{"id":35017,"date":"2022-07-21T05:00:21","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T10:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=35017"},"modified":"2022-07-22T09:29:04","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T14:29:04","slug":"sustaining-sustainability-the-waste-problem-in-oklahomas-cannabis-industry-and-the-innovators-at-the-helm-of-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2022\/07\/21\/sustaining-sustainability-the-waste-problem-in-oklahomas-cannabis-industry-and-the-innovators-at-the-helm-of-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustaining sustainability: The waste problem in Oklahoma\u2019s cannabis industry and the innovators at the helm of change"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"width: 100%; height: 200px; margin-bottom: 20px; border-radius: 6px; overflow: hidden;\"><iframe style=\"width: 100%; height: 200px;\" src=\"https:\/\/player.captivate.fm\/episode\/57ca7168-82da-4738-bbb7-f60f2c7e6b53\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 100%; height: 200px; margin-bottom: 20px; border-radius: 6px; overflow: hidden;\"><iframe style=\"width: 100%; height: 200px;\" src=\"https:\/\/player.captivate.fm\/episode\/4fb92cfb-7661-46c7-85b3-976ca5b6279b\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At Primetime Buds dispensary in Tahlequah, medical cannabis patients used to turn in their spent, empty containers for a discount on their next purchase. A company would periodically pick up the boxes of used plastic pop-tops and haul them off to be recycled.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But when the pickup company shut down, those boxes began to stack up.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Blaine Mooney manages the dispensary, and he said the limited storage space was overrun with boxes upon boxes of used containers. Mooney said they sold about a thousand new pop-tops every week, and much of that would return to the store.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_35022\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignright\" style=\"max-width: 672px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-35022\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9474-672x448.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9474-672x448.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9474-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9474-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9474-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9474-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9474-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9474-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9474-1620x1080.jpg 1620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9474.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Beth Wallis \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blaine Mooney stands outside of Primetime Buds in Tahlequah. Mooney says even though it&#8217;s stopped recycling containers, the dispensary still participates in community events like clothing drives.<\/p>\n<\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But eventually, he said they had to stop taking them back. The used containers were occupying so much space, they didn\u2019t have room to stock new ones.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe couldn\u2019t even buy enough [new containers] because of the storage,\u201d Mooney said. \u201cIt was just a big old circle.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Oklahoma\u2019s medical marijuana scene growing rapidly, industry professionals and cannabis patients are feeling the weight of packaging waste. But a lack of recycling infrastructure and an unwillingness to raise prices for sustainable packaging have left Oklahoma unprepared to handle the growing mountains of plastic packing the state\u2019s landfills.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Filling up the landfills<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The plastic container output at Primetime Buds alone was around 4,000-5,000 pop-tops every month. Oklahoma has more than 2,300 dispensaries, and nearly 10% of the state\u2019s population carries a medical marijuana card. It\u2019s a lot of waste, and recycling it can get complicated.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, there are <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.acplasticsinc.com\/informationcenter\/r\/7-different-types-of-plastic-and-how-they-are-used\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">seven common types of plastic<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Plastic pop-tops \u2014 also called drams \u2014 are usually made from No. 5 plastic, but can also be made from other plastics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But not all recycling centers take every kind of plastic. For example, the Metropolitan Environmental Trust (the MET) is a nonprofit that oversees <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/metrecycle.com\/centers\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">11 Tulsa-area recycling centers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and none of them take No. 5 plastics. In Recycle This Tulsa\u2019s full list of area recycling centers, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.recyclethistulsa.com\/listing\/mr-murph\/#plastics\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">only one takes No. 5<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_35023\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 672px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-35023\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9468-672x448.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9468-672x448.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9468-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9468-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9468-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9468-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9468-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9468-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9468-1620x1080.jpg 1620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9468.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Beth Wallis \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pre-roll pop-top tubes are on display at Primetime Buds in Tahlequah. Pre-roll tubes are the only kinds of pop-tops the dispensary still sells.<\/p>\n<\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But pop-tops aren\u2019t the only waste coming out of the burgeoning industry. Cannabis is also packaged in glass jars and flexible packaging bags. These bags \u2014 the most well known being Mylar bags made by DuPont \u2014 are made by combining No. 1 plastic with aluminum foil. While both of these materials can be recycled on their own, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/citizensustainable.com\/mylar-bags\/#:~:text=Mylar%20bags%20are%20not%20recyclable,be%20separated%20from%20each%20other.\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">few centers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have the capability to separate them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the waste isn\u2019t just coming from the consumer side of the industry \u2014 it\u2019s also in manufacturing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gerald Whalen is the CEO of\u00a0<a class=\"c-link\" tabindex=\"-1\" href=\"http:\/\/7dayweek.