[greenyes] 3-7 Plastic and Glass

["Peter Anderson" <anderson@no.address>]

Bette asks:

"Anyone know anything about a contract Waste Management
has to collect plastics 1-7 nationwide
in place of glass collection? Being told here that glass is not a profitable
commodity, not a hazard to the environment (more
a litter problem), and by eliminating glass curbside
pickup, that would free up room in the trucks to all
plastics. Got to be money in plastics 1-7 then compared to
glass."

    The question of whether glass should be included is a complicated one,
but, were it to be dropped after consideration of all those factors, there
will be a very substantial loss in recovery because glass weighs so much.
Adding 3-7 plastics is NOT a credible strategy to make up for that serious
loss!

    About one-quarter of the total weight, and three quarters of the
container weight in a recycle truck is glass.  All no. 1 & 2 plastic bottles
are maybe 5%.  Adding nos. 3-7 MIGHT increase that to 5.2%.

    With all due respect, whoever is telling you that 3-7 will make up for
glass has been smoking something...and it ain't legal.

    If you wanted something to make up for glass, I'd highly recommend that
you consider residential mixed paper, which could add 10% and add value --
while adding 3-7's, which largely cannot be recycled yet do contaminate the
1&2s, will decrease your revenues.  Not only that, the increased capture of
no. 3, PVC, raises significant risk that your once revenue generating PET
bales will become too contaminated to economically process and lose value!
3-7 only subtract value and not only that, increasingly push plastics into
no-pay material that you just don't need, especially with all the room it
takes up on the truck!


Peter
______________________________
Peter Anderson
RECYCLEWORLDS CONSULTING Corp
4513 Vernon Blvd. Suite 15
Madison, WI 53705
Ph:    (608) 231-1100
Fax:   (608) 233-0011
Cell    (608) 438-9062
email: anderson@no.address



______________________________
Peter Anderson
RECYCLEWORLDS CONSULTING Corp
4513 Vernon Blvd. Suite 15
Madison, WI 53705
Ph:    (608) 231-1100
Fax:   (608) 233-0011
Cell    (608) 438-9062
email: anderson@no.address