Close the Loop is an environmentally and socially focused company dedicated to reducing waste by offering US-made recycled plastic fencing/posts, glass mulch, rubber landscaping products (mulch, horse footing, landscape timbers, pavers), made from recycled waste tires, plastic milk jugs, glass bottles and other materials. The purpose of Close the Loop is to support the founding values of the company which are to reduce waste and plastic pollution by building markets and demand for recycled products and support our local community by organizing free give and take days, and website building workshops for unemployed and underemployed.

1. We only have one planet with finite resources, in nature there is no waste.
Nature builds up & breaks down…every organism provides an
environmental service during and after its life ~ we can do the same with
humans to create a society in which there is also no waste.

2. We humans make products that do not break down, creating problems
throughout the world on land and sea for generations to come.

3. Plastics kill 1.5
million marine
animals each
year ~ litter
finds it way to
our oceans

4.  PA’s 1st
Benefit Corporation ~ a new legal entity type to create a positive
impact on society and the environment ~ forgos maximizing profit to
pursue public good, even when doing so cuts into revenue.
The start of a new economy in Pennsylvania, one based on a triple
bottom line: people, planet, purpose
And you CAN do well by doing good!
We offer:
Free Website Building Workshops, for unemployed and underemployed
to start their own small businesses, through a partnership with:
Give & Take Days…all items FREE!

5.  Give & Take Days, annually since 2009

6. To truly “close the loop”,
we need to do 3 things:
1) recycle our waste
2) make something new out of it
3) buy recycled

7. According to the EPA, the waste materials
generated in the US annually:
 Plastics - 30 million tons of plastic waste (nearly 60
billion pounds). Only 8% of plastic waste was recycled
in 2006
 Glass – 13.2 million tons of glass, about 22 % recycled
 Tires – 300 million tires in the US, 12 million in
Pennsylvania alone.

8. Plastic Waste

9.  How can you
make something
disposable that's
indestructible?
Photo:
Midway Journey

10. Plastic Recycling in the USA 2008
Source: 2008 United States National Post-Consumer Plastics
Bottle Recycling Report

11. …can be turned into Plastic Wood Fencing

12. Of the Recycled
Plastic Bottles Collected:
Source: 2008 United States National Post-Consumer Plastics
Bottle Recycling Report
Less than half of the PET (#1) collected goes to US manufacturers of recycled
products, the majority goes overseas to China and other countries.
In 2014, the Svendborg Maersk was struck by high wind and waves off the coast of
France and lost more than 500 containers, now at the bottom of the ocean.

13. Glass Waste

14. The Process of
Glass Recycling

15. …can be turned
into a sparkling
landscape glass
walkway or used in
a gas fire pit

16. This is where we came from…

17. This is the progress
we’ve made:

18. Waste tires can be turned
into playground surfacing,
horse footing, rubber
timbers & tiles…

19. Here’s the
Solution:

20.  It takes 525 gallon-sized milk jugs to
produce one 2-rail section of plastic post
& rail fencing.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 It takes 100 tires to make 1 ton (2,000
lbs) of rubber mulch ~ enough to cover
an average size home playground.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 It takes 4,000 beer bottles to make 1 ton
(2,000 lbs ~ about 1 cubic yard) of glass
mulch. It takes 100 beer bottles to make
1, 50 LB bag of glass mulch.

21. The Kardashev scale ~ Civilization’s ability to
harness energy (Nikolai Kardashev, 1964)
 Type I ~ harness all of a planet’s energy
(according to Dr. Michio Kaku, we are at .7)
 Type II ~ harness all of the energy from a star
 Type III ~ harness all of the energy from a galaxy
In your lifetime there are ~50 yrs of oil left for
gasoline, heating, plastics, tires, much more…

22. Question:
Will we be forced to mine landfills
for raw materials?
Video ~ America's National Wonder: Plastic!?

23. Areas of Green Opportunities:Areas of Green Opportunities:
1)1) Conserve, recycle, and efficiently use energyConserve, recycle, and efficiently use energy
and materialsand materials
2)2) Use renewable & alternative sources of energyUse renewable & alternative sources of energy
3)3) Purchase materials with recycled contentPurchase materials with recycled content
4)4) Reduce the amount of waste we throw away.Reduce the amount of waste we throw away.
5)5) Encourage Extended Producer ResponsibilityEncourage Extended Producer Responsibility
or enact legislation to require it.or enact legislation to require it.

24.  Design products with the end of life in mind…
cradle to cradle, not cradle to grave (landfills).
Focus for the future: waste = food (resources)Focus for the future: waste = food (resources)

25. Impacts of Buying
US Made Recycled Products
 Investing in American made products creates jobs
 Sets a good example & helps our economy
 Long-term economic and environmental benefits.
 What better raw material to use than our waste
materials transformed into a valuable resource ~
in nature there is no waste.

26. Leave less of a footprint on the earth…

27. Favorite quotes:
 Waste is really a design flaw. ~ Kate Krebs, NRC
 Plastics, like diamonds, are forever! - Capt. Charles Moore,
Algalita Marine Research Foundation
 If only they made a pesticide for litterbugs! ~ Monroe~ Monroe
County, PA Beautification OrganizationCounty, PA Beautification Organization
 Be the change you wish to see in the world. ~
Mahatma Gandhi

28. www.closetheloop.com
rita.lacey@closetheloop.com
570.629.8414
Thank you!
Rita Lacey