Did you know that many things that are labeled recyclable aren't actually recyclable?
Don't feel bad, most people aren't aware and with the volatile nature of the industry it can be hard to keep up to date. In fact, many companies are still using a margins defined by pre-Chinese Foreign Waste Ban standards as to what is recyclable.
The blame cannot lay completely on the consumers, companies have been slapping a recycling symbols on just about anything (presumably for peace of mind). They can feel good knowing that there is a recycling logo on their post consumer waste and the customers can feel good throwing it in the recycling bin.
The February 18th report from Green Peace states that “Companies are expanding the use of “recyclable” labels on plastic products at an aggressive pace. Since claims and labels affect a consumer’s purchasing decision, the claims and labels must not be misleading to be legal and provide the environmental benefits claimed “ The entire report can be found at https://www.greenpeace.org/…/Greenpeace-Report-Circular-Cla…
One of the biggest offenders is #6 Polystyrene a.k.a the infamous Styrofoam (coincidentally brought to you by the same company that invented Roundup). Styrofoam is used far and wide for electronics shipping and one of the most common things we have to pull out of curbside recycling bins. It also generally unknown that CD Jewel cases and Red Solo Cups are made from Polystyrene making them also not recyclable by most processing facilities. Sorry Toby Keith fans, Solo cups are estimated to take around 450 years to break down. Luckily TerraCycle has a free mail in program to recycle solo cups found at https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/solo-r-cup-brigade-r
In Middle Tennessee we are lucky enough to have a processing facility that handles most plastics 1-5 however #6 and #7 are not. At Green Village we strive to send nothing to the landfill and remain transparent as to where and what we do with materials on the back-end.
We currently partner with West Rock based in downtown Nashville.Some things that West Rock have expressed as problematic are Plastic grocery bags, thicker packaging plastic, bubble wrap, and of course STYROFOAM!
For an up to date list of what we accept check our site at https://www.greenvillagerecycling.com/accepted-items
We want to thank all of our loyal customers for sticking with us through these uncertain time as we are doing the best we can.
We wish everyone peace and prosperity in the new year.
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Piece written by Mage (Brent Hanvey)
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