Congratulations to ALL of our inaugural Race for Zero Waste participants for going above and beyond!

Green Purpose’s inaugural Race for Zero Waste competition has come to a close on this Earth Day, April 22, 2015. Since last November, five of the world’s largest companies have participated in the elite competition for the opportunity to earn the title of the most successful recycling program. Participants consist of Kraft Foods, Mass Transit District (MTD), Plastipak Packaging, Rockwell Automation, and Silgan White Cap. We are excited to announce that Kraft Foods and Rockwell Automation have both tied to come in first place as the grand prize winner.

Kraft Foods and Rockwell Automation will receive the prestigious Zero Waste Seal of Excellence, an honor that recognizes each company’s outstanding efforts to eliminate the concept of waste in their facilities. They will also be inducted into the Race for Zero Waste Hall of Fame, showcasing each company’s best recycling practices for other companies and future competitors to take note. Lastly, liaisons from each company will join our board of judges, along with UFC bantamweight fighter Raphael Assuncāo, in the second Race for Zero Waste competition, which also kicks off today on Earth Day.

Since MTD, Plastipak Packaging and Silgan White Cap also did exceptionally well in the inaugural Race for Zero Waste, they have been awarded additional Seal of Excellence awards that highlight different areas of accomplishment based on where each of them have most excelled. MTD has received the Employee Participation Seal of Excellence, Plastipak Packaging has received the Collection Systems and Processes Seal of Excellence, and Silgan White Cap has received the Associate Education Seal of Excellence.

Ultimately, the biggest winner of all is our community and the planet. One of the largest impacts that has stemmed from the esteemed Race for Zero Waste is the amount of material that has been diverted cumulatively over the last five months. Between the five participating companies, over 11 million pounds of material have been diverted from Illinois landfills. This amount is the equivalent of saving approximately 93.5 thousand trees, 38.5 million gallons of water and 2 million gallons of oil.

As the inaugural Race for Zero Waste competition comes to an end, Green Purpose will also kick off the second installment of the competition today on Earth Day. Participants in the second Race for Zero Waste competition include Color Communications Inc. (CCI), DART Container, Horizon Hobby, and Libman Company. The second Race will run from Earth Day, April 22, 2015 until America Recycles Day, November 15, 2015.

We invite all people to help cheer on these new businesses to see if they have what it takes to become the next winner!