Orange County Solid Waste Department
Orange County now recycles #2 and #5 plastics that are not bottles! — drop-off locations only!
If you’ve been to an Orange County recycling dropoff site or solid waste convenience center in the past two weeks you might have seen the big new “passionate purple” colored Dumpsters that have signs for “Rigid Plastics” and specify #2 and #5 non-bottle plastics. Non-bottle plastics are made by a process called injection molding, while bottles are made by a process called blow-molding.
We finally have a distinct, domestic market for rigid injection molded plastics, but they can accept only #2 high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and #5 polypropylene (PP) resin types — what we are calling rigid plastics. When the purple Dumpsters fill up, we will bale the material then send it off for sale to be remanufactured eventually into pipe, flowerpots or other industrial products.
We prefer to focus on domestic markets, especially in North Carolina, such as Blue Ridge Plastics in Reidsville, but have to balance that against the quality of materials we get and the demand for product in other states or for export.
For the past 12 years, Orange County has conveyed a “bottles only” message for all of our plastics collection programs and urged recyclers to contribute all bottles, regardless of resin type (indicated by the three chasing arrow symbol, little number, and the series of letters stamped on the containers) but leave out any other plastics.
Now for this separate and distinct new program, we can accept only the #2 and #5 non-bottle plastics, and only at drop-off locations. Read and follow the instructions on the big black and white signs and use little colored picture posters on the purple containers for guidance. Don’t try to recycle rigid plastics at the curb — only in the purple Dumpsters.
Sadly, a peek in the purple containers the first two weeks they’ve been out has shown metal folding chairs, linoleum type floor tile, clear #1 clamshell boxes, and a variety of cans and bottles — along with the stuff we really want in this program such as buckets, cups, tubs, crates and toys.
One of our intrepid recycling assistants, Sarah Drewett, has spent several chilly mornings this past week at the University Mall recycling site to educate the public on “what goes where” and her report follows:
“The good news came last week: Orange County has begun accepting rigid non-bottle plastics. . . . I was sent to one of the drop-off locations because there seemed to be some general confusion about the items that belong in the purple bins. It was essential to clear up the confusion, because all of the items that go in the wrong bin are eventually thrown away downstream; these rigid plastics go to a completely different type of recycling facility.
“At the drop-off site, I explained to patrons that nothing had really changed with the way they were recycling before. Plastic bottles still go in the “mixed” bins with the aluminum cans, glass and steel. The only change is the appearance of a brand new, purple bin for this completely new set of materials: #2 HDPE and #5 PP, non-bottle plastics.
“It is always a joy to staff the drop-off locations. It reminds me that there are a great number of folks who really care about reducing our impact on the environment. One patron was so excited about the new bin that she smiled broadly and bounced with joy before giving me a box of chocolates.”
We don’t mean to make you dedicated recyclers crazy, but we have to follow our markets’ dictates and they have told us they cannot use anything made from resins #1 (PETE), #3 (PVC), #4 (LDPE), #6 (PS) or #7 (“other”), so those will be thrown out during the sorting process. For this program’s non-bottle recyclable plastics, DO pay attention to the resin code number, which is stamped on most products now, and drop in only the #2 and #5s.
Take heart, though, as you examine the code stamped on the products you’ll find that those two resins are used in a broad range of plastic items such as yogurt tubs and stadium cups, five-gallon buckets, kitty litter buckets, milk crates, plastic trash cans and recycling bins, plant pots larger than one pint, plastic storage totes and their lids, plastic lawn furniture, kiddie pools and other plastic toys.
The better-sorted the incoming product you contribute, the more efficient the recycling, the more market value, more wealth from waste and less trash is trucked elsewhere. The labor necessary to sort rigid plastics from other recyclables can outweigh their market value, so we are asking residents to do the sorting at the drop-off sites. This will help the county receive the best value for the materials, and prevent what would be considered contamination from going to the MRF.
There are an estimated 4,000 tons of plastics in the Orange County waste stream that are not bottles or plastic film. While not all of these plastics will be accepted by the Rigid Plastics Program, this program greatly expands the recycling opportunities available to Orange County citizens. Visit our website for details about the rigid plastic recycling program: www.co.orange.nc.us/recycling/rigidplastics.asp
Other recent special additions to our dropoff recycling programs include oyster shells that can now be recycled only at the landfill (see other story on this page) and old media including tapes, disks, diskettes and cassettes that can now be recycled with electronics at the landfill or convenience centers. Oyster shells will be returned to the North Carolina coast to rebuild the oyster beds for which our state was once famous. The electronic media will be shredded and destroyed before extracting the usable materials for recycling.
