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So, let me introduce you to the latest news from the recycling world. My boss, Marcie Smith and I, "attended" a webinar organized by SWANA (North American Solid Waste Association), Waste Management and the City of Fort Worth, Texas, titled "Beyond China: Building the Future of Recycling. " [19659002] About a year ago, China announced new restrictions on imported recyclables, but they warned us four years earlier with their "Green Fence" initiative to inspect our recyclables for contamination. Unfortunately, we did not take this warning seriously and continued to send them contaminated shipments.
The Chinese sword has been lowered; the acceptance of 0.5 percent contamination is real. The west coast stores materials worthy of recovery. Other batteries can be buried if they can not be saved. We were a little more isolated here on the East Coast, because we have some processors here: Sonoco Recycling (mainly paper products, such as newsprint, mixed paper and cardboard) Unifi-Repreve (plastic bottles), Strategic Materials (glbad bottles), metal recyclers for aluminum and steel. However, we who recycle must be even more diligent in sorting and choosing our recyclables.
These are the little things that will contaminate a load of recyclable materials. When we make the decision to put something in the recycling container, understanding why and how these things are good candidates for reuse will ensure that you make the right decision.
1. Mixed paper is no longer a catch-all for everything that seems to be paper. Magazines, junk mail, cardboard boxes are good choices. Avoid paper with lining, metal or plastic, cash register receipts (usually thermal paper), paper towels, or any paper with food contamination or personal waste (tissues). You would be surprised if we found baby diapers soiled in our containers. If in doubt, throw it away.
2. Cardboard, a truly recyclable material, especially now that many of us order online, has great potential as a carton, especially when it is managed by Sonoco Recycling. Cardboard boxes are only good if they are free of contaminants. No extra plastic packaging, bubble wrap, polystyrene packaging, plastic straps – just the carton, please. All materials considered as "tangler" (plastic bags, ropes, plastic straps, strings, clothes, pipes, etc.) will be shivered in the conveyor belts that are part of the sorting system. When the seat belts stop moving, the sorting process stops, wasting time and money. Flattening your cardboard before placing it in your containers also saves space. If there is food waste badociated with your carton, it is useless. If in doubt, throw it away.
3. Clean plastics: The best plastics are plastic bottles and jugs # 1 and # 2. A tougher plastic are # 3, 4, 5, 7. Unifi-Repreve does a good job and needs more food stock . The other items # 1 like clam shell boxes are hard to recycle because everyone has to be handled because not all shells are # 1 … more intense work, so many times they are just sorted for trash . Many bottles (shampoos) are # 5 … so managers will discard them, and even if you look before recycling, companies may not. Please rinse all bottles before recycling. If in doubt, throw it away.
4. Bottles and glbad jars: the most important quality of these items is that they should also be rinsed, free of any food contaminant and only bottles and jars. No mirrors, dishes, ceramics, glazing should be recycled. Labels are not a problem, but if you want to delete them, it's OK. We can recycle light, green, blue and brown bottles. They go to Wilson, North Carolina, to be remanufactured into various things.
5. Aluminum and steel cans: Metals are almost the perfect materials for recycling; clean, free of food, and yes, recycle all day.
We are facing changes in this world. The webinar suggests that we could consider new opportunities for the United States to keep all our recyclable materials, and we can reduce our dependence on China to buy our products. Let's do it here in our country!
Nan Kirlin is the recycling coordinator for Gaston County. His column takes place on Sunday.
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