A new training video from the Association of Postconsumer Plastics Recyclers (APR), Washington, is designed to help grocery stores generate maximum revenue from in-store recycling efforts.
The video, “Baling Rigid Plastics for Greatest Value,” was produced by APR in collaboration with Publix Super Markets and the American Chemistry Council (ACC), Washington. The purpose of the video is to help chain and regional grocers and other large volume generators of highly recyclable rigid plastics understand the financial benefits and operational considerations of baling No. 2 high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and No. 5 polypropylene (PP) rigid plastic packaging.
“There is great value in grocery store plastics,” says Liz Bedard, director of the APR Rigid Plastics Recycling Program. “The Grocery Store Recycling Project is all about capturing good material for recycling. Baling the material adds good economic value, and we want to make it easy for grocers to see how they can enhance the value of the material by baling it.”
Highlighting best practices for baling rigid plastic containers using a horizontal baler that produces large dense bales, the video will be of particular interest to grocery distribution managers, recycling/return center operators and waste/zero waste managers, APR says.
“With over 1,100 stores, Publix recycles tons of rigid plastics every week,” says Kim Brunson, manager of Publix Recycling & Solid Waste. “Baling has become part of Publix’s best management practices and is simply the right thing to do.”
“An Economic Overview of Recycling Grocery Rigid Plastics,” released by APR in April 2015, detailed the key benefits of recycling rigid plastic packaging generated in-store by large numbers of supermarkets. Based on results of this metric-based study and data from previous APR studies conducted with major grocery chains, source separating and centrally baling high volumes of bulky rigid plastic packaging can lead to new revenue for grocers, the organization says.
The video and more information about recycling grocery rigid plastics are available at RecycleGroceryPlastics.org.