America’s future is in great hands, if the ideas for improving recycling rates showcased during the Net Impact Challenge are any indication.

A dozen MBA candidates and undergrads from four prestigious schools presented a whole range of impressive ideas for getting their campus communities involved in recapturing and recycling soda cans, water bottles and other single use beverage containers. This after 35 teams from all over the country submitted applications. Why does that matter? The cost of recapturing and recycling most used containers to make new containers is much cheaper than making virgin materials, it saves energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions that are causing global warming. If our country finally wakes up and moves toward more sustainable lifestyles, the Net Impact Challenge teams are prime examples of the type of minds who will have to lead the charge. If we can’t get young, environmentally aware college students to recycle, it won’t take hold in the rest of the country.

Alex McIntosh, director of sustainability for Nestle Waters North America, teed up the challenge in clear language to the Net Impact teams. He told them that the company’s re-source brand water contains 25% recycled PET in its bottle which matches the average US PET beverage recycling rate today. Nestle Waters believes that recycling rate is too low, and has worked with stakeholders to set a 60% by 2018 recycling goal for ALL PET PLASTIC - not just its own, but other bottles as well. Reaching the 60% goal will require NWNA to partner with innovative companies such as Waste Management/GreenOpolis, with other beverage companies, and with smart students to design better campus recycling programs.


Alex McIntosh of Nestle Waters welcomes the teams with Paul Ligon, managing director of GreenOps looking on (left)

“Even if we recycled all of our (re-source) bottles today, we wouldn’t hit our 60% goal for all PET plastic,” McIntosh said. "But re-source is a smart ste forward, looking to solve the front end (better manufacturing materials) and the back end (more recycling). A lot of great ideas came from the teams from MIT, Cornell, Northwestern and the University of Texas. In fact, the judges were so impressed that they named not one, but two winners. The MBA candidate team from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business and the undergraduate team from the University of Texas.

The Northwestern team estimated that its program would increase recycling rates by 50% within three years and achieve 100% recycling rates for covered materials within seven years using GreenOps Tracking Stations. All of this on a $5,000 marketing budget and the business would break into the black after collecting and selling 25,000 containers per year.


Kate Jackson (right in black), Allen Wo and Keith Schuricht of the Northwestern team wait to tell their story

In addition, the Wildcat crew estimated that recycling saves about six-and-a-half cents (.0648) per PET bottle in energy and material costs. Marketing tactics include training student representatives to act as peer-to-peer marketers for the GreenOps Tracking Stations that will be used to recapture containers. A Facebook page, point-of-sale recycling displays in areas that sell beverages, dorm recycling competitions and an I-Phone app to indicate GreenOps Tracking Station locations on campus are also in the plan.

The University of Texas team started out with a curious statement, admitting that existing beverage contracts and university rules were huge barriers to introducing re-source and the GreenOps Tracking Stations to the Longhorn campus. But the squad used creative thinking to develop a plan to use a non-profit campus store near campus as the launching pad for their business. The store sells all sorts of items highly sought by colleges students and donates revenue from the thousands of peoples who visit each day to student-based organizations on campus.


The University of Texas team pitches is plan during the Net Impact Conference at Cornell University

The main cog in the Texas marketing plan is to recruit student organizations to promote re-source and the use of GreenOps Tracking Stations in exchange for a percentage of the profits. Team Longhorn estimated that the GreenOps Tracking Stations would greatly reduce contamination levels in its recycle streams, allowing its business to funnel $8,000 per year to any of 60 participating student organizations.

Even though her team from Cornell University didn’t win, MBA candidate Amber Steinhilber summed up the positive tone of the Net Impact Challenge by stressing that her generation is ready to lead the charge toward a more sustainable lifestyle. “I grew up around the importance of reduce, reuse, recycle and it has stuck with me,” she explained. “The idea that recycled materials can cost less than virgin materials resonates with MBA students, because it makes economic and business sense. We still need to get some economies of scale, but I think we can get there and our generation wants to get there.”

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