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-stringify-link=\"http:\/\/7DayWeek.com\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\" data-remove-tab-index=\"true\">7DayWeek.com<\/a>\u00a0and Whalen Industries. He specializes in packaging and frequently works with the cannabis industry. For one, most Mylar brand bags are made outside of the U.S., which means they have to be shipped from overseas. 2-3% of the world\u2019s carbon emissions <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imo.org\/en\/OurWork\/Environment\/Pages\/GHG-Emissions.aspx\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">come from overseas shipping<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another issue with Mylar is printing. Instead of water-based eco solvent ink, Mylar bags are printed with oil-based solvent ink. Whalen said printing with this ink is hazardous \u2014 so much so that fumes have to be piped out of the printing building.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once in 2005, he was working with solvent ink without realizing a vent had been closed. Soon, his corneas were burned from the fumes. Another time, printing fumes were being piped out of a window, directly in front of a bush. He said within 24 hours, the bush was dead.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThat is how dangerous that is,\u201d Whalen said. \u201cIt has to slightly burn into the material so that it stays on.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.oklegislature.gov\/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=hb3019&Session=2200\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">constant<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oklegislature.gov\/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=hb4287&Session=2200\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">flurry<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us\/cf_pdf\/2021-22%20FLR\/HFLR\/HB4288%20HFLR.PDF\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us\/cf_pdf\/2021-22%20ENGR\/SB\/SB1219%20ENGR.PDF\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">legislative<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/oklahoma.gov\/content\/dam\/ok\/en\/omma\/docs\/rules\/HB2646%20Gov%20Signed.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">attempts<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to change packaging regulations also contributes to the industry\u2019s waste. Whalen said he\u2019s had clients print $15,000 worth of labels only to be confronted with a statutory packaging change that renders the new labels useless.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cA lot of people don\u2019t realize that you have to take into consideration the ink that was used, the material that was used, and then the laminate that goes on top of it that was used. There is just a lot more that goes into this than people know,\u201d Whalen said. \u201cAnd this stuff has a direct impact on our environment, especially when you\u2019re just having 15,000, 10,000, 20,000 printed, and then they just go right in the trash.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whalen said it\u2019s not shocking anymore to see $2000-5000 worth of labels thrown in the trash after being made unusable by new laws. The trickle of new packaging and labeling regulations has also spooked clients into buying smaller quantities, afraid they\u2019ll waste money on bulk purchases. This, Whalen said, is also a big problem.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, each printing session yields excess material because of how much it takes to initially load into a printer. Whalen said if it takes three feet of material to load the printer and leaves about two feet at the end where it cuts off, there\u2019s about five feet of leftover material.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But that same amount of excess happens regardless of the number of labels printed, whether it\u2019s 10,000 or 250. Clients concerned about future regulatory changes will often make several orders of fewer labels at a time, leading to more excess material than if a client bought a bulk order at once.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe could do this [print in large quantities] if we knew that this [set of regulations] would be the case for five years or ten years,\u201d Whalen said. \u201cBut we can\u2019t do it right now because we\u2019re worried.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But traditional plastics and flexible packaging, while cheaper, aren\u2019t the only ways to contain cannabis. Industry innovators are taking steps to rewrite the future of cannabis waste.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_35024\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 672px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-35024 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9449-672x448.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9449-672x448.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9449-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9449-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9449-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9449-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9449-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9449-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9449-1620x1080.jpg 1620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9449.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Beth Wallis \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Plastic containers of THC gummies line display cases at Primetime Buds in Tahlequah.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><b>Affording innovative alternatives<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sharina Perry is the founder and inventor of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/utopiaplastix.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Utopia Plastix<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a company that specializes in a plant-based alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastics. Utopia Plastix makes the plant resin, and manufacturers can use it in their existing petroleum applications without modifying their equipment. The material is recyclable, degradable and compostable.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Utopia Plastix works with farmers who grow USDA-approved, low maintenance crops that absorb carbon at four to five times the rate of trees. Perry said Utopia Plastix doesn\u2019t exist to \u201cbeat up on plastics,\u201d but rather to offer an alternative to products with high environmental impacts.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHow can we create a product that when it\u2019s recycled, yes, it can be made into something else? But if it does end up in our landfill, that [it] is adding a benefit to the environment rather than actually just extracting [from] it?\u201d Perry said. \u201cAnd so that\u2019s really the intentionality of what we\u2019re doing with Utopia, is to look at how we use and consume our natural resources, that we are focused on truly, truly doing it in a holistic way to address the issue.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But dispensaries like Primetime Buds have been hesitant to adopt sustainable packaging, mainly due to the price. Dispensaries are in a race to the bottom with prices, created by a highly competitive market averse to increasing prices on consumers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To put into perspective, California has 10 times the population of Oklahoma and has had medical marijuana available since 1996 \u2014 and yet, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/lifestyle\/story\/2022-04-20\/green-room-california-oklahoma-green-rush-weed-la#:~:text=Oklahoma%20has%202%2C301%20dispensaries%20and%20California%20has%20913.