how much ends up being reused versus landfilled. Ridwell also engages in robust communications with its members through email and social media about what it should collect next. Often, these conversations result in actions. “Hundreds of Ridwell members wrote in about having guilt around throwing their coffee bags straight into the landfill,” recalls Loewen. In response, Ridwell partnered with HydroBlox, a Pennsylvania-based company that turns multilayer plastic, including coffee bags, into composite drainage materials for landscaping use. “So now it’s easier for those people who have a daily caffeine ritual.” A team of Ridwell employees, based in the company’s head office in Seattle, finds and vets these partners. “We want to make sure we feel good about their level of transparency. If we’re putting that company name on our website, then we feel good about them,” says Loewen. Others are a bit more skeptical. “The market for these materials is more volatile than what we put in the curbside bin. That is specifically why municipalities choose carefully what they accept curbside, so they have a reliable end market,” says Etosha Terryll, program administrator for Portland State University’s Community Environmental Services research and service unit via email. She is also a second-year graduate student in the Master of Urban and Regional Planning program and a Master Recycler. “Personally, I’m somewhat dubious about their end markets.” And just because a partner company is operating today doesn’t guarantee they will be there tomorrow. Even the people at Ridwell were surprised when Agilyx, their Tigard-based partner for recycling polystyrene (Styrofoam), closed abruptly in March. Ridwell still accepts polystyrene but now ships the material to two different partners in the Seattle area. Which complicates issues even more. Ridwell searches for local partners where they can, according to Loewen, but most are far afield. Trex Company, for instance, turns plastic film into composite decking material from manufacturing facilities in Virginia and Nevada. Green Impact transforms clear plastic clamshells into feed to make new clear plastic clamshells in Juarez, Mexico. Ridwell also sends hard plastics to Merlin Plastics in British Columbia, Canada. Sure, it’s better than shipping trash overseas, but the carbon impact of moving all this waste around is undeniable. Trying to shrink that footprint, Ridwell recently teamed up with Bob’s Red Mill to carpool 23
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