{"id":27633,"date":"2019-04-10T14:33:43","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T18:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cswd.net\/?p=27633"},"modified":"2020-08-17T13:25:44","modified_gmt":"2020-08-17T17:25:44","slug":"keep-calm-and-recycle-on-part-1-the-life-of-a-milk-jug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cswd.net\/general-topics\/keep-calm-and-recycle-on-part-1-the-life-of-a-milk-jug\/","title":{"rendered":"Keep Calm and Recycle On: Part 1, The Life of a Milk Jug"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The first in a series on recycling in Vermont.<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here at the Chittenden Solid Waste District, we geek out on recycling. As municipal solid waste managers, it\u2019s literally our job to be the local experts on how our community can best manage all the stuff we buy, use, and toss out. Plus, after 25 years of navigating recycling markets, we\u2019ve steered through all kinds of waters: smooth, choppy, and even downright stormy, which is where we\u2019ve been since 2013 when China started changing its policies on imported recycled scrap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly every major media outlet has reported on these\nchanges, and all of them have gotten much of it wrong. Recycling is way more\ncomplex than a dramatic headline.* What\u2019s more, it isn\u2019t the same everywhere in\nthe world, the U.S., or even in New England! Even for recycling geeks, it\u2019s a lot\nto wade through.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, we decided to cut through the crazy and break down how\nrecycling–specifically, \u201cblue-bin\u201d recycling\u2014really does work in Chittenden\nCounty and Vermont.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make it even simpler, we\u2019ll take it one material at a time, starting in this article with every Vermonter\u2019s favorite: The milk jug! For illustration\u2019s sake, let\u2019s say the milk you buy comes in a white plastic jug (the kind you can\u2019t see through). Here\u2019s how that jug spends its life in Vermont and beyond:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Step 1. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Your family drinks all the milk. You rinse the jug, put the cap on, and toss it in the recycling bin with all your other recyclables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 2. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Your trash and recycling hauling company picks up your recyclables or you bring them to a CSWD Drop-Off Center, and they go to CSWD\u2019s Materials Recovery Facility\u2014commonly called the MRF (rhymes with smurf)\u2014in Williston. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 3. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The workers and equipment at the MRF separate all those recyclables into different groups. Your white jug joins other colored containers, like laundry detergent and shampoo bottles, made of the same type of plastic\u2014HDPE. Milk jugs made from \u201cnatural\u201d HDPE (the kind you can<\/em> see the milk through), go in a separate bin with hundreds of others just like it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 4. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The MRF sells your white jug in a 700-pound bale of colored HDPE for about $300.00 to $400.00\/ton. The bale of natural HDPE sells for double that amount–about $750.00 to $850.00\/ton. Both loads go to a plastics processor in the eastern United States, which shreds, washes, and turns the plastic into pellets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 5. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A manufacturer buys the recycled HDPE pellets and uses them to make new bottles, drainage pipe, or maybe plastic pallets (for example).\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 6. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Someone buys the new product, and the jug starts its new life!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though recycling conserves resources when compared with making items from new or non-recycled materials, it clearly isn\u2019t free<\/em>. Every step in any recyclable\u2019s life involves labor, transportation, and energy costs. That\u2019s why reducing our consumption and extending product lifespans through reuse will always beat recycling when it comes to the overall environmental impact and sustainability of our choices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, recycling has\na role to play, even for materials like a magazine or glass bottle, which have\ndifferent stories to tell than the milk jug\u2014stay tuned for those! The bottom\nline is that CSWD works hard to build North American markets for Vermont\u2019s\nrecyclables, because keeping recyclables out of the landfill is at the heart of\nour mission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s so much more\nto tell, we can\u2019t wait to share it with you in our next installment. What do\nYOU want us to break down next? Send your questions to info@cswd.net<\/a>, and if you want to see it all happening up\nclose and in-person, come on a tour! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find out more about all our tours and workshops on our Programs & Learning Opportunities page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Want a deeper dive into China\u2019s role in global recycling markets? Check out this Resource Recycling timeline.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first in a series on recycling in Vermont. Here at the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27657,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"28013,27938,31215,23580,22318,28424","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,3],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKeep Calm and Recycle On: Part 1, The Life of a Milk Jug - CSWD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cswd.net\/general-topics\/keep-calm-and-recycle-on-part-1-the-life-of-a-milk-jug\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michele Morris\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cswd.net\/general-topics\/keep-calm-and-recycle-on-part-1-the-life-of-a-milk-jug\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cswd.net\/general-topics\/keep-calm-and-recycle-on-part-1-the-life-of-a-milk-jug\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michele Morris\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cswd.net\/#\/schema\/person\/ba31dbc30348194ead5adc56e526a251\"},\"headline\":\"Keep Calm and Recycle On: Part 1, The Life of a Milk Jug\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-10T18:33:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-17T17:25:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cswd.net\/general-topics\/keep-calm-and-recycle-on-part-1-the-life-of-a-milk-jug\/\"},\"wordCount\":673,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cswd.net\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cswd.net\/general-topics\/keep-calm-and-recycle-on-part-1-the-life-of-a-milk-jug\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cswd.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/mixed-recylables.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"General Topics\",\"Recycling\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cswd.net\/general-topics\/keep-calm-and-recycle-on-part-1-the-life-of-a-milk-jug\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cswd.net\/general-topics\/keep-calm-and-recycle-on-part-1-the-life-of-a-milk-jug\/\",\"name\":\"Keep Calm and Recycle On: Part 1, The Life of a Milk Jug - 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