Cascade’s EcoCart™ is first of its kind made with residential plastics collected at curbside
(Washington, DC) – In recognition of its innovation and commitment to sustainability in the design and manufacture of new products, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) names Cascade Engineering as its 2021 Design for Recycling® (DFR) Award winner. The DFR Award is ISRI’s most prestigious award given annually to the most innovative contribution to products designed with recycling in mind. Cascade Engineering received the award specifically for the design of its EcoCart™, which contains up to 50 percent recycled content from used carts and curbside recyclables.
“As ISRI’s highest honor, the Design for Recycling Award® recognizes those who put recycling and sustainability at the forefront of their product design,” said ISRI President Robin Wiener. “Through the development of its EcoCart from the initial concept stages all the way to end of life, Cascade has worked to design with recycling and sustainability in mind, incorporating the design for recycling principles into every element. ISRI is proud to recognize Cascade Engineering as the 2021 Design for Recycling Award® recipient, and we look forward to their continued work towards a circular economy.”
For more than 20 years Cascade has incorporated the use of cart regrind in its manufacturing process. It uses a closed-loop system to pull often hard-to-recycle plastic out of residential recycling programs for use in its EcoCart™. The average life cycle of a residential cart is 10 years. Once carts have reached their end of life, the majority of the cart is able to be reground and used to create new carts.
“The EcoCart is a recent manifestation of our 40 year old core philosophy of triple bottom line and sustainability,” said President and CEO of Cascade Engineering Christina Keller. “We are extremely humbled to receive the Design for Recycling Award®, the previous winners are in an elite class and we are excited for Cascade Engineering to join that group.”
Cascade Engineering was presented with the award on April 22, during ISRI’s 2021 Convention and Exposition.
To be eligible for ISRI’s Design for Recycling® Award, a product must be designed/redesigned and manufactured to:
- Contain the maximum amount of materials that are recyclable;
- Be easily recycled through current or newly designed recycling processes and procedures;
- Be cost effective to recycle whereby the cost to recycle does not exceed the value of its recycled materials;
- Be free of hazardous materials that are not recyclable or impede the recycling process;
- Minimize the time and cost involved to recycle the product;
- Reduce the use of raw materials by including recycled materials and/or components; and
- Have a net gain in the overall recyclability of the product while reducing the overall negative impact on the environment.
ISRI began presenting the award more than 10 years ago. Previous winners include Lexmark, Nestlé Waters North America, Dell Inc., EcoStrate, Samsung, LG Electronics, Inc., Cascades Fine Papers Group, Hewlett-Packard, The Herman Miller Company, and Wind Simplicity.
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The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. (ISRI) is the "Voice of the Recycling Industry™." ISRI represents 1,300 companies in 20 chapters in the U.S. and more than 40 countries that process, broker, and consume scrap commodities, including metals, paper, plastics, glass, rubber, electronics, and textiles. With headquarters in Washington, DC, the Institute provides education, advocacy, safety and compliance training, and promotes public awareness of the vital role recycling plays in the U.S. economy, global trade, the environment and sustainable development. Generating nearly $110 billion annually in U.S. economic activity, the scrap recycling industry provides more than 500,000 Americans with good jobs.