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"PLASTIC BOTTLES ONLY" 

-Recycling Program-

We can only take Plastic bottles with a 1 or a 2 on the bottom: soda bottles, water bottles, milk bottles, etc… If your plastic item is not a bottle, we cannot take it.

Why do we have a "Bottle Only Program"

The reason for the bottle only policy is that we can only process and sell #1 and #2 plastics (PET and HDPE).  These plastics are the only ones that we can feasibly process considering our space, equipment and quantity of incoming materials. We have to collect 40,000 pounds of a single product in order to sell it.  We currently have nine categories that we collect and store until we have 20 tons of that one product.  That is a lot of storage space! Two categories of plastics are all we can manage.  Since 95% of plastic bottles are #1 or #2s, those are the categories we've chosen to accept here.

So what if it has a #1 or a #2 on the bottom, but it is not a bottle?  Well, if the opening or mouth is larger than the rest of the container, then it is what's called an "injection molded plastic."  These plastics are considered a contaminant to a load, and cannot be accepted here.  Examples of this type of plastic would be butter tubs, yogurt containers, cottage cheese containers, sour cream containers, cups from fast food restaurants, etc.

Other items we have to avoid are the clear containers such as berry containers, cake covers, and containers from delis.  TV dinner trays are also not recyclable here.  Again, these are not bottles, and we cannot process them here.

So if your plastic item has a #1 or a #2 on it AND it has a neck (an opening smaller than the rest of the body,) then we can process it here.  There is one exception to that.  If it contained a petroleum product such as motor oil or antifreeze, it is not included in our load.  Please, refer to the explanation below.

Still confused or not sure about an item?  Please, ask us.  Just give us a call or stop by the office.  We'll try to help you out as best we can!

Click on pictures to enlarge

The PET Bottles are separated on the conveyor belt and  placed in our storage bin waiting to be bailed, Note that there are no other plastic items in this pile other than bottles!

HDPE Bottles, can you find something that does not belong in this pile?

It takes all the bottles in the plastic bottle PET or HDPE storage bin to make one of these bales!

Please no Motor oil containers!

Motor oil  contaminates the plastic formula when melted down for recycling. Therefore, all plastic bottles that have had oil in them are garbage unless they are thoroughly washed out first. We do not have the capability to wash these containers out at the recycling center and we would not know whether you had done so. Our sorters will place all motor oil containers directly in the garbage as they are sorted. So, please do not send or bring motor oil containers.

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Last modified: July 10, 2009