| Author |
Message |
    
garthnsarah
Citizen
Username: Garthnsarah
Post Number: 6
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, May 29, 2004 - 7:17 pm: |     |
Ok, so we can't set out our plastics any more for Maplewood for the next two years, where can we take them? I hate throwing them away. |
Joan
Citizen
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 3000
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, May 29, 2004 - 8:34 pm: | |
You can help to solve the problem by buying fewer products which come in plastic containers and by buying products which come with less packaging. You can get paper bags rather than plastic bags at the supermarket and reuse the bags that you do get (some supermarkets will even pay you to do this).
I am opposed to plastic recycling programs that encourage people to use more plastic than they need because it can always be recycled.
Does anyone know if Gleason's is going to continue recycling their plastic dry cleaning bags? |
hismom
Citizen
Username: Hismom
Post Number: 106
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 7:37 am: | |
Joan, Great in theory, but not practical in all respects. I have 2 young kids and go through 4 gallons of milk a week. What do I do with those now? (I refuse to buy paper cartons as the price is too high already). |
Joan
Citizen
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 3004
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 9:24 am: | |
Hismom:
Let's assume that the plastic milk bottles are necessary (I can remember a time when people used refillable jugs but I am likly to be far older than you.) What other products do you use that involve plastic components you previously recycled? Can you cut down on any of these?
Examples: recyclable aluminum cans rather than plastic bottles of soft drinks; convenience foods packaged in cardboard boxes rather than plastic bags; use of purifying water pitchers that can be refilled at the water faucet rather than plastic bottles of spring water; reusable canteens or sports bottles rather than carrying water, juice and the like in disposable plastic bottles... i'm sure others reading this can add their own suggestions. |
sullymw
Real Name
Username: Sullymw
Post Number: 263
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 10:53 am: | |
When did this happen? Is there something on the town website that announces this? Starting when? |
Joan
Citizen
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 3012
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 11:03 am: | |
The policy takes effect tomorrow (June 1, 2004). It should be stated on the town website (try searching for recent issues of the leaflet). There was also a discussion of the policy here on MOL when it was first announced. |
sac
Citizen
Username: Sac
Post Number: 1206
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 1:51 pm: | |
There was a story on the cover of the most recent issue of the Maplewood Leaflet (town newsletter) which explained why plastic recycling was discontinued. Basically, we were paying Waste Management for the privilege of recycling plastic and the new WM contract increased those costs significantly. And, apparently, quite a bit of the plastic was not actually being recycled, but was going into the regular garbage to help fuel the incinerator.
I hope that a solution is found that will allow us to resume recycling plastic in the future, but I can understand the decision now. As has been pointed out in the discussions, there are still ways that some plastic products can be recycled - notably some stores that accept the plastic bags back or give customers credit for reusing them. And, as Joan and others have pointed out, there are ways that we can reduce our use of plastic which is probably even better than relying on recycling when we can achieve it.
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janeste
Citizen
Username: Janeste
Post Number: 39
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 10:51 pm: | |
Just FYI, the folks at Whole Foods say they will recycle the plastic from anything that they sell to you. We found this out recently, as we had complained about a recent increase in packaging for some of their produce. Though we still believe that it's better to reduce the use of plastic, we have been happily using this service already for the plastics that Maplewood hasn't been recycling. |
hismom
Citizen
Username: Hismom
Post Number: 108
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, May 31, 2004 - 7:26 am: | |
Janeste, That's great to know! Now I know what to do with the milk bottles I get from there  (That was 95% of our plastic recycling) |
garthnsarah
Citizen
Username: Garthnsarah
Post Number: 7
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, June 6, 2004 - 6:15 pm: | |
Thanks, we try to reduce whenever possible. But avoiding plastic in our modern world is close to impossible, especially with children. There aren't too many co-ops around here where you can buy bulk items with your own containers. Whle Foods come close... but only so close.
Oh well, I'll keep trying.
