Plastics recycling in Philadelphia
Fellow Recyclers,
The next collection of #5 plastics will be this coming Saturday, March 20, from 10am to 1pm.
In response to requests from observant Jewish friends, we’ll also have a collection the following day, Sunday, March 21, from 11am to 1pm. We urge everyone who can make it on Saturday to do so, as we won’t have a full crew of workers on Sunday.
Both collections will take place at our usual location: the garage of the Weavers Way Co-op, at 542 Carpenter Lane, Mt. Airy, Philadlephia, which is across the street and a bit further down the block from the Big Blue Marble bookstore.
Please review the guidelines for the materials collected below.
See you next weekend!
Stevik
- for the Weavers Way Environment Committee
Gimme 5 Collection Guidelines
The #5 plastics category includes yogurt cups, sour cream containers, hummus tubs, some medicine bottles, and more. Your recyclables must be clean and dry to be accepted. Check to make sure there are no other materials (paper, screws, other number plastics) on the items you bring in. Impurities of any kind compromise the recycling process and usually lead to the discarding of an entire batch. Exclude any lids unless they are clearly marked #5. (Most lids from #5 containers are #4 plastic, but this is not always the case.)
We ask recyclers for a small donation to cover postage costs of mailing the recyclables to the Gimme 5 processing facility in New York.
Before bringing your #5s to the collection, be sure that they meet the requirements for Gimme 5:
* All items must be CLEAN and DRY. If they contained food or any oily or dirty product, make sure they have been washed, not just rinsed. Items stacked when wet tend to stay wet, so allow washed items to dry fully before stacking or packing.
* The #5 stamp needs to be visible on each item. Lids are separate items. Don’ t assume lids are the same number plastic as the container; sometimes they are but usually they are not. Check to make sure there are no other materials (labels, paper, other number plastics, metal) on the items you bring in.
Brita filters are also welcome! Let them air dry for several days to make sure they are completely dry.
