Upcycling company TerraCycle has launched what it says is the world’s first program to collect and reuse pens and markers.
Collection centers called "Writing Instrument Brigades" will be set up at participating locales, primarily in large corporations and schools where writing instruments are used most. For every writing instrument collected at a Writing Instrument Brigade collection center, two cents will be paid to a school, community group, charity or non-profit organization of the participant’s choice.
The collected writing instruments will be dissembled and/or reprocessed to make new products.
The collection efforts aim to reduce landfill proliferation, educate and inspire consumers to get involved, and provide much needed funding to schools and non-profit groups nationwide.
Newell Rubbermaid (NYSE: NWL) maker of Sharpie®, Paper Mate® and EXPO® has partnered with the program.
"Keeping one pen or marker out of a landfill may seem like a small contribution, but multiply that by the estimated $5 billion of writing instruments sold in the U.S. each year and it is a big opportunity to reduce waste to landfills," said Ben Gadbois, President of Markers, Highlighters, Art and Office Essentials for Newell Rubbermaid Office Products, maker of Sharpie, EXPO and Paper Mate products. "As the world’s leading producer of writing instruments, it’s not only our responsibility but our moral obligation to do our part to help the environment. TerraCycle offers us an innovative way to repurpose writing instruments after their useful life has expired."
The free program is available to any individual or group and is easy to operate. Interested parties simply sign up with TerraCycle to establish a Brigade location and then select the school, charity or non-profit group to which they want their collection funds directed. Each Brigade prints a pre-paid shipping label from TerraCycle’s website to ship the collected writing instruments to TerraCycle for upcycling into new products. TerraCycle will donate two cents per writing instrument to the collecting Brigade’s chosen organization.
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