York County residents can look forward to seeing a reduction of plastic bags in the area — a 500 pound reduction.
“Plastic bags are the bane to the existence of a material recycling facilities,” said Laurel Halperin, the waste services manager for York County. “A lot of people aren’t aware they you can’t recycle them like other plastics.”
Plastic film products, such as plastic bags or shrink wrap, are not supposed to be included in curbside recycling, Halperin said, because they can’t be processed like other plastics and end up harming the recycling machinery when they are mixed with regular recycling.
However, plastic film is still a problem, and York County Waste Management wants to encourage residents to properly dispose of it.
In an attempt to reduce plastic film pollution, the Trex Co., a recycled materials manufacturer of wood-alternative outdoor items, has pledged to give the county free benches if 500 pounds of plastics are collected for recycling within six months, said Gail Whittaker, public information officer for York County.
The York County Beautification Committee hopes to make the recycling effort an ongoing project and to earn multiple benches. If the county is able to collect the 500 pounds multiple times, the committee plans to donate the benches first to county schools and then place them in other public areas.
For the first iteration of the program, plastic bags will be collected through August. Residents can bring plastic film products in any container to various locations to be weighed in 30-pound bags, which are estimated to hold about 600 plastic bags each.
Collection will take place at Yorktown Market events, which will be the second Sunday in May and third Saturday during the following months. The Waste Management Center will also be collecting the trash during operating hours from 7 to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Both branches of the the libraries in York County will accept collections during regular operating hours as well.
At each location, 30-pound bags will be weighed and then taken to Food Lion, where they will be transported to the Trex Company.
For more information, visit York County’s waste management website.
