LAKE FOREST, Ill., Feb. 16,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Reynolds Consumer Products
and Dow announced the Hefty®
EnergyBag® program is collaborating with
ByFusion on a pilot project to introduce a new creative use for
hard-to-recycle plastic items collected by local participants in
the Greater Boise area. The
ByFusion pilot project demonstrates how communities of all sizes
can innovate solutions to environmental challenges and put their
hard-to-recycle plastic waste to good use by converting it into a
building material that supports their community. The current
project leverages public-private partnerships and will divert up to
72 tons of hard-to-recycle plastics from the Ada County Hidden
Hollow landfill, which helps decrease its environmental impact.
![A newly installed bench in Manitou Park contains hard-to-recycle plastic items collected by local participants in the Greater Boise area through the Hefty® EnergyBag® Program. Credit: Catherine Chertudi A newly installed bench in Manitou Park contains hard-to-recycle plastic items collected by local participants in the Greater Boise area through the Hefty® EnergyBag® Program. Credit: Catherine Chertudi](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1748296/Manitou.jpg)
The ByFusion pilot project will convert the hard-to-recycle
plastics collected by the Hefty® EnergyBag®
program into ByBlocks, the first-ever construction-grade block made
from collected, previously unrecycled plastics. ByFusion's
proprietary, no-emission process creates ByBlocks made entirely
from plastic waste, containing no chemicals, additives or fillers.
The fusion process does not require traditional sorting, cleaning
or pre-processing. The ByBlocks can build a range of structures,
including benches, bus shelters and much more. The first ByBlock
application planned for the Greater
Boise area is a large bench in Manitou Park, which was
installed on February 15th.
Additional projects are planned over the next few months, including
a park bench in Garden City and
other benches and kiosks within the area.
"I was excited when I learned about the ByFusion pilot project
in the Greater Boise area because
not only is it a beneficial way to use hard-to-recycle plastics,
but the plastic collected comes from local residents who use the
Hefty® EnergyBag® program," said Jennifer Ellis, Greater Boise community sustainability
advocate. "From material collection to a finished post-consumer
recycled-content product, this really makes an impact on the
distance the material has traveled in the past and the endgame for
the material. I appreciate that the Hefty®
EnergyBag® program encourages people to find
alternatives to simply throwing that plastic away. While the first
priority should always be to refuse, reduce or reuse unnecessary
plastic waste, having the program available to collect the
hard-to-recycle plastics is a welcomed diversion from landfill.
It's because of us, the citizens of these communities, that this
project is even possible. I am looking forward to visiting Manitou
Park, enjoying the park bench and talking about it with my fellow
Boiseans."
The Hefty® EnergyBag® team is also taking
the opportunity to determine the environmental impact of the
ByFusion pilot project from beginning to end, through a life cycle
assessment. Having a better understanding of the full global
warming impact of the material used in ByBlocks in comparison to
other usages of the collected materials will inform how the
Hefty® EnergyBag® program and ByFusion may
work together in the future.
"We are always exploring new end-usage opportunities for the
hard-to-recycle plastic collected by the Hefty®®
EnergyBag® program, including the potential to expand
beyond plastic as an energy source, which is why participating in
the ByFusion pilot project is such an exciting moment for the
Hefty® EnergyBag® program," said Lisa Burns, Senior Vice President,
Sustainability, Reynolds Consumer Products. "Seeing the
transformation of these challenging plastics into this impressive
park bench is a testament to what is possible and what the future
could hold for the Hefty® EnergyBag®
program."
"ByFusion is excited to be part of this collaboration with Dow
and the Hefty® EnergyBag® program
that collectively empowers the residents of the Greater Boise area to take control of their
plastic waste and use it to support their growing,
environmentally-conscious community," said Heidi Kujawa, CEO, ByFusion. "We are confident
that the area's implementation of ByBlocks will show other cities
how they can repurpose their plastic waste and transform it into an
alternative building material that helps support their
infrastructure needs, instead of being an ongoing burden."
The ByFusion pilot project was developed in collaboration with
Dow's Business Impact Fund, which is a competitive grant program.
The Hefty® EnergyBag® program,
which is conducted in partnership with Dow, was already in place
when the ByFusion pilot project launched. The program was first
adopted by the City of Boise in
2018, and other local communities within Ada County soon followed.
"Since the Business Impact Fund was introduced in 2016, it has
awarded over $5 million for 35
projects around the globe. Every project, including the ByFusion
pilot, has the potential to have a tremendous and positive impact
on the local community," said Julie
Zaniewski, Dow's North American Sustainability Director for
Packaging & Specialty Plastics. "Dow and the
Hefty® EnergyBag® team, along with
ByFusion and the Greater Boise
area, are committed to this project as an innovative way of
reducing the amount of plastic that is otherwise sent to landfills.
It is our collective hope that other cities and communities, beyond
Boise, will be inspired to think
creatively about new uses for this valuable material."
Developed with Dow and other program supporters, the
Hefty® EnergyBag® program is a
hard-to-recycle plastics collection program that offers eligible
residents in the Greater Boise
area a convenient way to divert hard-to-recycle plastics from the
landfill (learn more about the program here and check here for a
list of the participating communities in Idaho). The Hefty®
EnergyBag® orange bags can be purchased at select local
retailers or online. Once the orange bag is filled with
hard-to-recycle plastics, residents simply place it in the same bin
or cart as their traditional recycling. The regular recycling truck
takes the orange bags along with normal, loose recyclables, and the
recycling center then separates these bags from other materials and
sends them to facilities that use the hard-to-recycle plastics as
valuable resources.
Through December 2021, the
Hefty® EnergyBag® program has diverted over
1,600 tons of hard-to-recycle plastics from landfills and is
currently active in communities in Nebraska and Idaho, along with counties in the metro
Atlanta, Georgia, area.
About Reynolds Consumer Products
Reynolds Consumer
Products (Nasdaq: REYN) is a leading provider of household products
that simplify daily life so you can enjoy what matters most. Our
Reynolds® and
Hefty® brand products help make mealtime easier
with preparation, cooking, cleanup, and storage solutions. For more
information,
visit ReynoldsConsumerProducts.com and HeftyEnergyBag.com.
About Dow
Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines global breadth;
asset integration and scale; focused innovation and materials
science expertise; leading business positions; and environmental,
social and governance (ESG) leadership to achieve profitable growth
and deliver a sustainable future. The Company's ambition is to
become the most innovative, customer centric, inclusive and
sustainable materials science company in the world. Dow's portfolio
of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings and silicones
businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated, science-based
products and solutions for its customers in high-growth market
segments, such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer
applications. Dow operates 104 manufacturing sites in 31
countries and employs approximately 35,700 people. Dow delivered
sales of approximately $55 billion in 2021. References to
Dow or the Company mean Dow Inc. and its subsidiaries. For more
information, please visit www.dow.com or
follow @DowNewsroom on Twitter.
About ByFusion
ByFusion® is an innovative
manufacturing company committed to protecting the environment and
giving a second life to plastic waste by reshaping its future. A
certified B Corporation and an essential cog in the wheel of a
circular economy, ByFusion has a patented process that converts all
types of plastic waste, including marine debris, into a building
material called ByBlock®—the first-ever construction-grade block
made from unrecyclable plastic. ByFusion's solution enables
communities, corporations and governments to realize a cleaner
world while creating jobs, improving infrastructure and
revitalizing neighborhoods everywhere. For more information, please
visit www.byfusion.com/or follow @ByFusion on Instagram and
Twitter.
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SOURCE Reynolds Consumer Products