The city of Fayetteville, left holding the bag after collecting bales of plastic that no one is willing to recycle.
The city started accepting mixed plastics after a company from Oklahoma approached them about recycling the materials, but before they could drop off the first load that company went out of business.
The city still accepts plastic bottles coded number one or two, which includes clear and green soda bottles, milk jugs, and detergent bottles.
Brian Pugh, Fayetteville's Waste Reduction Coordinator says there is a strong domestic market for those materials, but no one wants to buy the bales of mixed plastics coded Numbers 3-7, like PVC pipe, Tupperware or reusable water bottles, and squeezable bottles like honey, mustard and ketchup.
Right now the only possible buyers Fayetteville has found are overseas, something the city council is uncomfortable with.
"They want to make sure that these materials that we do collect do end up making their way to a recycling facility where they can be re-manufactured into products for use in the future and not thrown away," Pugh says. "When it goes overseas, we really have no idea what happens to this material."
The city has to find another option, to make sure this plastic is recycled responsibly, and Pugh says if a solution is found, the city will start collecting mixed plastics again.
For more information about what the city can recycle, visit this site.
The city started accepting mixed plastics after a company from Oklahoma approached them about recycling the materials, but before they could drop off the first load that company went out of business.
The city still accepts plastic bottles coded number one or two, which includes clear and green soda bottles, milk jugs, and detergent bottles.
Brian Pugh, Fayetteville's Waste Reduction Coordinator says there is a strong domestic market for those materials, but no one wants to buy the bales of mixed plastics coded Numbers 3-7, like PVC pipe, Tupperware or reusable water bottles, and squeezable bottles like honey, mustard and ketchup.
Right now the only possible buyers Fayetteville has found are overseas, something the city council is uncomfortable with.
"They want to make sure that these materials that we do collect do end up making their way to a recycling facility where they can be re-manufactured into products for use in the future and not thrown away," Pugh says. "When it goes overseas, we really have no idea what happens to this material."
The city has to find another option, to make sure this plastic is recycled responsibly, and Pugh says if a solution is found, the city will start collecting mixed plastics again.
For more information about what the city can recycle, visit this site.