\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">California has around 900 dispensaries to Oklahoma\u2019s 2,300<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. With such a saturated market, dispensaries around the state are constantly knocking down prices just to compete.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI get asked maybe three or four times a day, like how bad is the market?\u201d Blaine said. \u201cAnd I think it\u2019s horrible, I won\u2019t even lie. I mean, sometimes it\u2019s nice because you get good prices on good stuff. But then again, I mean, right down the road, they\u2019re probably selling it a little bit cheaper. So they just lower it, and the market\u2019s gotten so destroyed.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mooney said he\u2019d like to switch to alternative, eco-friendly packaging, but as of right now, the market is just too tight.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perry acknowledged the squeeze on Oklahoma businesses, but also pointed to a changing global market that\u2019s opening itself up to more sustainable initiatives. She said her company didn\u2019t create the demand \u2014 the demand for eco-friendly alternatives was already here.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere has to be some shift in that mindset. I think because Oklahoma has so many players in the cannabis space, that competition exists, and so they are having to drive down their pricing to stay afloat,\u201d Perry said. \u201cSo honestly, if you\u2019re driven strictly by cost, that\u2019s where we\u2019re probably not an ideal fit for it. Because our motto is centrally focused around sustainability.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She said her product is two to three times more expensive than traditional petroleum-based resins. She gave the example of paper straws \u2014 plastic straws cost about half of a cent, and paper straws cost five to six times that. And even though \u201cpeople don\u2019t care so much for paper straws,\u201d she said companies have recognized the importance of investing in sustainability and consumers have bought in.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_35025\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 672px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-35025\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9460-672x448.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9460-672x448.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9460-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9460-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9460-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9460-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9460-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9460-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9460-1620x1080.jpg 1620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9460.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Beth Wallis \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cardboard pre-roll tubes sit in a case at Primetime Buds.<\/p>\n<\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ron Basak-Smith, the co-founder and CEO of Sana Packaging, agrees. Sana is a Colorado-based company that works with manufacturers using materials like plant-based hemp plastic and reclaimed ocean plastic to create recyclable, reusable or compostable cannabis packaging. Even with Oklahoma\u2019s competitive market, he said he still has clients in Oklahoma.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI\u2019m seeing probably well over $100,000 in packaging purchased that\u2019s gone to the state of Oklahoma,\u201d Basak-Smith said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Basak-Smith recognized the stresses of a demanding market, especially in less affluent areas around the state. He said it points to a larger corporate system of shirking environmental responsibilities in favor of low prices and high profits.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn price sensitive rural areas, sustainability isn\u2019t the concern,\u201d Basak-Smith said. \u201cI think it\u2019s always been an elitist conversation sometimes to demand that everyone\u2019s going to be able to afford these things until those who are profiting the most off of it make it a priority.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If consumers care, he thinks businesses will be rewarded for going sustainable. But ultimately, he said it comes down to a moral question:\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cShould business owners be responsible for the waste that they\u2019re putting into the world? And should they do whatever they can to reduce it?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Creating a network in uncharted territory<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One Oklahoman is taking it on herself to chip away at the mountains of packaging waste left by the booming industry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Taylor Davis, a 28-year-old Edmond resident, drives hundreds of miles every week to pick up tubs full of pop-top drams, glass jars, tiny cardboard boxes and Mylar bags from dispensaries around the state. Since February, she\u2019s held these recycling drives at dispensaries all over Oklahoma, which she advertises on her Instagram, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/recycleyourempties\/?hl=en\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">@RecycleYourEmpties<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. She said everywhere she goes, she meets people who just can\u2019t bring themselves to toss piles of packaging into a landfill.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_35026\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 672px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-35026\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9522-672x448.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9522-672x448.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9522-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9522-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9522-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9522-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9522-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9522-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9522-1620x1080.jpg 1620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_9522.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Beth Wallis \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Taylor Davis holds up a pop-top dram, showing its plastic number. Most drams are made from No. 5 plastic.<\/p>\n<\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cEveryone in the state has been saving them under their bed, you know, just wondering what to do with them. I\u2019ve had people bring me duffle bags, backpacks, big, like treasure chest buckets,\u201d Davis said. \u201cAll the time, people are like, \u2018What can I do with my empty containers? Like, I just have this massive amount in my office at my house, what can I do with them?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s where Davis steps in. She takes the tubs home to her garage, sits down in front of an episode of Real Housewives, pulls on some gloves and gets to work scrubbing the containers with isopropyl alcohol and peeling off stickers. From there, she drives the cleaned containers to a recycling center.