Editor's note: This was addressed to Jared Blumenfeld, director of the city of San Francisco's Department of the Environment.
We are writing this letter in response to reading your perspective (“City Works to Reduce Bag Waste”) in the June 19 issue of Plastic News.
It is not our intent to debate your perception of the issues of plastic bags; rather, we would like to offer you and the city of San Francisco a solution for this valuable source of recyclable material. In fact, we will also throw in a couple of plane tickets for you and Mayor Newsom to come tour our AERT recycling facilities and see and experience plastic recycling at work, firsthand.
AERT is currently working with a West Coast recycler (Rocky Mountain Recycling) and has been successfully recycling the plastic from Wal-Mart Stores “Sandwich Bale” program for more than six months. Many of these stores are in the Bay area. As demand for our low-maintenance building materials continues to increase, digging deeper into the plastic waste stream provides a valuable resource of plastic materials, which our company recycles into durable building materials.
For a closer look, please feel free to check out the Weyerhaeuser ChoiceDek at a Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse near you.
Hopefully San Francisco will consider closing the loop by seriously evaluating these products and other recycled-content products in the city's purchasing decisions.
In closing, markets are available, and AERT and several of our competitors write long-term contracts with guaranteed minimum floor prices so recycling programs remain sustainable. We hope you will accept our offer to come visit. Let's talk and do some business.
Joe G. Brooks
Advanced Environmental
Recycling Technologies Inc.
Springdale, Ark.