Dispose


Litter on East Coast Park photo courtesy: WikiMedia Commons* photo credit: Vaidehi Shah, Singapore


of your Disposables


In the era of silicone straws and reusable storage bags, conservation and sustainability have become a top priority for consumers in their daily lives. But when it comes to parties and events, many find them- selves perusing the bulk stores for plastic silverware, paper plates, and disposable serving dishes, spending substantial money on products that will ultimately end up in a landfill.


Even with the best intentions of recycling, consumers may actually be doing more harm than good. Improper recycling is one of the biggest problems. Contamination occurs when food waste gets into the recycling system, such as when people throw used paper plates or greasy pizza boxes into the recycling. Paper cups, which have a thin coating of plastic to hold the beverages without leaking, are not recyclable.


The other big problem is unsuitable recyclables, such as when cardboard materials get wet from the rain, or soda cans are smashed flat. The sorting machinery will not correctly recognize these items and they often are sent to the wrong area, adding more contamination to the recyclables. Contaminated loads of recyclables will not be purchased by reprocessors, forcing the collection facilities to discard the entire load as trash.


In early 2019, the contamination issue became even more serious: “China, once the biggest single processor of recycling, said in the spring that it would no longer accept loads of recyclable items - such as plastic, glass, cardboard, and metals - that were more than 0.5 percent contaminated. Officials said they were trying to cut down on pollution from processing dirty. recyclables…. Philadelphia’s contamination rate is anywhere from 15 percent to 20 percent.” [1]


4­ 2 november­z December­2019


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