Roundup: Subaru Works with TerraCycle, Kirusa Has Safe Reopening App, StrikeForce Presents Business Update
Subaru and TerraCycle:
Subaru of America, whose headquarters are in Camden, announced an initiative to recycle discarded personal protective equipment (PPE) in response to the increase in waste due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As described in a recent press release, the initiative is an expansion of the automaker’s existing recycling-collection partnership with TerraCycle (Trenton), a leader in the collection and repurposing of complex waste streams.
The new collection efforts will divert improperly discarded PPE from landfills and incinerators. Instead, Subaru will employ TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Boxes to collect disposable masks and gloves across more than 20 sites nationwide, including ports, regional training centers and Subaru’s Camden offices.
When full, the boxes will be returned to TerraCycle for processing, and the collected waste will be cleaned, melted and remolded to make new products. Disposable masks are typically made from #5 polypropylene plastic, and can thus be turned into a variety of items, ranging from reusable shipping pallets to plastic lumber applications. Rubberized disposable gloves can be used by rubber manufacturers in low-grade applications for products such as matting.
Kirusa Safe Reopening App
Kirusa (New Providence) has launched Safe Reopening, an easy-to-use application that helps businesses maintain a safe and healthy environment for their employees and customers by enabling their workforce to report their COVID-related symptoms, test results and travel histories prior to coming to work, the company said in a press release.
The Safe Reopening app enables businesses to provide an intuitive virtual health-check tool that recommends whether it is safe for their employees to come to their work locations based on their self-reported data on symptoms, COVID-19 viral and antibody tests, contacts with COVID-positive persons, and travel to/from an area covered by a travel advisory. The recommendations are based on the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but may also be customized to fit the needs of any business.
The Safe Reopening app is based on self-reporting and certification from workers, and does not use GPS, Bluetooth or any other automated-location or contact-tracing technique, thereby respecting the privacy of individuals, the company added.
StrikeForce: Business Outlook and Ultra-Secure Video Conferencing
StrikeForce Technologies (Edison) issued a business outlook press release that acknowledged that 2020 had been extremely challenging for the company, but suggested optimism for the business’s future.
“There’s no question that 2020 has been one of the most challenging years in modern history for StrikeForce and in general,” CEO Mark Kay stated. “The coronavirus pandemic has affected businesses and individuals around the world with unprecedented tragedy and endless uncertainty. Yet, despite this horrible backdrop, I am encouraged about StrikeForce’s chances of growth and prosperity.”
“We have spoken with many of our resellers and clients, and the good news is that all of our contracts remain intact,” said Kay, who remains hopeful that the big deals the company has worked on (some for years) will move forward. Clients are now starting to discuss launch dates again, and are signing contracts. While this isn’t the first time such discussions have taken place, Kay said, he thinks that they’re now believable. “One of our resellers has partnered with a global provider of financial services and technology that plans on offering our software to their 4,000-plus clients, which include banks, thrifts, credit unions, securities broker dealers, leasing and finance companies, and retailers, of which they did before the pandemic, but it appears they are about to offer it out to them again.”
The company is also about to release the SafeVChat video conferencing product, he said, adding that the upsurge in video conference use cannot be denied. The marketplace is experiencing extraordinary growth due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and is expected to exceed $50 plus billion by 2026, according to Global Market Insights.
“We recognized this as a golden opportunity and decided to create most likely the industry’s most secure video-conferencing service, which includes: authenticated access; encrypted video; encrypted audio; encrypted keystrokes; and protection for your camera, microphone and speakers. Additionally, our solution will protect your computer and confidential data even when you’re off-line and not on a video conference. No other video conferencing platform on the market that we are aware of, such as Zoom, Webex, LogMeIn, Microsoft Teams, or BlueJeans, can offer these protections.”
