Recycling Initiative

The world of waste materials is so complicated that even the experts struggle to understand the details of how to make the most impact. Still, there are obvious ways in which we can make a difference. One area is reducing our packaging, a simple way to have an immediate impact. According to the EPA containers and packaging accounted for 28% of waste received at municipal landfills (the latest figures available). Purchasing in bulk, bringing your own bags and selecting products with minimal packaging are good ways to keep some waste out of the landfill. Clearly, reducing our waste, heading for Zero, is the ultimate goal. However, for most of us that will be a gradual process as we get more familiar with our waste stream and the alternatives we can choose.

We will be collecting recycling at the Floyd Farmers Market from 10:00 am to 12:30 am the first Saturday of the Month from April to December.

January 7, 2023, March 4, and the first Saturday of the month from April to December.

We will be set up at the Farmers Market Pavilion. There is easy parking at the Village Green. We will be collecting the following:

• #5 Plastic (for example yogurt pots)
• Medicine Bottles with Caps (labels removed)
• Plastic Film (for example single use shopping and produce bags, ziplocks, case overwraps, plastic shipping bags such as ones used by Amazon, bubble wrap and more.) Plastic film is the thin plastic sheet 10mm or less in thickness.
• Printer ink cartridges
• Household batteries–alkaline and rechargeable
• All brands of razors, blades and packaging
• All packaging from Burt’s Bees, Tom’s of Maine, & Weleda
• Electronic waste(see guidelines here)
• Sneakers in wearable condition
• Used writing implements
• Used Books
• Mason type jars with or without lid
• Returns of jars from local Floyd Food producers. (Many would welcome getting bottles and jars returned)

It is really important that you make sure all items are clean and dry. We will be storing them until we have sufficient to ship.

Our plan is to send the #5 plastic and plastic film directly to US manufacturers to be directly reincorporated into new products (Plastics on Purpose and TREX). Other items will be sent to Terra Cycle, a multinational recycling group who work directly with manufactures. For example Tom’s Toothpaste will take back all their packaging through the Terra Cycle program. Any individual can join Terra Cycle and start sending their own items in directly. We simply offer this service to give one more, perhaps easier, way to participate in recycling.

We are now working to find ways to return glass jars and bottles to local companies who use them. Please make sure they are really clean. Lids not required.

TREX Challenge: Plastic Film

Our official TREX challenge runs from July 1 to December 31. We are challenged to collect 500 lbs of plastic film in exchange for a TREX bench—which will serve as a model for how effective plastic recycling can create closed loop systems where waste becomes new product.
TREX uses 95% recycled material in their products.

What is Plastic Film
Plastic film is the thin plastic that is used for grocery bags, produce bags etc. It is #2 or #4 plastic but is often not marked that way.

The list of items TREX accepts include: Bread bags, produce bags, newspaper sleeves, pallet wrap and stretch film, salt and ice bags, grocery bags, case overwrap, bubble wrap, wood pellet bags, plastic shipping envelopes, dry cleaning bags, Ziploc and other reclosable food storage bags, tarps, some larger woven bags, eg sunflower seed bag, mulch bags (a recent addition).

• It can be included if it has a #2 or #4 recycling logo
• It can be included if it has a little stretch to it
• It can be included if it says ‘for store drop off’
• It needs to be clean
• Labels can be left on
• It does not need to be transparent

YES:
A simple description of how to tell if an item qualifies is as follows:
It can be included if it has a #2 or #4 recycling logo
It can be included if it has a little stretch to it
It can be included if it says ‘for store drop off’
It needs to be clean
Labels can be left on
It does not need to be transparent

NO:
Hard, shiny or really crinkly plastics cannot be included (the crinkle of a grocery bag is fine, but the crinkle of a flower bouquet wrap is not.) 
Plastic marked with a recycling number other than #2 or #4 cannot be included. Large cat and dog food bags.
No meat packaging.

We now have four ‘full time’ recycling bins: one at the farmers market, one at Red Rooster, one at the Country Store and one at The Harvest Moon. People can now drop off their plastic film whenever it is convenient.

