New online tools designed to help grocery stores recycle more of the large bulky rigid plastic containers used in the backrooms of their deli, bakery and seafood departments are now available on a new website created by the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers. "Many grocery chains have excellent recycling programs already in place," said Steve Alexander, executive director of APR. "Our new program makes it easy for grocers to strengthen their sustainability efforts by recycling more of the plastics they use every day." The free online tools include a how-to-guide, worksheets to evaluate potential cost savings and revenue, three educational videos, technical assistance, and training materials that can be customized. These are available at www.recyclegroceryplastics.org Two successful six-month pilot programs - the second one completed in April -have the industry optimistic that it can capture more of that material, which is estimated to be 354 million pounds annually just among medium and large supermarket chains. The Recycle Grocery Rigid Plastics initiative -partially funded by the plastics division of the American Chemistry Council - could become yet another way to collect polypropylene and high density polyethylene, and provide more material to recyclers scrambling to meet the increasing demand for recycled resins.Because many stores already have programs that recycle cardboard and plastic film, expanding those programs to also include plastic containers could be a logical extension, said APR, whose members have more than 90 percent of the post-consumer plastic processing capacity in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
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