A public outreach campaign in Connecticut boosted plastic film recycling, according to the American Chemistry Council.
ACC's Wrap Recycling Action Program expanded into the Greater Hartford market last year and increased the amount of plastic bags collected by 11 percent.
WRAP promotes store drop-off locations for the recycling of film including bags and wraps as a way to keep those items out of the curbside recycling stream. Plastic film causes equipment problems in many recycling plants that were not designed to handle the material.
The Connecticut WRAP program also saw a 7 percent collection increase in films other than bags and a 23 percent decrease in non-film packaging contamination, ACC said.
“Like WRAP campaigns conducted in other areas, Connecticut demonstrated that a dedicated team of recycling advocates can make a difference,” said Shari Jackson, who is director of film recycling at ACC and is involved with its Flexible Film Recycling Group.
FFRG includes companies from the entire polyethylene value chain to promote film recycling, according to ACC.
A survey after the public awareness campaign showed a 10 percent increase in the number of people who said they recycle plastic film at stores “most of the time” or “always/all of the time,” ACC said.
“These results are very encouraging and will help us meet Connecticut's goal of diverting 60 percent of our sate from disposal by 2024,” said Sherill Baldwin of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
