Recycling more than plastic bottles

摘要

With the global demand for recovered bottle resins increasing, more communities are looking at non-bottle plastic containers and packaging materials to get more materials into the bins. Plastic bottle recycling programs are well-established in North America, with both local and global demand for recovered bottle resin stimulating communities to get more bottles in the bin or cart. But residents in many communities have been asking to recycle other plastic packaging for some time now, and many communities, eager to increase their overall recycling rate, would like to comply. The number of U.S. programs accepting containers other than bottles, most notably tubs and lids, has been increasing over the past five years. This is particularly evident on the West Coast, where export markets have been strong for non-bottle plastics, and, to a lesser extent, in other areas of the country, where citizen interest in recycling is high. In Canada, the Environment and Plastics Industry Council (Mississauga, Ontario) reports that 60 percent of Canadians now have access to programs that recycle wide-mouth plastic tubs and lids.