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But starting a cannabis-specific recycling network without any existing infrastructure has its issues: for one, some packaging doesn\u2019t have a straightforward recycling solution, such as Mylar bags or vape cartridges. Davis has a tub full of problematic packaging that she doesn\u2019t know what to do with.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The laws around what Davis is doing are murky too \u2014 she said she\u2019s tried to get a definitive answer from authorities that what she\u2019s doing is in fact legal, but they haven\u2019t responded.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Authorities do seem to be aware of her program. When researching for this story, it was an Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority official who referred StateImpact to Davis\u2019 Instagram.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the work can be draining. Davis \u2014 who works full time for a cannabis processor and teaches yoga classes on the side \u2014 took on the recycling network by herself, with occasional help from friends. She spends hundreds of dollars on gas every week. She said she may need to monetize it someday to keep it financially sustainable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One company out of Colorado did just that.<\/span><\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenforgreen.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Green for Green<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a company that provides receptacles to about 150 subscribing dispensaries, which Green for Green periodically picks up. It cleans the containers and either sells them back to the network for reuse or takes them to processors to turn into something new. The subscription starts at about $40 a month.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shawn Naughton, an account manager at Green for Green, said his company has been able to divert close to 25 tons of cannabis packaging waste from Colorado landfills so far.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe kind of just saw that there was a specific need, and there was a lot of waste occurring, and a lot of this plastic or metal or glass was just ending up inevitably in Colorado landfills,\u201d Naughton said. \u201cWhich is really the last place that anyone who\u2019s consuming cannabis really wanted their packaging [to go], to have a negative environmental impact.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like Davis, Green for Green also ran into uncharted regulatory territory. Naughton said the company had to pioneer a new statutory landscape.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe had to\u2026 kind of push the envelope to make [authorities] make laws regarding this. And now they absolutely have,\u201d Naughton said. \u201cBut it was kind of like there was absolutely no avenue or pathway or any guidance from [Colorado\u2019s Marijuana Enforcement Division] on how to do this or what it looks like. So we really had to create it from the ground up completely.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Davis hasn\u2019t hit 25 tons yet, but she\u2019s closing in on a half-ton of diverted packaging waste since she started five months ago. She said she\u2019s going to take a break for a couple of months to regroup and figure out the best way to run her recycling network.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_35027\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignright\" style=\"max-width: 448px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-35027\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/jOUzM-448x672.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"448\" height=\"672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/jOUzM-448x672.jpeg 448w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/jOUzM-1280x1920.jpeg 1280w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/jOUzM-768x1152.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/jOUzM-1024x1536.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/jOUzM-1365x2048.jpeg 1365w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/jOUzM-100x150.jpeg 100w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/jOUzM-200x300.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/jOUzM-620x930.jpeg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/jOUzM-720x1080.jpeg 720w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/07\/jOUzM-scaled.jpeg 1706w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 448px) 100vw, 448px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Beth Wallis \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Taylor Davis looks at two hours&#8217; worth of container collecting. Davis left the tubs at the Great Barrier Reefer Dispensary in Bethany for more people to leave their empty containers throughout the week.<\/p>\n<\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And there are more changes on the horizon for Oklahoma\u2019s weed industry that beg more questions: If a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Oklahoma_State_Question_820,_Marijuana_Legalization_Initiative_(2022)\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">state question<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> makes its way to November\u2019s ballot, how will Oklahoma be able to handle the packaging waste that would arise if recreational cannabis use was legalized? Would out-of-state cannabis tourists know how or where to recycle? With the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nondoc.com\/2022\/03\/05\/seed-to-sale-a-go-but-opportunities-to-improve-it-abound\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">implementation of the new Metrc system<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, can those RFID tags <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rand.org\/pubs\/technical_reports\/TR1283.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">be recycled at all<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">?<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oklahoma\u2019s cannabis industry \u2014 occasionally called a \u201cWild West of Weed\u201d \u2014 is still wrought with growing pains, and that extends to the state\u2019s management of its packaging waste. But as long as Oklahoma lacks accessible infrastructure to divert used containers, landfills will remain the most likely destination for them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Davis and other eco-minded cannabis innovators want to ensure the plant they love doesn\u2019t destroy the planet they live on.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI would like to live on this Earth as long as I can,\u201d Davis said. \u201cAnd I would like it to be clean, you know?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At Primetime Buds dispensary in Tahlequah, medical cannabis patients used to turn in their spent, empty containers for a discount on their next purchase. A company would periodically pick up the boxes of used plastic pop-tops and haul them off to be recycled.\u00a0But when the pickup company shut down, those boxes began to stack up.Blaine [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":216,"featured_media":35032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[491,301,16],"tags":[833],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35017"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/216"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35017"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35044,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35017\/revisions\/35044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}