Flexible plastic political signs that people put in their yards and along roadways have become synonymous with the election process in the United States.
But they have an expiration date, otherwise known as election day.
PureCycle Technologies Inc., which operates a polypropylene recycling facility in Ironton, Ohio, is helping find a new life for those signs once the ballots have been cast and the winners revealed.
The Orlando, Fla.-based company worked with Seminole County, Fla., and the local League of Women Voters to collect nearly 800 pounds of used PP campaign signs during primary elections this year. They will now be recycled by PureCycle, which uses a solvent process to create virgin-like PP from used resin in Ironton.
PureCycle CEO Dustin Olson sees the recent collection as a model that can be used elsewhere to rescue the signs from disposal.
"This has been a fantastic partnership with Seminole County and the League of Women Voters. Most importantly, this group has now created a blueprint of how we can do this around the country. I look forward to seeing even more signs collected and recycled during the upcoming general election in November and for years to come," he said in a statement.
Cathy Swerdlow is president of the League of Women Voters in Seminole County. "It is great to see collaboration like this. These signs are an important part of the election process, but we needed a way to make sure they don't end up in landfills or our beautiful lakes and rivers. Now, we have a program for collection and a solution to recycle these signs," she said in a statement.
Along with Seminole County, collection efforts also will take place in Brevard County, Fla., and Lawrence and Scioto counties in Ohio after the upcoming election.