News | Sustainable Future Scenarios

April 4, 2011

Recycling information leader to aid members in making sustainable recycling and end-of-life decisions

(SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.) – Earth911, Inc., the nation’s leading consumer recycling information provider, recently joined The Sustainability Consortium, an independent group of scientists and engineers working to develop a global database of information on the lifecycle of products.

A major focus of the Consortium is to develop Sustainability Measurement and Reporting Standards (SMRS) that will define, for a particular product type, what product manufacturers should measure, how to measure it and how to report it to a common database.

Earth911’s primary goal is to establish reporting standards for the recyclability of products and their packaging, as well as provide key information to drive supply-chain and operational sustainability directives.

“Resource use and recycling represents one of the most significant and complex factors in life cycle assessment,” said Dr. Kevin Dooley, co-director of The Sustainability Consortium, a professor of Supply Chain Management in the W.P. Carey School of Business, and a Senior Sustainability Scientist in the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University. “We are very pleased to have Earth911 join the consortium as a resource for standardizing data and reporting on product recyclability.”

Earth911’s unique ability to provide reliable recyclability information rests on its innovative Recycling Directory, the largest and most accurate collection of recycling locations and programs in the country. Through Recycling Accessibility Reporting, Earth911 can identify consumer access to local recycling options for more than 200 individual products and materials.

“We are thrilled to align our business and capabilities with the latest thinking in sustainability,” said Earth911 President Corey Lambrecht. “We look for our recycling information to play a key role in supporting and enhancing the goals of the Consortium.”

The Sustainability Consortium was established as a means to tackle the challenge of sustainability in the face of unprecedented growth. As consumers become more sophisticated about their purchasing decisions, and as natural resources become more limited, the Consortium is dedicated to driving innovation so that consumers are empowered to consume in a more sustainable way.

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About the Sustainability Consortium

The Sustainability Consortium is an independent organization of diverse global participants that work collaboratively to build a scientific foundation that drives innovation to improve consumer product sustainability. It develops transparent methodologies, tools and strategies to drive a new generation of products and supply networks that address environmental, social and economic imperatives. The Sustainability Consortium advocates for a transparent process and system, not individuals or organizations. Arizona State University and the University of Arkansas jointly administer the Sustainability Consortium. Learn more at www.sustainabilityconsortium.org

About Earth911

Earth911 gathers, distributes and analyzes localized recycling information to assist manufacturers, organizations and consumers with product end-of-use solutions. Working to increase the recycling and disposal of consumer goods since 1991, Earth911’s services enhance and support companies’ responsible waste initiatives. Through its innovative Recycling Directory, Earth911's network of thousands of Local Experts, who contribute recycling information for hundreds of products, make the Directory the largest and most accurate in the nation, boasting more than 127,000 programs and locations that support over 740,000 recycling resources.