POTTSTOWN, PA — Pottstown has been chosen as the first municipality in all of North America to pilot an innovative recycling program that could drastically reduce waste heading to landfills.
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The new program will allow residents to recycle flexible plastic packaging — things like plastic bags, wraps, pouches, product packaging, potato chip bags, and more.
Typically, these types of plastics comprise a significant and growing portion of waste that goes to landfills. Now, they’ll be used to produce a new end recycled product called “rFlex.”
The pilot is possible thanks to a partnership organized by Materials for the Future, an industry-sponsored research collaborative, which searched around the nation for an appropriate partner.
They eventually connected with J.P. Mascaro and Sons, which received a $2.6 million grant from a group of corporate sponsors to install complex sorting equipment at their TotalRecycle facility in Exeter Township.
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Once J.P. Mascaro was selected, Pottstown was their obvious choice, both due to the proximity to the TotalRecycle facility, as well as the fact that they meet other requirements like having curbside recyclables collected in wheeled carts.
“Our company is thrilled to have been chosen by the MRFF for this Pilot Program,” Joseph P. Mascaro, Sr., the company director of sustainability, said in a statement. “We have purchased and installed all the new automated optical sorting equipment needed to recycle FPP, and we are excited to add FPP to the Borough of Pottstown’s existing curbside recycling program.”
The program represents a reversal of the longstanding rules of recycling, and will certainly take some getting to used to for local residents.
An informational display has been put up at Pottstown’s borough hall, and this flyer is being distributed to homes around the area. As soon as your home receives this flyer, you are eligible to begin recycling flexible plastics.
Officials are hopeful the pilot program in Pottstown will inspire other municipalities considering funding such projects.
The goal is to demonstrate that flexible plastic recycling is both possible and economical, and that money can be made from selling the “rFlex” end product.
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