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Do you ever find yourself at the French Broad River staring at piles of plastic litter wondering what you can do to stop this?  Asheville GreenWorks and our sister page, Going Plastic Free, are here to help you make this happen! Mind Your Plastic May is a month-long campaign to inform you about the grave social and environmental harms that ensue from plastic waste and equip you with the knowledge to reduce plastic in your own life.  

All month long, we will be sharing plastic reduction tips, volunteer opportunities to address plastic waste, educational materials featuring local Asheville businesses, and much more. We aim to foster knowledge and encourage mindfulness around plastic consumption and disposal for individuals and business owners. This month, we hope you will follow us on Facebook and Instagram, where you will gain valuable knowledge about how to refuse, reduce, reuse, and recycle plastics, as well as learn about local waste reduction efforts.

Join our 
Race2Reduce and commit to decreasing your plastic usage for the entire month of May. Sign up here to join the challenge and earn points to win a $25/$50/$75 gift card to Ware!

Many thanks to the businesses and restaurants who supported this effort and are working hard to reduce their own plastic waste. #goingplasticfree

Join us in our love for the planet as we
 address and defeat our global plastic addition.
Donate now for a plastic-free future
Mind Your Plastic May is meant to encourage and challenge us in our journey to live plastic free. These posts are created by GreenWorks staff. If you've found these posts helpful and encouraging, please consider making a donation to support this work. If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

"But it has a recycling symbol on it."

5/5/2019

8 Comments

 
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Recycling Misconceptions
Most municipalities with a single stream recycling program have taught us to put ALL of our plastics containing a chasing arrows symbol into the big blue bin. This was an effort to get more residents to recycle as you wouldn’t have to sort your items. The problem is that most of the items, even those with numbers inside of chasing arrows are NOT recyclable in all areas of the country. These numbers are important to manufacturers and recyclers as they inform the chemical makeup of the plastic.
​

Not all Plastics are Created Equal
For the most part we have 7 different types of plastic for consumables here in the U.S. Plastic drink bottles and clam shells are #1 (PETE) plastic. These are usually clear and for the remanufacturing market easy to convert into new products. Laundry containers and milk cartons fall into the #2 (HDPE) category and are easy and accessible item for repurposing. Once we move beyond number 1’s and 2’s we veer off the road of easy and profitable remanufacturing to a bumpy unpaved confusing road of disappointment.

Numbers 3 through 7 plastics include a wide range of items such as polystyrene, PVC, cellophane, microwaveable trays and hard plastics. These products make up the majority of plastics that you’ll come in contact with and not surprisingly these are the most difficult to recycle. Number 3 through 7’s CAN be recycled but not in every City, the reason behind this is three-fold.

  1. Demand for the recycled materials on the commodities market
  2. Freight distance from the recycling facility to the re-manufacturer
  3. Price of crude oil

Challenges of Demand
China began enforcing their Green Fence 2013 which started the process of their accepting less of the US’s sorted recyclables. Couple that with US cities better educating their residents on what to recycle and new efficiencies at recycling facilities created a new backlog of sorted recyclables. When supply outpaces demand the value of the item drops. In this case, many of the traditionally profitable recyclables now have either no or low value.

Too Far to Ship
Glass is infinitely recyclable but heavy to transport. The average cost to ship a ton of glass to the remanufacturer is $32 and rising. This is part of the reason why many cities have stopped recycling glass in favor of sending the product to the landfill.

Oil Pricing
When the price of crude oil moves beyond $100 per barrel, remanufacturing facilities see a jump in demand for recycled plastic. If the prices are below the $100+ amount, it becomes cheaper for manufacturing facilities to use virgin polymers created directly from crude oil.


So how can I help?
Help support this effort by following these 5 easy steps.
  1. Strive to only purchase items that can be recycled or reused.
  2. Rinse out your recyclables before depositing into your bin.
  3. Keep styrofoam, hard plastics, tissue paper, food, plastic baggies out of your recycling.
  4. Educate your friends and neighbors about recycling.
  5. Reduce your amount of plastic consumption.


Eric Bradford, GreenWorks Director of Operations
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8 Comments
Rubbish Removal in Dudley link
8/31/2021 01:27:15 pm

Nicely done article, Eric.

Reply
Waste Collection link
9/7/2021 01:07:56 pm

Wonderful article. It’s so clear and informative!

Reply
Rubbish Collection link
9/8/2021 01:08:32 pm

This is sound advice. Thanks for sharing this!

Reply
Tex Hooper link
11/29/2021 08:36:17 pm

I like your recycling tips. I need to get a bunch of tiles. I'll have to get them from a recycling center.

Reply
Meg Word-Sims
2/1/2022 10:54:35 am

Thanks for your article. I live in Asheville. To clarify, can I put #1 and #2 plastics in the curb recycling?

Reply
Susana sims
2/20/2022 12:54:06 pm

I live yogurt. I try to buy the bigger tubs. Alas they are number 5 where can I recycle them? I have found smaller containers that wre #2 but they are super expensive and hard to find I am on a fixed budget

Help please

Reply
David88 link
3/14/2022 09:36:23 pm

Diaper Recycling Technology design & manufacture state of the art diaper recycling solutions. Our equipment is used within the hygiene plants ( Adult-Baby-Fem ) to reclaim pulp & Sap from rejected products.

Reply
Rexel link
3/28/2022 07:38:09 am

The idea was born – A modular low energy airless
recycling technology able to deliver pure material streams with minimal SAP cross-linker damage.

Reply



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​Asheville GreenWorks is a 501(c)3 non-profit environmental organization, governed by a Board of Directors. Established in 1973, GreenWorks mission is to inspire, equip and mobilize individuals and communities to take care of the places we love to live.
  • Hard 2 Recycle
  • About
    • Job Openings
    • History
    • Staff/ Contact
  • Get Involved
    • Internships
    • Make a Donation
    • Sponsorship
    • Volunteer
    • Wish List
    • Youth Environmental Leadership Program >
      • YELP Staff & Alumni
      • How to Apply
  • Programs
    • Bee City USA Asheville >
      • 10th Anniversary Yearlong Pollination Celebration
      • Native Pollinator Plants and Nurseries
      • Pollinator Garden Certification
      • Pollinator Gardens & Meadows Project
    • Education
    • Urban Forestry >
      • Cool Green Asheville
      • Food Tree Project
      • RRI
      • Tree Nursery
      • Treasured Trees >
        • Treasured Trees Calendar
    • Rivers & Roads >
      • Adopt-a-Street
      • Clean Streams Day
      • Cleanup Supply Stations
      • Trash Trout
    • Waste Reduction >
      • Asheville Bag Monster
      • Composting Information
      • Flip Your Lid
      • Plastics Reduction Task Force
      • Recycling Information
  • Silent Auction
  • Upcoming Events
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Benefit Concert
  • Blog Roll
    • Latest News
    • Mind Your Plastic May
    • Protect our Pollinators
    • Voice for the Trees