The American Chemistry Council (ACC), Washington, D.C., has released a new report, “2010 National Postconsumer Non-Bottle Rigid Plastic Recycling Report,” showing a significant increase in the collection and recycling of nonbottle rigid plastics in the United States. The report, prepared by Moore Recycling Associates Inc., Sonoma, Calif. found that in 2010 approximately 820 million pounds of post-consumer rigid plastics were collected for recycling nationwide, an increase of 72 percent from 2009 and 154 percent from 2007
According to the ACC, the collection and recycling of nonbottle rigid plastics is relatively new and calculated separately from plastic bottles.
“We are thrilled to see a rapid increase in the recycling of rigid plastics,” says Steve Russell, ACC vice president of plastics. “And, given the strong trends in commercial participation, consumer access and simplified collection practices, we are very optimistic about continued growth.”
The report says that 59 of the 100 largest U.S. cities collected rigid plastics in addition to plastic bottles in 2011. Many communities are shifting to single-stream collection, which is expected to help boost the collection of nonbottle rigid plastics, according to the report.
Robust growth in the recycling of rigid plastics in the commercial sector and strong pricing and demand for recycled plastic materials have helped to spur growth in this category, the report states. Among the five major types of recyclable materials (paper, plastics, steel, electronics and nonferrous), plastic scrap has the highest economic value per ton with the single exception of nonferrous metals, the report notes.
More information and resources on increasing plastics recycling is available at http://recycleyourplastics.org.