#6 plastic

[messymessy]

Has anyone ever scrapped #6 plastic? What kind of price did you get?

[cwgii]

it is the same as 'peanuts' ie polystyrene. 98%of places are unable to recycle it.

[hobo finds]

In California you can get some kind of CRV on it.

[natsb88]

The recycling center I help at was taking #1 through #7 and selling it mixed. That buyer closed up and nobody else wanted the higher numbers, they ended up selling the last truckload of mixed for $0.01/pound just to get rid of it. Back to only accepting #1 and #2 now.

[johnbrickner]

Here in The 'Cuse of NY they take our plastic in recycling bins. I personally throw every plastic with a # on it in, only today the rejected my polystyrene for the first time. Left it laying on the lawn. In my mind, if they put a number on it, it should be recycled. If not, it's needs to be biodegradable, easily.

[Dr. Cadmium]

The plastic market is still reeling from the drop in oil prices last year. A lot of the supply chains are still collapsing. #6 has always been tough, but it's almost completely worthless right now.

Most of the single stream recycling systems make their money off of the aluminum, steel and paper and use those profits to cover the costs of the plastic. I think in the good systems any of the profits from #1 and #2 plastic are balanced out by the cost of sorting and disposing the higher # plastics.

A couple of years ago my local town dump was getting $65/GT for mixed single-stream recycling (plastics #1-7, steel cans, aluminum cans, paper, cardboard). A few months ago it was down to $15/GT. I don't think it has improved much since then.

[hobo finds]

In the City Blue Bin Program here they take all plastics, even computer cases and plastic outdoor chairs. They don't want Styrofoam but I put it in as like mentioned it has a recycling number on it! They don't want plastic grocery bags either so I take them back to the food store as they have bins to recycle these. Also some places here buy #1 & #2 plastic prices go from $.02 to $.45 depending on plastic. Most of these places are trying to take them to Cail for the CRV...

[AGgressive Metal]

Cincinnati has one of the best systems going if I understood it correctly while I was there using it. You get a trash bin and a single stream recycling bin from same company - Rupke - on behalf of the city of Cincinnati. They pick both up for free. The money they make from the aluminum, steel, plastic, glass, cardboard, etc covers most of the landfill & collection cost for the regular trash, paid by the city. So the city is able to offer its taxpayers nearly "free" (no specific fees) sanitation and be environmentally friendly at the same time. It also means fewer public pension obligations in the future. You also get a third bin for yard waste that goes to a compost site where anyone with proof of Cincinnati residence can go and get free compost for their lawn & garden.

[hobo finds]

Cincinnati has one of the best systems going if I understood it correctly while I was there using it. You get a trash bin and a single stream recycling bin from same company - Rupke - on behalf of the city of Cincinnati. They pick both up for free. The money they make from the aluminum, steel, plastic, glass, cardboard, etc covers most of the landfill & collection cost for the regular trash, paid by the city. So the city is able to offer its taxpayers nearly "free" (no specific fees) sanitation and be environmentally friendly at the same time. It also means fewer public pension obligations in the future. You also get a third bin for yard waste that goes to a compost site where anyone with proof of Cincinnati residence can go and get free compost for their lawn & garden.

Wow that's great! We pay $16 a month for once a week garbage and recycling pick up and 2 times a year bulky items and brush collection. I wish they would do compost! Seems crazy to just add to the landfill. I know the University is starting a Compost Cats Program where they are taking stuff from the U of A to a local Indian Tribal land and starting a composting program. From brush and lawn debris to food waste from the campus. Hopefully this will grow and the city can join the program. http://www.compostcats.com/

[hobo finds]

Just got a notice from the city of Tucson. A $.45 Recycling Surcharge

The Mayor and Tucson City Council on Tuesday approved a new fee to help fund recycling within the Environmental Services (ES) department. ES says sales of recyclable materials have declined, estimating it will receive no revenue from sales during the next fiscal year. In addition, ES will pay more than $200,000 for processing recyclables.

The residential recycling surcharge initially will be set at 45 cents per month, which would yield an estimated $767,100 per year. The surcharge will be adjusted quarterly in increments of 15 cents when recycling revenues rebound in $250,000 increments. When revenue for recycling exceeds $750,000 annually, the surcharge will end.

For commercial accounts, there will be a 5 percent increase in collection fees.

They state that "the funding the City of Tucson receives from selling recyclable materials has recently dropped from more than $1 million per year to zero as a result of world economic factors".