Recycle This Pittsburgh tries to capture and share these specialized recycling programs. There are some specialized recycling programs for certain items such as particular types of plastic bags, toothbrushes, caps, plastic tubs,etc., though this may require dropping-off or mailing-in items. Increasing demand for post-consumer recycling increases the value of recyclables. And some items, like cups or take-out containers, can sometimes be avoided by carrying your own reusable containers with you.Īlso, when buying items, look for products and packaging made from recycled plastic and paper. Purchasing in-bulk also reduces the ratio of packaging to product. So what can you do about these other not-accepted plastic items? The best thing you can do is to try to reduce how many of these plastic items you acquire by choosing products with non-plastic packaging (like glass, cans, boxes, or loose with no packaging at all). They are working on finding a sales channel for them.) As of 3/2021, you can take these items there. Therefore they are not accepted in the city’s curbside program, and there are no other options for these items for Pittsburgh residents- they can really only be reused or put in the trash… or avoided in the first place! (UPDATE: There is a Pittsburgh-area hauler, Michael Brothers Hauling, who has started a collection for thin #1 and #2 plastics like clamshells. However, their light, thin form-factor means they are less valuable and less likely to make it correctly though the sorting process. If you go looking for these numbers on other items, you’ll find that a lot of other items like clamshells and some cups are also #1. In today’s current recycling market, these are the most valuable, re-sellable plastics, and the heavier bottle, jug, and jar shapes also sort relatively well. Necked-containers are nearly always made out of heavier, rigid #1 (PET) or #2 (HDPE) plastic. This is why the city’s recycling program has moved away from numbers and instead is focused on the overall shape of the container. (To hear more about why these “recycling” symbols are so disconnected from what is actually recycled, check out this snippet from Frontline’s Plastic Wars documentary.) The form-factor of the product has a big impact on its value and how well it makes it through the recycling sorting process. While they indicate the type material an item is made out of, they do not mean that an item is actually being recycled. These numbers don’t give the whole story about the recycling value of a product. What about those little numbers in the recycling symbol usually printed on the bottom of plastic items? Why do these no longer determine what is accepted for recycling? The truth is they never did.
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