, an economic model designed to produce less waste by transitioning to renewable energy sources and reusing products and materials. Envision Charlotte is working with Metabolic, an Amsterdam consulting firm with expertise in the circular economy. In 2018, the firm produced a study that found five strategies to repurpose items going to the landfill.
“One of the biggest opportunities is around plastics,” said Amy Aussieker, executive director of Envision Charlotte. “Currently about 144,000 tons of plastics go to waste in our stream each year, and very little is recycled. One of the ways to tackle plastic is with a plastics lab — a way to educate on plastics and give space and equipment for entrepreneurs to create new products using plastics.”
THE PLASTICS LAB
The Plastics Lab is one of Envision Charlotte’s initiatives to become a circular city by diverting waste from the landfill and using it to create new products. The local Plastics Lab will later join an international program dedicated to the same cause.
To break down discarded takeout containers into PPE, the plastics are first broken down into smaller pieces that can be placed into the reclaimer, a machine that processes them on a granular level. From there, the plastics are made into filament through heating and cooling. Then, they’re fed into a 3D printer mold to make PPE.
Aside from hungry Charlotte residents, the Plastics Lab also receives material from Send Me On My Way program participants. Last year, the Charlotte Area Transit System donated a retired city bus and retrofitted it to collect materials — specifically bubble wrap and aluminum. The program collected from corporations like Compass Group and Piedmont Natural Gas, and then returned that material to partners at Sealed Air and Coca-Cola Consolidated, where the material is used in pilot projects to put it back into new products. While that project is currently on hold due to COVID-19, Aussieker is working with a large retirement community to pick up takeout containers.
“They deliver over 24,000 pieces of takeout containers to their residents every month, and we are working out a plan to take the bus to that community and pick it up to bring it back to the Innovation Barn for processing into filament,” Aussieker said.
The Innovation Barn is a partnership between Envision Charlotte and the City of Charlotte that will act as an educational center for the Circular Charlotte initiative. The 18,000-square-foot building will have a co-working space for entrepreneurs focused on upcycling, a space for composting waste, an aquaponic garden, event space and a zero-waste restaurant.
This story was originally published July 14, 2020 at 2:50 PM.
