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Topic: Bulk trailer recycling?

Randy Stankey
Film God

Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99

posted 03-04-2009 12:17 PM

quote: Mike Blakesley
Randy - I can't imagine a place that's smaller potatoes than us...but we usually get the majority of trailers we need these days. Do you play mostly older titles or something along those lines?

http://pac.mercyhurst.edu/events/index.php?type=FILM

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John Hawkinson
Film God

Posts: 2273
From: Cambridge, MA, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 03-04-2009 01:02 PM

Several points:

Randy, the first sale doctrine definitely does not apply. The studios do not sell the trailers to you. Even when you order trailers from TES, they charge you shipping on trailers, they do not charge you for the trailers themselves (and realize that a trailer is probably $50 worth of processed film). There are no "EDB" trailers to muddy the waters.
Most trailers explicitly state that they're the property of studios on the labels. In fact, Fox used to include a letter from Branden d Miller with almost every trailer order saying the same. And remember those return labels from Paramount directing returns to Premiere House?
Randy and I are both smaller than you, Mike, because we are non-theatricals, and at the total bottom of the food chain. If you think your release window is shrinking, try ours. (Oh look! Slumdog Millionaire won too many Oscars. Now we can't show it when we advertised it...)
The availability of trailers has gotten much better in the past few years. It used to be quite common for trailers to be unavailabile ("backordered"); but recently, I can't remember the last time we were unable to get a trailer we needed in at least some format (not nec. flat; sometimes we're stuck with only scope when we want flat, but that's not a big deal).
Recycling of trailers was more important before the cyan conversion, because extracting the silver from the film was worth doing. Now that most trailers are cyan, silver is not so much of an issue. I don't really know what the pros and cons are of trailer recyling nowadays.
Brad, I don't think shredded film goes in a landfill -- are you sure? I believe they get turned into fox boxes (and other low-grade plastics) instead.

--jhawk

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Mitchel Monger
Film Handler

Posts: 6
From: Sagle, Idaho, USA
Registered: May 2004

posted 03-08-2009 07:38 AM

In the past couple of months I've received 2 notices from TES and one from Fox asking that trailers be returned. I'm getting two cans ready to ship and in them are new green stickers which say, "THINK GREEN-Please participate in the Trailer Recycling Program. When returning feature release prints, please include any studios' used or outdated trailers. We will dispose of them in an environmentally proper manner. Thank you in advance for your cooperation".

I'd like to know more about this program of theirs that they keep pestering me about. What exactly is the "environmentally proper manner" of disposal? I'm all for it if they're doing it right.

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Louis Bornwasser
Film God

Posts: 4441
From: prospect ky usa
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 03-08-2009 09:24 AM

I was told that mylar has a 90%+ recycle ratio, back to more mylar film. If this is so or nearly so, it would be in our mutual interest to recycle to the extent the car battery guys do. . . .nearly 100%. Louis

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Greg Haas
Film Handler

Posts: 18
From: Buffalo, WY, USA
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 03-08-2009 09:52 PM

Would it be irony or something else if the old trailers were recycled into digital cinema equipment and/or digital storage devices?

Heh.

Sorry, I don't have any real input on the topic. But thanks for the discussion!

Brad, you sure sound positive on all that. How can we verify what is happening with these trailers getting sent back? (How'd you find out? For example.)

cheers!

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 03-09-2009 02:11 AM

Simple. I know people who are in charge of "recycling" these trailers.

Penn and Teller did a good Bullshit episode on recycling. I recommend everyone watch it. Here is a link.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 03-09-2009 09:46 AM

I would rather trailers go into a California landfill than a Montana one, so into the boxes they will go.

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John Hawkinson
Film God

Posts: 2273
From: Cambridge, MA, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 03-10-2009 09:18 AM

Also, there's some amount of re-use. We recently got some used trailers from Technicolor for Let the Right One In (which we're showing this coming weekend). When we'd tried to order trailers a while ago, they were out. I don't know exactly how this ties in with returned trailers, but used trailers have to come from somewhere.

--jhawk

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Andrew Bangs
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 148
From: Kerrville, Texas, United States
Registered: Sep 2008

posted 03-10-2009 02:57 PM

That Penn & Teller Vid is fascinating one point I disagree with is people would rather have a pointless crappy job than no job so it does help the economy there. To a point.
Now I do not remember where I heard this but I do believe the the shredded film is being recycled into home insulation material. Now weather that is accurate or not....?

just my $0.02

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 03-11-2009 03:32 AM

That is not accurate. That is a very old story from a film collector who used to buy prints from the studios with the explanation that he was using it for insulation.

This was in Florida and pre-polyester base stock. All of his prints went VS from the climate, so he might have just as well used it as insulation.

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Damien Taylor
Master Film Handler

Posts: 493
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2007

posted 03-11-2009 08:57 AM

I always wondered how Roddy kept his house warm/cool.

Too soon?

Can any Australians tell me what happens to our trailers after they get sent back, or if the distributors even care if they come back at all?

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Jon P. Inghram
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 124
From: Wichita, KS USA
Registered: Jan 2007

posted 03-28-2009 09:32 PM

The bag-in-box trick has worked well, thanks! Apparently they're just going to haul them to one of our other theaters which has more room and just stick 'em in a closet. [Big Grin]

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Justin Hamaker
Film God

Posts: 2253
From: Lakeport, CA USA
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 03-29-2009 01:31 AM

quote: Brad Miller
Penn and Teller did a good Bullshit episode on recycling. I recommend everyone watch it. Here is a link.

It certainly is interesting, but it raises more questions than it answers. For instance:

They don't really address any of the issues related to harvesting the raw materials except for tree farms for paper and aluminum for cans.

They don't address the issue of plastics being a petroleum based product or how much petroleum is used (or saved) by recycling plastics.

They don't address how the costs of recycling change when the energy is produced from renewable sources - or even incinerated trash.

They don't address the environmental impact of incinerating trash to generate electricity.

I'm not calling bullshit on their claims, I'm just saying it's a bias "documentary" that doesn't really go any further than the claims they are trying to refute.

I don't want this to spiral into any kind of political debate. I'll just say the video is an interesting conversation starter, but not much more.

[ 03-29-2009, 04:45 AM: Message edited by: Justin Hamaker ]

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James Westbrook
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1133
From: Lubbock, Texas, Usa
Registered: Mar 2006

posted 03-29-2009 03:55 AM

After watching same Penn and Teller episode, I no longer feel guilty when I toss my newspaper in the trash.

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Greg Haas
Film Handler

Posts: 18
From: Buffalo, WY, USA
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 03-29-2009 06:53 PM

In my "former life" I once built 3 miles of electric fence using posts made from recycled diapers.

I'm not big on recycling anyway.

As far as trailers go, I hardly ever have any room in the technicolor cans that go through our booth. Hell, the DTS discs usually don't fit, let alone a pack of trailers...

Thanks!

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