ROSWELL, Ga., April 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/
-- Kimberly-Clark Professional, the US Composting Council
(USCC) and Keep America Beautiful have introduced a free Guide to
Workplace Composting to help organizations develop workplace
composting programs that support sustainability, waste reduction
and zero waste initiatives.
The guide provides step-by-step instructions and resources to
help office buildings, manufacturing facilities, hotels, hospitals,
universities and other workplaces divert organic matter – such as
food scraps, used paper towels, coffee grounds and coffee filters –
from landfills through composting. Composting is a landfill-free
way of using decomposed organic materials to fertilize and
condition soil. Compost also can reduce erosion, improve drought
tolerance and help reduce the generation of greenhouse gases.
"Composting closes the loop," said Frank
Franciosi, executive director of the US Composting Council.
"It increases organic matter in the soil to grow plants, trees and
crops. It's a holistic approach that puts carbon back where it came
from."
Food waste is the single largest component of disposed municipal
solid waste and accounts for a significant portion of U.S. methane
emissions, and landfills are the third largest source of methane in
the United States.
In September 2015, the United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) announced the country's first-ever national
food waste reduction goal, calling for a 50 percent reduction by
2030. A number of states, including California, Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut, have initiated bans on landfill
disposal of food waste from large commercial food waste
generators.
A guide for the workplace
Kimberly-Clark Professional
decided to create a workplace composting guide for customers who
wanted to compost its paper towels, but needed help getting
started.
"We're very proud to have partnered with the US Composting
Council and Keep America Beautiful to address some of the
challenges that workplaces face in creating composting programs,"
said Ben Jarrett, North America sustainability leader,
Kimberly-Clark Professional. "It's not hard to do. It just takes
some time and planning."
For Keep America Beautiful, which has a Recycling@Work
initiative to support workplace efforts to reduce waste and improve
recycling, the collaboration resulted in "a great resource for
those workplaces that are ready to add organics to their recycling
programs," said Brenda Pulley, the
organization's senior vice president for recycling.
"Composting is the natural, next step for implementing a
'reduce, reuse, recycle' strategy to give our garbage another life.
We want to make it easy for workplaces to implement an effective
program, which is why it's so important to support them with the
right tools and resources," added Pulley.
100 percent compostable towels
Every Kimberly-Clark
Professional paper towel can be diverted from landfill via
composting. Before developing the guide, Kimberly-Clark
Professional conducted a composting test of its Kleenex and Scott
brand towels at its Roswell, Ga.,
headquarters. During an initial four-week period, it diverted 2,500
pounds of paper towel waste from 50 restrooms. The compost passed
the US Composting Council Seal of Testing Assurance Program tests,
indicating that it was suitable for use.
"Our success demonstrates that towel composting programs can be
implemented at customer locations, enabling us to provide another
solution to improve overall sustainability and reduce the amount of
waste sent to landfill," Jarrett said.
To obtain a copy of "A Guide to Workplace Composting," visit
http://www.kcprofessional.com/media/225975188/A_Guide_to_Workplace_Composting.pdf.
Kimberly-Clark Professional has a long history of innovation and
environmental leadership, and has been recognized by leading
environmental non-governmental organizations for its efforts. In
2015, it became the first major manufacturer in North America to produce bath tissue and towel
products incorporating domestically sourced non-wood fiber. It also
was the first away-from-home towel and tissue products company in
North America to obtain Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for a broad range of towel
and tissue products, and currently holds the largest portfolio of
FSC-certified towel and tissue products in North America. To learn more about
Kimberly-Clark's global sustainability efforts, visit
http://sustainabilityreport2022.kimberly-clark.com/.
About the US Composting Council
Established in 1990,
the US Composting Council (USCC) is the only national organization
in the United States dedicated to
the development, expansion and promotion of the composting
industry. The USCC achieves this mission by encouraging, supporting
and performing compost related research, promoting best management
practices, establishing standards, educating professionals and the
public about the benefits of composting and compost utilization,
enhancing compost product quality, and developing training
materials for composters and markets for compost products. USCC
members include compost producers, marketers, equipment
manufacturers, product suppliers, academic institutions, public
agencies, nonprofit groups and consulting/engineering firms. The
USCC is a non-profit 501(c) (6) organization that also directs the
Composting Council Research and Education Foundation (CCREF), a
501(c) (3) charitable foundation, which administers public and
private research and education activities. For more information,
visit www.compostingcouncil.org.
About Keep America Beautiful
At Keep America
Beautiful, we want to ensure that beauty is our lasting signature.
A leading national nonprofit, Keep America Beautiful inspires and
educates people to take action every day to improve and beautify
their community environment. We envision a country where every
community is a clean, green, and beautiful place to live.
Established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful provides the expertise,
programs and resources to help people end littering, improve
recycling, and beautify America's communities. The organization is
driven by the work and passion of more than 600 community-based
Keep America Beautiful affiliates, millions of volunteers, and the
support of corporate partners, municipalities, elected officials,
and individuals. To learn how you can donate or take action, visit
kab.org. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, like us on Facebook,
or view us on YouTube.
About Kimberly-Clark Professional
Kimberly-Clark
Professional partners with businesses to create Exceptional
Workplaces, helping to make them healthier, safer and more
productive. Key brands in this segment include: Kleenex,
Scott, WypAll, Kimtech and Jackson Safety. Kimberly-Clark
Professional, located in Roswell,
Georgia, is one of three Kimberly-Clark business sectors. To
see how Kimberly-Clark Professional is helping people around the
world to work better, please visit www.kcprofessional.com.
About Kimberly-Clark
Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and
its well-known global brands are an indispensable part of life for
people in more than 175 countries. Every day, nearly a quarter of
the world's population trust Kimberly-Clark's brands and the
solutions they provide to enhance their health, hygiene and
well-being. With brands such as Kleenex, Scott, Huggies, Pull-Ups,
Kotex and Depend, Kimberly-Clark holds No. 1 or No. 2 share
positions in 80 countries. To keep up with the latest news and to
learn more about the Company's 144-year history of innovation,
visit www.kimberly-clark.com or follow us on
Facebook or Twitter.
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