HARTFORD - A new industry demand for a wider variety of recycled plastic is fueling a wider recycling effort on the part of the Connecticut Resource Recovery Authority (CRRA). Starting this May, residents of the 64 cities and towns served by CRRA will be able to recycle all plastic food and beverage containers, not just those made from No. 1 and No. 2 plastics. According to CRRA, "Recycling depends on the ability to sell recycled materials to processors who manufacture them into new products." The authority has invested $65,000 to facilitate the recycling effort.
Says CRRA President Thomas Kirk of the new program: "For years people have wanted us to take all their plastic containers, not just the [type] ones and twos." Now households can recycle ketchup bottles, plastic ice cream containers, yogurt cups, margarine tubs and lids, cream cheese tubs and lids, lunchbox-size pudding and gelatin cups and sour cream tubs. Not on the list, however, are foam plastics such as Styrofoam and polystyrene foam, plastic film, or food wrap, sandwich bags, dry-cleaning bags, trash bags and shopping bags, or any jug or bottle that held motor oil, paint, antifreeze, fertilizers, insecticides or (in what may seem unfair to the gardeners among us) plant and seedling pots and trays.
