At most schools, getting an 87 will get you a solid B, maybe even a B+.
But NPE2018 is looking to get on the dean's list this time around with its waste diversion and recycling efforts at the Orange County Convention Center.
This year's version of the massive plastics industry trade show is looking to divert 100 percent of the waste stream from landfill disposal. That compares to the 87 percent figure posted the last time thousands of plastics people descended on the convention center for NPE2015.
There's one particular company that's doing a lot of the heavy lifting at this show, as Commercial Plastics Recycling Inc. of Tampa is once again in charge of recycling plastics products and scrap from the show floor.
CPR expects to recover at least 400,000 pounds of material this time around, maybe even more.
But the efforts are not limited to CPR, said Kim Holmes, vice president of sustainability for the Plastics Industry Association, which runs the triennial exposition.
"I think we had a very high recovery rate last [time], and I think we're always striving for improvement. The way that the Orange County Convention Center is managing its materials, sending residuals to energy recovery, it gave us the opportunity to shoot for 100 percent recovery rate," she said during the show.
CPR is working with Waste Connections Inc., the national solid waste and recycling management company that has the contract to handle the convention center, to help handle certain plastics on their behalf.
Paul Benvenuti of CPR said working with Waste Connections, instead of merely alongside of the company, will help in better coordination and higher recovery rates than three years ago.
Even recovering 87 percent, like what happened in 2015, was "pretty impressive" for "a show of this scale," Holmes said.
"So not only are we pushing our rates of recycling, mechanical recycling and diversion, but being able to fill that gap by putting the rest of those materials to higher and better use than landfill," Holmes said, helps divert more material from landfill disposal.
Unsold food and other items that cannot be donated to charities will instead go to a facility in Orlando to undergo anaerobic digestion to create methane that will be used to create energy.
"The Orange County Convention Center has been a very good partner. They understand what our environmental goals are for this event, and they have stepped up and been a solution provider to help us meet those goals," Holmes said.
Trade group CEO Bill Carteaux said in a statement: "Plastics are a valuable resource that should always be recovered for their highest and best use. At NPE2018, we're practicing what we preach, putting sustainability and recycling at the center of the event."