Philly Talks Trash Spring 2024

April 16, 2024 Comments Off

Greetings to our plastic-reducing community,

Welcome to the Spring edition of Philly Talks Trash Quarterly, where we’re thrilled to dive deep into the latest in waste reduction and sustainability right from the heart of Philadelphia.

Here at Philly Talks Trash, our mission is clear: we’re here to spotlight local waste reduction heroes, share indispensable tips, and keep you in the loop about game-changing sustainability events—locally and globally, with a keen focus on plastic reduction and circularity.

In this edition, we welcome guest author, Matt Siegfried, the brain behind Rabbit Recycling. For six years, Matt and Bryan, two engineer brothers, have revolutionized recycling in Philly. Their innovative solutions aren’t just keeping materials out of the wastestream; they’re setting a new standard for what’s possible when a local community takes responsibility collectively. We love how this improves local waste diversion and keeps trash from being burned in local incinerators that have negative impacts on marginalized communities.

We’re also unpacking Cherelle Parker’s 100-Day Action Plan. We’re not just here to nod along but to dig into the nitty-gritty and spark meaningful conversations about how it intersects with our waste-reducing ambitions. Let’s not forget the triumph of Trash Academy, Circular Philadelphia, and Block by Block—their dumping campaign has been nothing short of extraordinary. Collective action at its finest, and we’re thrilled to be part of it.

And speaking of collective action, have you heard about Philly Unwrapped? This dynamic coalition of local heavy-hitters—from organizations to businesses—is on a mission to tackle single-use packaging head-on. Their approach? Listening, collaborating, and taking decisive action. It’s a game-changer in our fight against plastic pollution and a step towards a more sustainable, circular economy in Philly’s food and beverage sectors.

We’re done with Philthadelphia. Our city deserves better, and together, we’re making it happen. So let’s keep pushing boundaries, challenging norms, and championing waste and litter reduction. Because when we do, we’re not just making Philly cleaner and greener—we’re leaving a legacy for generations to come.

Thank you for being part of this journey with us.
The Philly Talks Trash Quarterly Team

🖋️ From Our Guest Author:
**Matt Siegfried*, co-founder of Rabbit Recycling***

Six years ago, my brother Bryan and I decided it was time to do something about the current dismal state of recycling in Philadelphia. There were no examples we could find of the business we envisioned, so we invented Rabbit Recycling and have been tweaking it ever since. If you are one of the many people these days who are looking for a better way to handle both your routine and not so routine “disposable” items, we have a solution to offer.

Bryan and I are both engineers – he, chemical, me, mechanical. Like most engineers we live to solve problems and between us we know a bit about systems, logistics and materials. We also want to be part of moving Philadelphia toward a circular economy and to demonstrate how recycling can ideally be done. A majority of the items that get thrown in the trash or put in city recycling and end up burned or landfilled can be reprocessed, recycled or reused when managed appropriately.

The first step in making sure items make it to their next use rather than the landfill is the responsibility of the person or business who owns it. We recommend adopting the view that you are accountable for the next life of anything you own or acquire, including the packaging – something to consider when making a purchase. In an ideal future, manufacturers will be held responsible for the disposition or recycling of their products.

Here’s how Rabbit works. If you sign up as a subscription customer, we provide you with an 18-gallon container and you schedule with us for a regular pickup which can be every 1, 2 or 4 weeks. We take a very long list of items ranging from the usual glass, aluminum and cardboard to the unusual: all types of plastics including Styrofoam, all types of textiles reusable or worn out, electronics, kitchenware, batteries, cork, used candles, office and craft supplies, sports gear, and much much more. You can check out our list of accepted items here.

If subscription is not a good fit for what you need to recycle, we also offer scheduled demand pickups and drop offs – the arrangements can be made on our website. In all cases, items you send to us must be clean and dry.

Once at our warehouse in East Kensington, we sort through your items, separating the recyclables from those that can be reused and/or donated. The better job you do sorting and grouping the items in your bin the less time we need to spend doing that. We partner with many of the circular economy businesses in the city such as Good Buy Supply and Ray’s Reusables. All of our glass (400 – 600 pounds per week) goes to Bottle Underground, and they give us all of their bottle caps to recycle. Some items we donate to thrift stores and homeless shelters, and we also invite artists, teachers, makers and others who are looking for specific materials and supplies to come (by appointment) and look through our well-organized warehouse. Some of our subscribers and supporters make contributions that help fund our donation programs.

We have customers in most Philadelphia zip codes from the far northeast to Center City to West, South and Northwest neighborhoods as well as some in Delaware and Montgomery Counties. If you would like to come out and see our operation, we offer brief tours on Tuesdays that can be scheduled on our website, and we also welcome volunteers to help with sorting.

“Rabbit Recycling provides transparent residential and business recycling services in the Philadelphia Metropolitan area.” – Rabbit Recycling

In 2023, a profound gathering convened at the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia (SBN) office. Together with Green Line Access, Circular Philadelphia, ECHO Systems, and LUHV Foods, we embarked on an educational journey focused on waste reduction practices and the prospective legislation on single-use plastics that could shape our city’s future.

