Last August, we reported on an initiative between Neumann Gruppe USA and GrainPro to help curb the number of green coffee liner bags that made it to landfills. Conservative estimates put around 12 million of such bags as the annual usage rate in America alone. And on Earth Day, Neumann Gruppe USA announced how it was going thus far. The initiative has collected of 11 tons of liner bags to date, and they are only getting started.
The program is pretty simple. Roasting companies that want to take part simply mail in any clean, empty GrainPro, TranSafeliners, and any “other liners used in the chemical-free preservation of premium coffee beans” to either the Keasbey, NJ or Alameda, CA locations for Continental Terminals, a warehousing company brought on to serve as the nexus point of the recycling efforts.
Those bags, which can’t be recycled by traditional means, get broken down into pellets that then are able to be used to create other plastic products. Per the press release, not only was this done to 22,000 pounds worth (or 40 550-pound bales) of liner bags in the short eight months since the program was announced, but all 40 bales were accepted by Revolution and be used to make new products; a 100% success rate far exceeds the average 5% success rate of plastics put in recycling bins in America that actually get reused.
Neumann Gruppe USA and GrainPro are working to expand the program and make it even easier to take part in. For instance, those who live near the Keasbey and Alameda terminals can simply drop their bags off in person. Or, if you received deliveries from Continental Terminals, they have made it such that you can return the bags when you receive a delivery from them. NG USA and GrainPro are also working to establish more hubs nationwide for easier drop off as well as extending the program into Europe through collaboration with Neumann Gruppe and InterAmerican Europe.
The program is still just getting started and there’s still time to get involved. To learn more about how you can send in any liner bags to be recycled, visit GrainPro’s official website.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
