Comments on: The Numbers on Plastics

By: Shawn Lance

Shawn Lance — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 00:16:43 +0000

In your article by Amanda Wills, http://earth911.com/news/2010/05/24/the-numbers-on-plastics/
she says that the recovery of plastic bags is increasing but local curb sides do not accept since the recyclers do want them because they are a “hassle” & get caught in their machinery. These two issues seem opposed to each other.
I have also read that some cities are requiring their recyclers to accept LDPE 4 bags. Do you know what direction this is headed, will recyclers start accepting? I know may cities are banning LDPE 4 bags but there are many items still being made for this lightweight material. Is there a master list of places that recycle lightweight (bags) LDPE 4 materials? We make lightweight air cushion with this material and would like to help our customers find recyclers.
I appreciate your help.
Thank you.

By: Mary Clarkson Barkley

Mary Clarkson Barkley — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:43:34 +0000

A big THANK YOU for this list and the FACTS about plastic.

By: Ross Headifen

Ross Headifen — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 03:48:03 +0000

A couple of things.
1) Why do we not require refundable deposits on all plastic drink bottles. Make it reasonable too like 50 cents. Those of us that don’t care about 50 cents will still throw the bottle away, but someone more careful will pick it up and get the refund. THis alone would elimate our plastic drink bottle trash problem very quickly. Plus their recycling efficiency would go very very high. It is win win all around. I find it incredible that we as a society have to contend with the trash these bottles (and other plastic) make when the manufacturers of these items have no responsibility at all for all the damage their products cause. Surely manufacturers own part of this responsibilty? Bottle manufacturers should put up the 50 cents for the bottle refund. Sure their products would go up in price and consumption of plastic drink bottles would go down, but THAT IS A GOOD THING for the earth.
2) The 3Rs ought to be come the 4Rs. Reduce, Recycle, Reuse and Rejuvenate. All disposable plastic items should now be required to be made with a biodegradable additive in them to make them biodegrade whne placed in a landfill. Even if plastics are reused and recycled, eventually they will all end up in a landfill (hopefully not the ocean) and once in a landfill, they will biodegrade down to humus or plant food to rejuvenate the soil. Examples of companies making bioegradable additives are http://www.bio-tec.com or http://ecologic-llc.com/product/ Read these sites, they make a compelling argument.

By: Jay Barbee

Jay Barbee — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:29:44 +0000

I’ve read the articles and comments posted here but no one seems to consider the cost in terms of dollars & cents to recycle glass/plastics. I would like to know what that number is..

By: jihad

jihad — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 09:28:28 +0000

I think we can help buy telling more about recycling and starting program to remind people to recycle

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 04:06:52 +0000

I am a manufacture of plastic containers for both the food industry and the retail packaging. All plastic can be recycled if the infrastructure is put in place. PET is the most recycled material because of the water bottle push. It is true that there needs to be money made but as the price of oil continues to raise so does the price of plastic resin as well as the price for scrap plastic. I will be the first person to say plastic does not belong in landfills nor does it belong in our oceans but we as consumers have a throw away mentally hence we have plastic in our oceans and it is killing all sorts of animals that think it is food.

There is enough plastic out there today that no large amount of plastic resin needs to be made if we cleaned up what we have already polluted.

BPA is only harmful if heated, it started because women put plastic baby bottles in the microwave to heat them up which was never the intended use. If I recall baby’s drink Luke warm milk not milk that has been over heated then left to cool. But today everyone is in such a hurry to get what they want done they lose their common sense.

There will come a time when plastic will be replaced by something better but for now we have what we have and only we as people can chose the way we will be responsible for cleaning up the mess we have made on our planet.

I encourage everyone who reads this to reuse recycle which will reduce the amount of oil used by the plastic industry.

Plastic is also a by product of oil so the question then becomes if we are not using this by product for plastic where will it go??????

By: Diane

Diane — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 23:12:27 +0000

Does anyone know about the Tervis drink cups and glasses that are sold on line or in department stores? They do not have a code on the bottom to tell me if they are safe.

By: Maz Mosharraf

Maz Mosharraf — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:20:45 +0000

Ron is very correct in what he is saying and the program has to make $$$. EcoBin is a product that can be made of 100% recycled plastic and could be used all over the USA. The one product that can not be an import and is made is US. Who wants to know more? How about making homes with what we put in our landfill!!!!!

By: JoAnn Gray

JoAnn Gray — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:55:39 +0000

I’m wondering how do we know if these (if any) plastic are BPA free? Or do they just have to be labeled BPA free to know?

By: Ron Gillingham

Ron Gillingham — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 15:08:28 +0000

The real issue with any recycling program is that it has to make money. In order for any recycled material to be worth something, you must have product applications for that material. Contrary to what you might think, the auto industry leads the nation in the use of recycled plastics. PET (pop bottles) as an example, has found a new life being recycled into seat cloth, thus it has a high value. HDPE on the other hand does not have any high value post consumer applications. The price of recycled HDPE is when added to the cost of transportation, is so close to virgin material it is near worthless. I am co-founder of Green Object Optimization & Distribution our company is taking a pro-active approach. We will make entry to the market by being incorporated into current applications at a 30% rate. Yet in order to sustain the value of the material we will be rolling out new patented applications for the recycled material. Now lets really get GREEN and see how many of the new applications can be developed with the goal of becoming energy saving products!