The Carolinas Plastics Recycling Council has a clear message: Recycling plastic bottles creates jobs.
The council and the Association of Plastic Recyclers is out with a new video, this time focusing on high density polyethylene recycling in North Carolina.
The video, called "Real People, Real Jobs, Recycle," shows the work of ReCommunity, Plastic Revolutions, Crumpler Plastic Pipe and Burt's Bees in plastics recycling.
The video is part of the Your Bottle Means Jobs campaign from the council.
"North Carolina's local industries import recycled bottles from abroad and other states to meet their demands. When households recycle just two more bottles a week, they need to know that they are helping support Carolina jobs," said YBMJ Campaign leader Blair Pollock said in a statement. "In fact, a recent poll found that 66 percent of people ages 18-34 would be more likely to recycle if they knew what happened to their recycling after it hits the recycling bin. This video demonstrates the recycling process in a fresh, innovative way."
Domestic plastic recycling capacity is becoming more important as China moves to eliminate imports through its ongoing National Sword campaign, the council said.
"The future success and growth of the plastics recycling industry depends on two things — increased supply of material to process and increased demand," said Steve Alexander, executive director of APR, in a statement. "Many HDPE applications today can use more recycled content, so any effort to increase supply is critical.
"This program highlights a natural, easy-to-implement activity for any household that will have a tremendously positive impact on the most pressing need for the recycling community," Alexander continued.
The campaign estimates 300 jobs would be created that if every household in the Carolinas recycled two additional bottles each week.
"Recycling creates jobs in North Carolina and provides recycled plastic for our packaging," said Matt Kopak, sustainable business and innovation manager for Burt's Bees, in a statement. "This helps to reduce our environmental impact by extending the useful life of our material inputs."
