Plastic recycling
Agree, Village Green subscription is worth it. Title of the article you reference is misleading since none of the plastic recycling locations mentioned are in Maplewood or South Orange.
3 through 7 plastics aren't really recyclable. It's a myth that's been perpetuated by the plastics industry. They want to pass the buck to consumers so we are responsible for disposal when they really should stop selling these grades.
There isn't a market for these grades.
Only 9% of plastics are recycled. Most recycling bin plastic is put in landfills or incinerated.
joan_crystal said:
Agree, Village Green subscription is worth it. Title of the article you reference is misleading since none of the plastic recycling locations mentioned are in Maplewood or South Orange.
Stop & Shop is in South Orange.
An alternative reading of the headline: Where Lower-Grade Plastics in South Orange-Maplewood Can Be Recycled
DaveSchmidt said:
Stop & Shop is in South Orange.
An alternative reading of the headline: Where Lower-Grade Plastics in South Orange-Maplewood Can Be Recycled
Even better wording of the headline would be, Where Maplewood and South Orange Residents Can Recycle Lower-Grade Plastics.
All that work, all that effort to find out how to recycle, all that clean water used to rinse plastics. For what? For the 9% that is actually recycled in the world or the 5% here in the U.S.? The rest being dumped or incinerated.
joan_crystal said:
Agree, Village Green subscription is worth it. Title of the article you reference is misleading since none of the plastic recycling locations mentioned are in Maplewood or South Orange.
True, but given the dearth of grocery stores in Maplewood, most of us shop in Union/Vauxhall or Millburn or South Orange. Plastic bags can be recycled in any of those towns (and perhaps also at the Maplewood Kings although I haven't checked - do you know?) I don't have the article in front of me but I think it said that #5 plastics can be recycled at Whole Foods on Springfield Ave in Vauxhall, which is pretty darn close to Maplewood. As a result, I've started saving those in a separate place from my bins for curbside recycling, similar for plastic bags.
I do recall that someone (Robert Roe?) recently posted that all trash in Essex County is incinerated, so that has me wondering about the environmental value of keeping plastic out of the trash. Anyone know? (With landfill, it is obviously a matter of space. I assume that there might be a pollution issue with incineration, but would like to know more.)
sac said:
True, but given the dearth of grocery stores in Maplewood, most of us shop in Union/Vauxhall or Millburn or South Orange. Plastic bags can be recycled in any of those towns (and perhaps also at the Maplewood Kings although I haven't checked - do you know?) I don't have the article in front of me but I think it said that #5 plastics can be recycled at Whole Foods on Springfield Ave in Vauxhall, which is pretty darn close to Maplewood. As a result, I've started saving those in a separate place from my bins for curbside recycling, similar for plastic bags.
I do recall that someone (Robert Roe?) recently posted that all trash in Essex County is incinerated, so that has me wondering about the environmental value of keeping plastic out of the trash. Anyone know? (With landfill, it is obviously a matter of space. I assume that there might be a pollution issue with incineration, but would like to know more.)
All trash collected in Essex County is incinerated. Newark residents living in proximity to the incinerator have been raising concerns about the air pollution resulting from this practice. They especially cite concern over the particles released through incineration of plastics. There is no easy answer other than to reduce packaging and rethink the uses to which plastic is being put.
I saw the summary recently of an article in the Village Green about recycling all types of plastics, not just the 1/2 type that go in the weekly recycling in Maplewood. I couldn't open the article to get the info on how to go about it and don't want to pay for a subscription to get the info.
Anyone have any info on how to recycle these other types of plastics?
TIA for suggestions.