Rubicon’s “Trick or Trash” Program Featured on Local Radio Stations Across the Country

Details of Rubicon’s “Trick or Trash” Halloween candy program for educators and their students, which was announced by the company two weeks ago, have been featured on local radio stations across the United States.

Here is audio and transcripts of just some of the remarks:

WTVN-AM (Columbus, OH)

“Halloween’s tomorrow [and] Americans approximately buy 600 million pounds of Halloween candy that costs about 2.5 billion dollars, but what about all those tiny wrappers from the fun-sized candy bars that end up in landfills… well, there are people working on that right now. Candy wrappers come in many different types, and machinery can’t sort them all out, Nick McCulloch at waste reduction company Rubicon says recycling is in part about economics—the value of the raw materials being collected needs to exceed the cost of collecting them. Candy wrappers make that math hard because they’re made from low-value plastics—you’d have to collect tens of thousands of wrappers to make those economics work. Still, technology does exist for recycling of wrappers, it’s just only in selected places. Rubicon has partnered with TerraCycle to launch a “Trick or Trash” program for Halloween this year. School teachers can request a recycling box, Halloween wrappers go in, [and] TerraCycle agrees to clean and recycle once the box gets full.”

WTIC-AM (Hartford-New Haven, CT)

“Candy bar [wrappers] will end up in landfills as they’re difficult to recycle. They’re not meant to be mixed in with our bottles and cans, as the recycling equipment can’t sort them—they’re too small. Also, candy wrappers come in many different sizes and types, [and] machinery can’t sort them all out. Nick McCulloch, who’s with a waste reduction company Rubicon, says recycling is in part about economics, the value of the raw materials you’re collecting needs to exceed the cost of collecting them.”

KOGO-AM (San Diego, CA)

“The recycling company TerraCycle and tech company Rubicon [have] partnered to launch what is called a “Trick or Trash” program for Halloween candy wrappers. Initially, school teachers and students could request a free recycling box for the holiday and once the box is full they can return it to the TerraCycle [facility] which cleans and breaks down the wrappers to be made into new items.”