Some Facts About Plastics and Recycling

It’s confusing in the recycling world. You can put a recycling label—the one called chasing arrow–on any product, whether it can be recycled or not. The arrows with no number in the center indicate that there is no common recycling option for that product! Also, some of the numbers used eg. #7 are rarely accepted for recycling. #7 indicates ‘other plastics’ and is hard to deal with. Here’s more about California’s efforts to address this confusion:

So, what is the use of the recycling logos? They do help to identify the products that can be recycled, and they let you avoid buying the products that are to recycle—those that will almost certainly end up in our landfills and causing pollution.

The message for us all—we need to really pay attention to what’s between those chasing arrows.

Plastic waste can cause harm to the environment, wildlife, and humans.  Debris accumulation can cause habitat structures to be changed which can indirectly cause declines in species impacted.  Chemical impacts including toxins released from some types of plastics posing hazards to the food chain including some types of seafood and then to humans who consume them.  Threats to wildlife include consuming harmful particles of plastic debris and entanglement.

Type #1: Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE or PET)

Widely used as bottles for beverages like water and soda.  One of the most widely recycled plastics in the world. Currently recycled by Floyd County

Examples:  Beverage bottles, Food bottles/jars (salad dressing, peanut butter, honey, etc.) and polyester clothing or rope. 

In 2019, a minimum of 5,094.1 million pounds of post-consumer plastic material sourced in the U.S. was recovered for recycling in the categories of Bottles (by resin), Non-bottle Rigids, Film, and Other Plastics (excluding foam).

As was the case in 2018, most of the plastic recovered for recycling in the U.S. was purchased by reclaimers in the U.S. or Canada (87.9%) versus by overseas markets. A total of 4,476.3 million pounds was reported as reclaimed in the U.S. and Canada. The remaining 617.8 million pounds, or 12.1%, of plastic recovered for recycling was exported overseas.

Plastic bottles continued to make up the majority of the recycled plastic recovered for recycling at 55.2%, or 2,809.4 million pounds, a decrease of 48.5 million pounds as compared to 2018. The amount of plastic resin generated for use in bottles increased by 11 million pounds to 9,878 million pounds in 2019. The all-bottle recycling rate for 2019 was 28.4%, down half a percentage point from 2018.7

EPA estimated 14.5 million tons of plastic containers and packaging were generated in 2018, approximately 5.0 percent of MSW generation. (Plastic packaging as a category in this analysis does not include single-service plates and cups, and trash bags, both of which are classified as nondurable goods).

The recycling rate of PET bottles and jars was 29.1 percent in 2018 (910,000 tons). It is estimated that recycling of HDPE natural bottles (e.g., milk and water bottles) was 220,000 tons, or 29.3 percent of generation. Overall, the amount of recycled plastic containers and packaging in 2018 was almost 2 million tons or 13.6 percent of plastic containers and packaging generated. Additionally, 16.9 percent of the plastic containers and packaging waste generated was combusted with energy recovery, while the remainder (over 69 percent) was landfilled.

The total generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) in 2018 was 292.4 million tons (U.S. short tons, unless specified) or 4.9 pounds per person per day. Of the MSW generated, approximately 69 million tons were recycled and 25 million tons were composted. Together,  almost 94 million tons of MSW were recycled and composted, equivalent to a 32.1 percent recycling and composting rate.

The recycling rate (including composting) was 32.1 percent in 2018, down from 34.7 percent in 2015.The per capita rates in 2018 were:

• 1.16 pounds per person per day for recycling.
• 0.42 pounds per person per day for composting.
• 0.30 pounds per person per day for other food management.

The EPA estimates that 75% of the American waste stream is recyclable, but we only recycle about 30% of it” Despite only representing 5% of the world population, the U.S. generates more waste than any other country in the world. (World Watch Institute)

In less than 15 years, worldwide waste is expected to double. (World Watch Institute)

Recycling one ton of plastic bottles saves the equivalent energy usage of a two person household for one year.