| GRN Recycle Talk FAQ Answer |
Date: Mon, 4 May 98 13:51 WET DST From: FRIEDMAN.FRED@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV (Fred Friedman) Subject: Re: Recycling Nursery Plastics (Brent)
May 4, 1998
Dear Brent,
The problem with agricultural/nersery plastics is not that they can't be recycled; they can be. The problem is finding a plastics recycler who will market or resell it, and the problem with that is having the continuous bulk to give them, and to deliver it an acceptable condition, i.e. relatively clean.In New York State, approximately 7% of farmers in 1995 had access to a recycler who would take the stuff.
The University of California Cooperative Extension's recycling manual for farms suggests that farm plastics must be clean, and that degradable plastics were becoming increasingly available and desireable. But of a directory of 100 recycling firms, only 5 recycled agricultural plastics.
When the Research Library first opened in 1989, we had a Woods Hole, Massachusetts researcher asking for the same thing and at that time when recycling was of very primitive infrastructure, we were ultimately able to find one plastics recycler willing to take the stuff.
I'm afraid that the answer won't be easy to find a recycler in your area.
Therefore, I'd recommend the degradable plastics option.
- Research Library for RCRA