If you set aside every yogurt cup, sour cream, cool whip and cottage cheese container you use, it quickly becomes obvious how much plastic you actually buy - and in my case are unable to recycle curbside.
Why--is the question I have--can we not recycle everything with a little triangle on it at the curb? I had to do a little digging to find my answer:
#5 plastic, or polypropylene, is a lightweight yet durable plastic that can withstand high temperatures, moisture and oil, making it ideal for food and other containers. In fact, my local Chinese restaurant puts their carry-out in black containers with clear lids, both of which are labeled #5.
Up until recently, most curbside recycling programs only accepted plastic bottles (no caps please) but that is starting to change.
“[#5 plastics] are not main-stream, but that’s because it takes a while for things to catch on,” says Judith Dunbar, the director of environmental and technical issues (plastics) for the American Chemistry Council. Many reclaimers are starting to find ways to incorporate polypropylene into other products; garbage and recycling bins, water filtration systems, shipping pallets, sheeting and automotive battery casings are just a few of the products that can be made out of recycled polypropylene.
Where Can I Recycle #5?
If your community doesn’t have curbside #5 recycling, find a Preserve Gimme 5 location.
Preserve, a maker of household goods that utilize 100 percent recycled plastics and post-consumer paper, has partnered with Organic Valley and Stonyfield Farms to help capture #5 plastics before they end up in landfills. You can either drop your #5 plastic containers off at designated Whole Foods locations or mail them directly to Preserve, where they will be remade into items such as razors, toothbrushes, cutlery and mixing bowls—all of which are fully recyclable. In fact, Week 4 - of my 52 Ways to Go Green Get Lean or Die Trying, I switched to a Preserve toothbrush.
The bottom line is – you don’t have to pitch all that #5 plastic and there is hope that we will someday be able to put it in our curbside bins. But until then, same as any movement, the more people who try to recycle polypropylene, the more widespread and easier it will become. “It’s really a volume issue, just like anything else,” Dunbar says. “If you don’t have a lot of volume, then it’s not going to sell.” And like any other business - your recycling efforts will be rewarded if someone stands to make a buck at the end of the day. So start recycling those #5’s and help create a demand for recycled polypropylene!
