“Reduce, reuse, recycle.” You may have grown up hearing this phrase and internalized the idea that recycling is a good thing. But what, exactly, makes recycling so important these days?
Together, we’re all trying to minimize the amount of plastic that ends up in landfills and that is polluting oceans. Recycling plastics and metals means that we don’t necessarily need to extract the raw materials required to make new plastic and metal items.
Not only does recycling reduce extraction of new resources, but it also reduces the energy used to process those extracted materials, thereby minimizing the greenhouse gases emitted in the manufacturing process. To be more specific, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):
- Recycled plastic requires two-thirds less energy to produce than new (virgin) plastic.
- Recycled aluminum requires 95 percent less energy than producing new aluminum.
- Recycled glass requires 30 percent less energy than producing new glass.
Overview of CLYNK’s Innovative Recycling Approach
CLYNK got its start in Maine, where its founders recognized the consumer need for a more modern and convenient recycling system. Since then, CLYNK has successfully scaled a bottle redemption platform that’s unlike any other recycling program, vastly outperforming run-of-the-mill bottle and can redemption centers when it comes to efficiency and effectiveness.
The design of their bottle redemption and recycling platform means that CLYNK can process millions upon millions of containers at a much more rapid pace. No other company in the United States is redeeming beverage containers using this uniquely efficient method. Likewise, CLYNK is the top company of its kind that allows its customers to manage deposits via their own online account.
CLYNK’s patented platform is now in use in Maine, and also by Bottle Bill participants in Iowa, New York, and Oregon, as well as New Brunswick, Canada. (Note that they operate as CLYNK in Maine and upstate New York, but their technology is otherwise white labeled.)
CLYNK’s Bottle Redemption System
Here’s a quick overview of CLYNK’s easy four-step recycling process:
- Bag it: Fill CLYNK’s designated green recyclable bags with your bottles and cans, making sure not to overfill them.
- Tag it: Tag the recyclable bag with one of your personalized CLYNK bag tags. You can print these tags out at a nearby CLYNK kiosk, and if you sign up for CLYNK online, you’ll also be sent 10 tags to get started.
- Scan it: When you arrive at your nearest CLYNK drop-off location, scan every bag to make sure your bottles and cans are all tracked in our database.
- Drop it: Drop the bags off and you’re all set!
CLYNK then reimburses your deposits to be recycled into a personal account that you can spend at your leisure on whatever you want. It doesn’t get much more simple than that.
“Super Recycling”: What Goes Into High-Quality Recyclables?
Not all recycling programs are created equal. The process of recycling can vary significantly, depending on the quality of recyclables received.
Recyclables received through typical curbside collection are often contaminated with unrecyclable materials. When this occurs, the otherwise usable recyclables are often disposed of in a landfill or incinerator, rather than being recycled.
According to Tex Corley, CEO of Strategic Materials (one of the country’s largest glass recyclers), “The material you get from curbside recycling is awful . . . [but CLYNK’s collection [is] extremely high quality with no contamination].”
CLYNK calls their uniquely efficient recycling method a form of “Super Recycling”, which involves an addition of an extra step to standard multi-stream recycling: separating clean, food-grade plastic, glass, and aluminum containers (e.g., beverage bottles and cans) from non-food-grade containers (e.g., plastic laundry detergent bottles), whether or not they’re made from a similar type of plastic.
Although Super Recycling requires a little more time and energy, it’s been deemed as well worth the effort. CLYNK programs vastly increase the likelihood that your recycled food-grade containers will actually be recycled into other food-grade containers, and not salvaged as lower-grade plastic, or even worse, wasted in a landfill or set to pollute the ocean.
What Happens Once Your Recyclables are Collected Through CLYNK?
Once collected, recyclables are sent to Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) to undergo high-speed processing. Since CLYNK users place their food-grade plastic, glass, and metal containers together in one bag, the MRF’s next step is to separate these three materials into their respective streams.
From here, CLYNK can recycle these food-grade containers effectively, while minimizing waste.
CLYNK’s Positive Environment Impact
CLYNK has achieved significant environmental benefits since it began.
For instance, CLYNK-powered services helped Oregon achieve the United States’ highest redemption rate: a whopping 90 percent!
In addition, so far this year alone, “CLYNK-ing” has:
- Saved as much energy as is needed to power 258,090 light bulbs nonstop for a full year.
- Saved the emissions equivalent of driving a car 48,850,052 miles.
- Collected and diverted enough recyclable containers to fill 682 average homes to the top.
Personalized Environmental Impact Information for Users
As a CLYNK user, you’re recognized as an important contributor to the positive, measurable environmental impacts described above. If you’d like to track your own personal environmental impact through CLYNK, the platform’s unique database makes this possible, too.
Each time you drop a CLYNK bag of recyclable containers off at one of their drop-off points, you ensure the drop-off is recorded by scanning each bag. Scanning the bags provides a personalized view of your contributions to CLYNK’s overall recycling efforts, further incentivizing the recycling process by making it that much more fun and satisfying (in addition to getting paid to return your recyclables).
Ready to Get Started with CLYNK?
When you’re ready to join the CLYNK family of super recyclers, you can sign up for CLYNK online in just a few minutes. You’ll then be mailed CLYNK cards, bag tags, and a voucher for 10 CLYNK bags – all free of charge.
Or, if you’d rather sign up in person, find a CLYNK kiosk near you to sign up. Again, you’ll then be able to receive your CLYNK membership card, bag tags, and a free box of CLYNK bags.
Before getting started, if you have any questions about how CLYNK works, check our FAQ page to see if your question has already been addressed.