“Doing Our Share” “Plastics 101”

1. “Doing Our Share”“Plastics 101” Becky SecrestTechnical Consultantto the Plastics Division,American Chemistry Council October 17, 2007 Waterville Valley, New Hampshire

2. Plastic Packaging Resins • #1 PET-Polyethylene Terephthalate • #2 HDPE-High-density Polyethylene • #3 PVC-Polyvinyl Chloride • #4 LDPE-Low Density Polyethylene • #5 PP-Polypropylene • #6 PS-Polystyrene • #7 Other- Other resins-e.g. PC-Polycarbonate; PET with barrier; HDPE with additives

3. More resins • Engineering thermoplastics • Nylon • Polyester • Polycarbonate • ABS

4. Where do we recycle? • Households • HDPE bottles • PET bottles • Plastic bags • Other plastic containers

5. Where else do we recycle? • Office buildings • Schools • Churches • Farms • Construction sites • Apartment houses

6. Recycling PlasticBottles

7. Who’s Who • MRF: Buys loose material off trucks; sorts and bales plastic bottles; sells in large loads. May have automatic sorting. • Reclaimer: Buys bales from MRF. Breaks bales open, sorts again, grinds to “dirty flake”. May sell dirty flake, or may wash it and sell it clean. • Convertor: Buys flake from reclaimers. Further processes into pellets, may process flake directly to intermediate raw material such as fiberfill. May be an end-user. • End-User: The re-manufacturer of a consumer product. May be carpet, fleece jackets, strapping, etc.

8. Plastic Bottles – Current Conditions • Collections and recycling rate continue to increase • U.S. reclaimers continue to need more supply to meet plant capacity • Export markets continue to compete for US collected material Source: NAPCOR, American Chemistry Council

9. PET: 23.1% recovery rate Domestic Reclaimers: 681 mm.lbs. Export: 487 mm.lbs. HDPE: 27.1% recovery rate Domestic Reclaimers: 791 mm.lbs. Export: 162 mm.lbs. 2005 Recycling Status Source: NAPCOR, American Chemistry Council

10. Plastic Bottle Recycling Rate Drivers • Value retention for bales = more careful sorting • Single-stream recycling grew • Several new communities switched to “all plastic bottles” collection programs

11. All Plastic Bottle Programs Keep Growing 2003 database: 1,617 Communities 2007 database: 2,075 Communities A 28 percent increase nationwide in all bottles collection programs in our database since 2003.

12. All Plastic Bottle Programs Keep Growing Some states have seen dramatic increases in all plastic bottle programs since 2003: California: 123 – 185 (50%) Washington: 69 – 125 (81%) Wisconsin: 24 – 32 (33%) Florida: 57 – 79 (38.5%) West Virginia 11 – 21 (90%) Kansas: 0 – 48

13. Other Plastics Collection 45 percent of communities that collect all plastic bottles collect other plastics

14. Collection Methods

15. All Plastic Bottles and Single-Stream • Of surveyed communities with a single-stream program: • 46 percent reported switching to all plastic bottles collection when they began single-stream collection • 54 percent reported switching to all plastic bottles before going to single-stream.

16. Going to All Bottles 92 percent of responding communities said that going to an all plastic bottles collection program increased recovery levels of PET and HDPE Sample Community Increases: A: Over 5 years, from 195 to 482 tons - 147 % B: Over 2 years, from 619 to 673 tons - 8.7 % C: Over 2 years, from 90 to 100 tons - 10 %

17. Sample Messages:Check the neck! Only recycle plastic bottles with necks smaller than their bases.Plastic bottles and containers #1-7Now you can recycle more plastics... Education Messages • 70 percent of responding communities educate • more than once per year. • Many coordinators said the resin numbers • are a confusing educational tool and the • “All Bottles” message is far easier for the • public to understand.

18. Would They Do it Again? • 83 percent of responding communities said that given the chance, they would switch to an all plastic bottles program again • 96 percent of responding communities said that they would recommend collecting all bottles to those considering making such a move.

19. Other Findings • Importance of Contracts • Many municipal programs that contract with a recycler for collection and processing lack useful data on tonnage, contamination or processing costs. • Communities with specific data reporting requirements tied to their hauler/processor contracts have more control over their program. This allows • for targeted improvements in education to boost participation and reduce contamination, as well as additional leverage to negotiate fees, revenues, etc.

20. Observations • When communities go single stream, most start collecting all plastic bottles. It’s important to be precise/thorough with education. Audits are key. • Contracts are important to aid in program improvement and development. • Communities that have specific data reporting requirements in their contracts have more control over their program and more leveraging power

21. Observations Enthusiasm for all plastic bottle collection is strong and programs continue to grow An increasing number of communities want to collect more plastics than “All Bottles”, e.g. rigid containers Communities collecting rigid plastic containers are growing also Some municipalities are also collecting film plastics

22. Community Experience with recycling Non-Bottle Rigids • Most are not sure how their MRF is sorting them or where they are being marketed • Public education is completely inconsistent • Markets seem to be mostly export

