plastics . The company has also invested $ 2 million in a new plastic washing line in Haiti that is producing cleaner , higher-quality recycled plastics locally for use in HP products .
Turning what used to be trash into a valuable commodity involves innovation of the kind that ’ s also happening at HP ’ s recycling plant in La Vergne , Tennessee , which processes spent ink cartridges . A machine there extracts cartridges from mail-in envelopes , then X-ray imaging is used to sort different cartridge types by chemistry . Other specialized machines separate out different components such as foil , foam , ink , and plastic so they can be grouped together for processing — an advance over earlier techniques that involved shredding cartridges whole .
While the plant in Tennessee recovers plastic from used HP products , the facility in Haiti processes plastic that otherwise would have ended up in the ocean . Both streams of plastic are shipped to a facility in Montreal run by the
Lavergne Group , where they become the recycled plastic now used in many Original HP inkjet cartridges and hardware products .
“ A year ago , we never thought we would be living under these conditions with COVID , and we should apply the same lessons we learned with the project in Haiti ,” says Ingrid Sinclair , global president of Sims Lifecycle Services , which manages the Tennessee plant for HP .
THE HUMAN CONNECTION While a circular economy by definition is concerned with objects and how they move through the world , no effort to reduce waste will succeed without a focus on people .
To better understand the issues on the ground in Haiti , Jambeck and her University of Georgia colleague Christine Cuomo , a professor of philosophy and women ’ s studies , interviewed the women collectors about their communities and the work that supports their families . “ Paying attention to those voices tells us not only what those workers need , but how their work fits into the larger social structure ,” Cuomo says .
HP donated funds to address several issues highlighted in the initial study findings , Miller says , including portable restrooms at the collection sites to provide safer and more sanitary solutions for collectors . The washing line investment in Haiti will create more than 1,000 new income opportunities locally , in addition to the more than 1,100 economic opportunities already created through HP ’ s supply chain investment in Haiti . And HP partnered with the nonprofit
organization WORK to build two new tech-enabled learning centers at collection sites . Many women are working to put their children through school , which in Haiti is not free , and local
children can now receive a quality education while their parents are nearby .
By creating collaborative , circular ecosystems that include recyclers , retailers , and plastics compounders , HP is helping build an infrastructure and demand for recycled plastics , Miller says , which ultimately can help ensure that even in a crisis like the pandemic we ’ re experiencing now , plastics are properly managed . The company is also reinventing its circular economy solutions by providing social impact benefits , he says , funding organizations like WORK that provide health and education support for collector families .
“ Innovation is not just about innovative ideas , it ’ s about innovative relationships ,” Cuomo says . “ If innovative relationships can be ethical relationships , then we have a new green economy that we can really get behind .”
COMPANIES MUST WORK BOTH TO REDUCE PLASTIC USE AND TO CREATE NEW SUPPLY CHAINS THAT DIVERT PLASTICS AWAY FROM THE ENVIRONMENT AND INTO NEW PRODUCTS .
60 million
SOURCE : HP
1.7 million
SOURCE : HP
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