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mellz
Citizen
Username: Mellz
Post Number: 1
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 9, 2004 - 9:51 am: | |
Look at the following. So why are we stopping recycling of plastics when there is a shortage and China is buying all they can get?
Plastics recycling crisis deepens, threatens industry
The Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers, (APR), has launched what the association terms "an urgent campaign" to generate awareness and committed action to reverse the waning North American plastic container recycling rate. According to the APR, a continued critical shortage of bottles collected for recycling will soon cause the collapse of the North American plastics recycling infrastructure.
"We are dangerously close to irreversibly losing significant amounts of recycling capacity. Many, including the largest plastic reclaimers, are at risk. Business as usual cannot continue," said APR Executive Director Robin Cotchan.
An export surge to China, exceeding 35 percent of the U.S. PET bottles collected, has aggravated the supply shortage and inflated domestic market prices. To meet the suppressed demand of the plastics recycling industry in North America and the expected ongoing exports to China, the collection of recyclable HDPE and PET plastic bottles needs to double to a level of 2.5 to 3 billion pounds within the next 24 months.
The primary collection mechanisms in the U.S., locally funded curbside collection and traditional deposit/redemption systems, have been insufficient to supply the needed growth in post-consumer bottles. The status quo is not working, and continuing the decade-long, polarized debate between the beverage industry and environmentalists will not solve the problem, according to the APR. Visit www.plasticsrecycling.org.
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Joan
Citizen
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 3083
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 9, 2004 - 4:50 pm: | |
Does this mean that the price being paid for recycled plastics has reached the point where it is now economically feasible to do so? Just because an unprofitable industry is losing recycling capacity doesn't mean that municipalities and others are going to return to plastics recycling. |
flugermongers
Citizen
Username: Flugermongers
Post Number: 162
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 4:41 am: | |
I remember many years ago, maybe 1990 or so, the group CLEAN from CHS (I think they've been renamed now) made a sort of verbal contract with local stores, asking them not to use styrofoam or plastics that weren't 1 or 2 (irrelivant now, because we're not recycling them anymore, grr) and they obliged. So it was a rule in Maplewood that you didn't use them. Take out containers were paper, aluminun, and 1 or 2 plastics. I have seen Bagel Chateau using #5 plastics, and the Village Coffee Co. using styrofoam all the time. It is upsetting. It makes me wonder if there is any documentation of this rule, and if something can be done. |
flugermongers
Citizen
Username: Flugermongers
Post Number: 163
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 4:46 am: | |
Just a P.S. -- I think it is ridiculous that some things are packaged in plastics, when they could very well be packaged in other, more environmental packaging -- but plastic is wonderful for things like shampoo bottles. My mom has told me how her mother would take the shampoo out of the (glass) bottle, and put it into a cup to take in the shower. I'm sure there are people who had glass break on them in the shower because they didn't do this. Of course it goes without saying that plastic is wonderful for medical supplies, and baby bottles, and such. I can't think of what styrofoam could actually be useful for, that it couldn't be substituted for -- but I always thought it was outrageous that we only recycled #1 & 2 plastics, so you can imagine how I feel about this recent development. |
jordan Bar Am
Citizen
Username: Jordanb
Post Number: 1
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, July 15, 2004 - 2:52 pm: | |
has anybody tried to start a campaign that would call on businesses in Maplewood to reduce their use of plastics to where it is absolutely necessary and eliminate the use of styrofoam completely and it has proven to be highly substitutable? pressure should be put on folks like Maplewood Coffee Co. and the Bagel Chateau to change their practices. |
flugermongers
Citizen
Username: Flugermongers
Post Number: 178
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, July 16, 2004 - 9:15 am: | |
Yeah, that's what I was talking about. There was no styrofoam used, and only #1 & #2 plastics. Restaurants have no excuse (besides monetary excuses, I’ll venture) to not use mostly aluminum and paper. We should get something started. Perhaps try to pass a new law, or have an educational seminar for local businesses. |
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