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Plastic Recycling is Important
By Patrick J Hills

Plastic products have become an indispensable part of our daily lives as many objects of daily use are made from some kind of plastic. Special event containers collect tons of plastic bottles at many outdoor events. Plastic has many advantages over other materials as it costs less, resists corrosion and is highly flexible and strong. While all these properties make it the ideal material for making many substances, waste plastic can be a threat to the environment. The curbside recycling bins are evidence of the amount of plastics we use. Every breakroom should have some Bullseye recycling containers right next to the Rubbermaid recycling containers

Need for plastic recycling: Because of the advantages that plastic products offer, its use has increased plastic waste. Plastic has the property of not decomposing for a long time. This means that if thrown in landfills it will take thousands of years to decay. The manufacturing of plastic also consumes water and releases greenhouse gases in the atmosphere contributing to global warming. Plastic being light weight can be transported to long distance easily by water or air. It is also responsible for the deaths of many animals, fishes and birds. Hence, it is the need of the hour that plastic products must be recycled and must not end in landfills.

Plastic recycling and challenges: Plastic recycling offers a viable solution to these problems. It involves breaking down used plastic products and remolding them into usable products. Plastic recycling, however, is not as easy as recycling some other materials like metals and glass. This is because unlike metals like aluminum which can be mixed with other aluminum products and then recycled, plastic comes in many types, each carrying a resin identification code. Plastics with different resin codes need to be recycled separately.

How can you help: Follow the three Rs; Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Try to reduce the use of plastic - look for alternatives paper, cloth etc. Reuse: try to reuse plastic products as many times as you can - go for product-refills rather than new plastic containers and Recycle: learn the basics of plastic recycling. The first thing about plastic recycling is to identify the types of plastic. In most cases it is not difficult as most bottles and containers have this mentioned on them. Make sure that you clean the plastic before sending it for recycling so that it does not contaminate the recycling process. Next squash and squeeze the plastic bottles and containers so that they take less space in recycle bins and in the recycling facilities and finally use and promote the use of recycled plastic.

To help you in your recycling efforts, there are many types of recycling bins and all sizes and different shapes taking into account the diverse needs of users.

For more tips and information about Rubbermaid recycling bins, check out: http://www.recyclingsupply.com/outcon.html.

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