23. Other Resins • PET and HDPE comprise over 95% of plastic bottle market • Polypropylene (PP) is 2% of market, can be blended into RHDPE at up to 5%. • 10.1 million lbs of PP recycled in 2005 – VIRTUALLY ALL FROM CAPS ON BOTTLES

24. Mixed Rigid Plastics • Bulky HDPE, #3-7 Bottles, #1-7 containers Markets expect 70% bulky HDPE and 30% bottles and containers • Commingled Bottles and Containers (no PS foam) Markets expect 40% each PET and HDPE bottles and 20% #3-7 bottles and #1-7 containers • Non-Bottle Rigid Containers (NBR) Polyolefin containers with wide necks and no screw tops (margarine tubs and yogurt cups, PET take- out containers

25. Bulky Plastics Market Specs

27. Why add NBRs? • To reduce the amount of monitoring • Desire to recycle as much as possible • New markets/more acceptable materials • Regional markets present local opportunity • More knowledge of export markets

28. When to include NBRs? • Coincided with switch to single-stream or other major program change – • When hauler suggested it – • Coincided with contract change –

29. Educational Messages #1 - 7 stiff plastics Plastics #1 - #7, rinsed Containers, #1 - #7 Containers only, empty, with recycling symbols #1 through #7 All plastic bottles, #2 and #5 dairy tubs, #1 peanut butter and condiment jars Rigid plastic containers and bottles, # 1-7, plastic tubs and lids (butter, yogurt, cottage cheese)

30. Markets www.plasticsresource.com caplasticsmarkets.com Local niche markets allplasticbottles.com

31. Interviews with Markets Some tubs and cups are coming in with baled HDPE bottles. Probably not the result of deliberate action, but mistakes in sorting and identification Tubs and cups are troublesome to HDPE and PP bottle recyclers due to incompatible melt index

32. Summary Non-bottle rigid container recycling by communities is still the exception, not the rule There is no standardized terminology, either among the community coordinators or their haulers/processors, about what the category “non-bottle rigid containers” includes

33. Summary Most non-bottle rigid plastics are still exported to be recycled Domestic markets do exist for miscellaneous HDPE and PP products such as crates and buckets, but this grade does not include tubs and cups, even though they appear in those bales Tubs and cups baled and marketed in the Mixed Rigids grade or the Commingled Bottles and Containers grade may or may not be recycled

34. Summary Injection molded olefin tubs and cups as their own grade do have markets, baled and in truckload quantities, but it might take a very long time for a community to generate a marketable quantity There is a definite need for standard terminology that recycling coordinators can understand, along with some training on marketing these grades of plastics.

35. Recycling Plastic Film • Large grocery chains • Retail merchants • Distribution warehouses • Municipal collections

36. Film in the Marketplace • Out of all the plastics in the waste stream, film makes up the largest portion by category. • More film is used in the commercial sector than the residential sector (including retail bags)

37. Markets TREX) AERT NextLife Fortune Plastics TIMI Plastics AAA Polymer Export Market Handlers & Haulers Check with your local haulers to see who is working with regional markets Local/regional collection sites such as grocery stores Film Markets (a few examples)

38. Opportunities • The scrap price for clean, clear film on the East Coast is around $0.25 per pound (delivered) • Approximately $10,000 per truckload • Markets for clean pigmented film also exist • Therefore there is a huge opportunity to not only recover more of our waste, but there is an economic opportunity as well.

39. Challenges in Film Recovery • Lack of education in both public and private sector • Efficient collection or consolidation (like all recyclables) • Film is particularly challenging because of its low weight to volume ratio (like all plastics but film is even more so)

40. Challenges in Film Recovery • There are select wash lines on the East Coast, but dirty material continues to be an issue. • While some MRF operators can effectively pull and market scrap film, others struggle with film in their system and would rather not see more of it….especially since we measure diversion based on weight. • Optimum plastic film and bag recovery through the grocery/retail system.

41. Screen In A Single Stream MRF

42. Residential Collection Programs • Seattle, WA was first city to collect plastic bags curbside. Tacoma, WA followed. • More than 40 CA communities collect plastic bags curbside. • Successful plastic bag and film collection program in Minneapolis/St.Paul MN called Its In the Bag. • Rhode Island is collecting and recycling film. • Haycore single stream MRF currently bales film from its plant in Canada. • Other communities are exploring curbside collection of plastic bags.

43. Commercial Collection Programs • More haulers are recognizing the economic benefit (to them and their customers) in film collection combined with cardboard collection since plastic film/bags have a higher value than cardboard. • Haulers are now picking up bagged (with OCC) or baled plastic bags/film in the following counties: • Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Fresno, Sacramento, LA, Sonoma, Alameda, and Santa Barbara. • There are additional programs throughout the US. In addition to grocers and big retailers such as Wal-Mart, smaller generators are now recovering plastic film through services from haulers who collect clean film with OCC. If you generate plastic film ask if your hauler will handle it with OCC also.We can help them with market info.

44. OCC and Film Collection

46. Grocery or Retail Drop-offs

47. Web Site Featureswww.plasticbagrecycling.org • Film Identification • Calculator • Market Database • How to set up a program • Handling and Loading Guidelines • How to make weight • Equipment Info • Signage

48. Info on how to make weight