Plastic recycling at MAFB

  • Published
  • By Frank Carpenter
  • 341st Civil Engineer Squadron
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE, Mont. --  Plastics are an important part of our modern lives. They are used to manufacture many of the products that we use on a daily basis like containers, toys and furniture. This large use of plastics means individuals need to make an effort to recycle it. Currently, plastics make up more than 12 percent of our trash

Below are a number of plastic recycling facts:

· Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour, most of which are thrown away.
· Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator.
· Americans throw away 25,000,000,000 plastic foam coffee cups every year.
· Over 1,600 businesses are involved in recycling post-consumer plastics.
· Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic can be recycled into clothing, fiberfill for sleeping bags, toys, stuffed animals, rulers and more.
· Only around 27 percent of plastic bottles are recycled.
· Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures a year. Ever heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? It's twice the size of Texas and is floating somewhere between San Francisco and Hawaii. It's also 80 percent plastic, and weighs in at 3.5 million tons.
· When small particles from photodegraded plastic bags get into the water, they are ingested by filter feeding marine animals. Bio toxins like poly chlorinated biphenyl (PCB) that are in the particles are then passed up the food chain, including up to humans.
· It has been estimated that recycling, re-use and composting create six to ten times as many jobs as waste incineration and landfills.
· Recycling saves three to five times the energy generated by waste-to-energy plants, even without counting the wasted energy in the burned materials.
· Over 13 percent of plastic packaging was recycled in 2008.
· The recycling rate of 32.5 percent in 2006 saved the carbon emission equivalent of taking 39.4 million cars off the road, and the energy equivalent of 6.8 million households' annual energy consumption, or 222.1 million barrels of oil.
· At least 90 percent of the price of a bottle of water is for things other than the water itself, like bottling, packaging, shipping and marketing.
· The U.S. produced 827,000 to 1.3 million tons of plastic PET water bottles in 2006, requiring the energy equivalent of 50 million barrels of oil. Over 76 percent of these bottles ended up in landfills.
· Because plastic water bottles are shielded from sunlight in landfills, they will not decompose for thousands of years.
· Recycling one ton of plastic saves the equivalent of 1,000-2,000 gallons of gasoline.
· Sixty six percent of energy is saved when producing new plastic products from recycled materials instead of raw (virgin) materials.
· For every one ton of plastic that is recycled we save the equivalent of two people's energy use for one year, the amount of water used by one person in two months' time and almost 2,000 pounds of oil.
· A survey was done and 9 out of 10 people surveyed said they would recycle more if it was easier. Odd as it seems there are many people who do not realize that plastic bottles our water comes in is made out of oil. This is the same oil that is used to make gasoline. It's the same oil that is in such high demand and is not an unlimited resource.

341st Civil Engineer Squadron Environmental Flight, in partnership with Steel Etc., has established a plastic recycling program for Malmstrom AFB. Malmstrom residents, employees and retirees can drop off clean plastic products at the base recycle center located next on 74th St. N. adjacent to the car wash. The following plastics are accepted for recycling.

  Number 1 Plastics -- PET or PETE (polyethylene terephthalate) found in: soft drink, water and beer bottles; mouthwash bottles; peanut butter containers; salad dressing and vegetable oil containers; oven-able food trays. Recycled into: polar fleece, fiber, tote bags, furniture, carpet, paneling, straps and (occasionally) new containers
 
Number 2 Plastics -- HDPE (high density polyethylene) found in: milk jugs; juice bottles; bleach, detergent and household cleaner bottles; shampoo bottles; some trash and shopping bags; motor oil bottles; butter and yogurt tubs; cereal box liners. Recycled into: laundry detergent bottles, oil bottles, pens, recycling containers, floor tile, drainage pipe, lumber, benches, doghouses, picnic tables, fencing

  Number 3 Plastics -- V (Vinyl) or PVC found in: window cleaner and detergent bottles, shampoo bottles, cooking oil bottles, clear food packaging, wire jacketing, medical equipment, siding, windows, piping. Recycled into: decks, paneling, mud flaps, roadway gutters, flooring, cables, speed bumps, mats

The recycle center cannot accept plastic shopping bags or other types of plastics at this time. Shopping bags may be dropped off at most grocery stores around town.