A while back I wrote about bottled water waste. The point was made by one commenter that Brita filters could not be recycled unlike plastic water bottles. I agreed this was a negative, but stated that many water bottles are not recycled, they are tossed in the garbage.

Last week I was excited to learn about Brita’s new recycling program for their filters beginning in January 2009.

Preserve will recycle 100 percent of each Brita plastic pitcher filter casing collected. The No. 5 polypropylene plastic from the casing will be used by Preserve in their line of products. The filter ingredients – activated carbon for creating great-tasting water and additional ion-exchange resin that reduces lead, mercury, copper, cadmium and zinc that might be found in tap water – will be regenerated for alternative use or converted into energy.

“The Brita filter recycling program gives Brita pitcher filters new life as Preserve products,” stated John Lively, director of environment and material science for Preserve. “We calculated that the benefits of keeping Brita filters out of landfills outweigh the impact of shipping them for recycling through this program.”

Drop Off or Mail Options for Recycling

Consumers can drop off their used, dry Brita pitcher filters at participating Whole Foods Market stores or mail them directly to Preserve. Full details and instructions on both options, including a complete list of Gimme 5 stores, will be available at www.brita.com in early January 2009.

·          Drop off: Through the Preserve Gimme 5 program, select Whole Foods Market stores will begin collecting No. 5 plastics and used Brita pitcher filters.

·          Mail in: Consumers who wish to mail in used Brita pitcher filters are encouraged to package the filter in a small, used box and send it via ground shipping. The box will also be recycled by Preserve.

Kudos to Brita for developing a program to recycle their filters. The closest Whole Foods is about 40 minutes away, but I plan to save my filters until I am in the neighborhood.

Speaking of recycling, did you know that IKEA has recycling bins in the front of their stores? They recycle  batteries and CFL light bulbs, which should not be thrown away. Another reason to love IKEA!