PureCycle Technologies Inc. and iSustain Recycling Inc. (a certified woman-owned business) teamed up to bring PureCycle’s PureZero program to the Plastics Recycling Conference in the Washington, D.C. area, held March 7-9, 2022. The Plastics Recycling Conference was the first sustainability conference to adopt the PureZero program. The conference is the largest gathering of plastics recycling and sustainability innovators in North America and attracts more than 2,000 professionals, community leaders and industry decision-makers. iSustain Recycling and PureCycle collaborated to ensure a PureZero waste footprint to reduce the environmental impact of the conference on the community.

The PureCycle PureZero waste program transforms No. 5 plastic waste found at sporting events, conference venues and retail shops to create recycled material that can be used to make countless products, and those products can be recycled and remade over and over again. PureCycle uses a patented process that brings plastic waste full circle, helping keep this common plastic waste from entering waterways, flowing intoSource: PureCycle Technologies Inc. oceans, or being buried in landfills.

Tamsin Ettefagh, chief sustainability officer, PureCycle said, “If our global consumption rates continue and new plastic production capacity outpaces recycling capacity, we believe carbon consumption will continue to rise at unsustainable rates. There is no doubt that people are consuming too much polypropylene, but that can change if we treat plastic waste as a renewable resource instead of disposable trash. We are thrilled to partner with iSustain Recycling to bring the PureZero program to one of the top recycling and sustainability conferences in North America. Bringing our message to the top advocates for sustainability in the nation is key for inspiring systemic change.”

Dawn Huber, chief executive officer, iSustain Recycling said, “iSustain’s primary goal has always been to help both large and small industries across North America improve landfill diversion. We have provided the onsite plastics recycling to the Plastics Recycling Conference since 2016, but this year we decided to team up with PureCycle to make the process even more sustainable through the PureZero program. I know that this program will allow us to divert even more waste from ending up in our landfills, streets and waterways.”

iSustain Recycling and PureCycle provided polypropylene cups (designated as No. 5 plastic) to be used during the conference. To drive awareness and to help ensure the plastic cups are disposed of in the provided recycling bins at the conference, they were printed with a QR code, which directed attendees to an informative webpage describing the program and partnership.

Through iSustain Recycling’s partnership with the Tennessee Aquarium on Micro Plastics research and to raise more awareness about the impact they have on our rivers, lakes and estuaries, iSustain Recycling exhibited a larger-than-life artistic display “#TrashyTheTrout” at their booth. “Trashy the Trout” was created using plastic waste collected from local Tennessee River watersheds.

Since iSustain Recycling’s inception in 2014, the company has helped to divert close to three quarters of a billion pounds of plastics, paper, metal, electronics and food waste from landfill by utilizing any methods available within the mechanical, chemical, reuse and waste to energy sectors and partnered with major manufacturers of plastic packaging to provide recycling solutions to their customers and increase circularity.