Hdpe Plastic Bottles

Plastic Recycling Continues to Rise

Both the plastics industry and recyclers alike have seen year-over-year increases in the collection and recycling of plastic bottles, bags and wraps, according to multiple industry reports in recent months.

According to the 20th annual National Post-Consumer Plastics Bottle Recycling Report , from the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC), plastic bottle recycling by consumers increased by 46 million pounds in 2009, reaching a record high of nearly 2.5 billion pounds for the year.

"The pounds of bottles collected for recycling has grown each year since the industry survey began in 1990," an announcement of the APR/ACC report, released late last year, states. "The recycling rate for plastic bottles rose nearly 1 percent to reach 28 percent in 2009."

In a separate report, conducted by Moore Recycling Associates, Inc. , the ACC found that the recycling of post-consumer plastic bags and wraps reached a record high of nearly 855 million pounds in 2009. This number represents an increase of nearly 22 million pounds from 2008 and a 31 percent rise since 2005. According to the findings, published in the 2009 National Post-consumer Recycled Plastic Bag & Film report, recycling of all plastic film grew eight times faster than recycling overall during this period.

Material from post-consumer plastic bags and product wraps is recycled to make plastic lumber for backyard decks and fences, lawn and garden products, pallets, crates, containers, piping, automotive applications and new plastic bags.

Meanwhile, in a report on U.S. non-bottle recycling volume — packaging and non-packaging — the ACC shows that plastic recycling is increasing and demand for recycling is high. According to the recent findings, published in 2009 National Report on Post-Consumer Non-Bottle Rigid Plastic Recycling , nearly 480 million pounds of post-consumer rigid plastics was collected for recycling nationwide in 2009, representing a 33 percent increase over 2008 and a 47 percent increase since 2007.

These plastics include non-durable items or packaging such as high-density polyethylene (HDPE) tubs, polypropylene (PP) cups and similar food containers, as well as durable items such as pallets, crates, carts and electronic housings.

Industry data attribute the clear rise in recycling to increases in public awareness and drop-off location availability.

Receipt with BPA (Bisphenol A) Toxic Chemicals » Remove Toxic ...

Exposure from receipts

It gets worse. US News recently reported that BPA has also now been found to be present in ordinary cash register receipts, such as you get at your local supermarket. According to Science News, said US News, John C. Warner of the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry found that the majority of receipts in use today are coated with BPA. Warner contends that exposure from receipts is an even greater danger than exposure from other products, such as plastic bottles.

“When people talk about polycarbonate bottles,” said Warner, “they’re talking about nanogram quantities of BPA leaching out.” The average cash register receipt, Warner went on to say, contains something like 60 to 100 milligrams of free BPA. Free BPA is that BPA not bound into a polymer as in plastic bottles. Which means that this highly toxic substance is more easily ingested or inhaled.

Let’s say you go shopping at the supermarket and, thrifty shopper that you are, you read over your cash register receipt before leaving the store. You go home, unpack your groceries and start cooking dinner. Unless you’ve washed your hands very carefully after touching that cash register receipt, you’ve just loaded up your spaghetti and meatballs with toxic BPA. About the Author

DrClarkStore.com Self Health Resource Center was founded in 1993 by Geoff Clark, son of world recognized researcher, best-selling author and master herbalist Dr. Hulda Clark Ph.D, Biology. It was his mission to produce the purest, highest quality herbal supplements strictly following Dr. Clark’s formulations and protocols.

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