Nearly 40% of all plastics stem from food and beverage packaging, igniting an urgent environmental and public health crisis. For small businesses, the burden of disposable materials looms large, impacting not only profit margins but also our planet and communities.

In the year ahead, we envision community toolkit sessions across our city, hosted by SBN, ECHO, and Trash Academy. These gatherings will not only offer technical support but also gather vital data from our local food sector, illuminating the need for change. We aim to secure federal grants to subsidize the transition towards waste reduction and circularity, ensuring accessibility for all.

Furthermore, Rethink Disposable has graciously offered grants to select Philly Unwrapped participants, facilitating the provision of reusable wares and technical guidance. As we strive for meaningful change, we will also seek to engage local political leaders.

If you are a community leader, owner of a food or beverage establishment, government worker, Neighborhood Association leader, or business association leader, click here to become a part of Philly Unwrapped Coalition and contribute to a healthier, more sustainable future for generations to come. For further inquiries, email Theresa Gassert: theresa@sbnphiladelphia.org or Alisa Shargorodsky: social@ourechosystem.com.

🗳️ Politics and Legislation

Our New Mayor

We have new people in many key city positions who will determine whether Philadelphia makes progress over the next four years in reducing carbon emissions, construction dumping, single-use plastics and air pollution. In Mayor Parker’s First 100 Days Action Plan she focuses on plans to “reduce the generation of waste, increase rates of recycling, and tackle litter and illegal dumping.” The Mayor regularly speaks of making Philadelphia ‘clean and green’. Her budget proposal for the next fiscal year includes additional funding and plans for dealing with trash, abandoned vehicles and other waste. We have yet to hear plans for ‘green’, however, her long-term vision statement pledges to meet the city’s carbon neutrality goal as well as increase the use of public transit, and expand the tree canopy..

Mayor Parker has appointed two Deputy Mayors – Sincere Harris and Aren Platt. Harris’ policy portfolio includes sustainability, so she will be another key person figuring in our hopes for better environmental progress by the city. Prior to coming to work for Parker, Harris was the White House Associate Director for Intergovernmental Affairs, Climate & Environment.

CleanPhiladelphiaNOW Campaign to end dumping in Philadelphia by 2028

Trash Academy in partnership with Clean Water Action have used the first 100 days of Mayor Parker’s administration to advocate for a systems approach to the litter and dumping crisis in Philly with a specific focus on prevention: Opening the Sanitation Convenience Centers to Smaller Haulers. As a platform for frontline community members to voice both impacts and solutions, Trash Academy has been in the news highlighting solutions beyond cleaning (and cleaning and cleaning). The platform to end dumping includes prevention, enforcement, education and abatement. To end dumping we must prevent dumping. Small haulers face the same minimum dumping fee as large contractors, however their loads seldom meet the minimum weight (2000 lbs). When city crews clean up illegal dumping, the loads go to incineration or landfill, when much of the construction and demolition waste could be diverted from the waste stream and recycled through the use of the existing convenience centers. We applaud Mayor Parker for linking Clean and Green with safety, however, cleaning is not prevention and we call for her to expand the approach.

Go to CleanphillyNOW@trashacademy.org for more information.
Update by Shari Hersch

📅 Events 📝

Click on the calendar icons below to add events to your Google calendar

📅 Apr 17th – 29th (Wednesday evenings) • Beyond Plastics Online Class • Take our founder and President, Judith Enck’s seven-week online class, Beyond Plastic Pollution, offered by Bennington College’s Center for the Advancement of Public Action. This in-depth masterclass on all things plastic pollution-related will be held via Zoom on Wednesday evenings from 7:00-9:00 PM ET starting on April 17 and ending on May 29. View the course description here.

📅 May 18, 21, 20, and 23 (multiple dates) • Beyond Plastics – Grassroots Organizing Training • Join Beyond Plastics for a free, virtual, 2-part grassroots organizing training that will teach you practical, powerful ways to help end plastic pollution and engage your larger community.

📅 May 22 – 24 • Accelerating the Circular Economy • As the leading conference for professionals building the circular economy, Circularity 24 offers thought-provoking keynotes, actionable breakouts, a solutions-oriented expo and unparalleled networking opportunities for leaders implementing circular solutions.

🌐 Plastic-reduction Resources 🤝🏽

The problems we face with plastic proliferation are great, but an ever-growing group of organizations, laws, and policies are taking aim at the issue, and small businesses are looking to meet the need for products without plastics. The Philly Talks Trash Resource Page is an expanding collection of waste-reduction information, politics, articles, products, and organizations, all focused on reducing plastic use. If you have suggestions for the page please email us. We will highlight a few products and organizations in each newsletter and the link to the full and growing list will always be available at bit.ly/pttq.

Philadelphia Sustainable Packing Alliance
Join the Philadelphia Sustainable Packing Alliance if you want to learn about ways to make your product’s packaging more sustainable.

Survey finds majority of consumers don’t prioritise sustainable packaging
by Packaging Gateway

NERC/NEWMOA Four Part Webinar Series
Free webinars on material management are being hosted by the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) and Northeast Waste Management Official’s Association (NEWMOA)