The Association of Plastic Recyclers organized public tours in MRFs and plastic processing facilities in more than 20 cities during the month of May. | SeventyFour/Shutterstock
In an effort to increase public trust in recycling, the Association of Plastic Recyclers has started a month-long effort to bring the public into materials recovery facilities.
Dubbed “Recycling in Action month,” APR has coordinated public tours in MRFs and plastic processing facilities in more than 20 cities during the month of May. APR owns Resource Recycling, Inc., publisher of Plastics Recycling Update.
States with tours span the U.S. and include Arizona, Georgia, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Texas and Washington.
“This May, recyclers across the country will be opening their doors to the public to showcase how plastic recycling really works,” APR wrote in a LinkedIn post, adding that the tours will allow “community members, local stakeholders and policy makers to see what happens after recyclables leave the curb.”
That will build trust in recycling by clearly connecting household-level recycling efforts to environmental and economic benefits, the organization added, and also will help show “the vital need to invest in more and improved recycling across the country.”
APR has an interactive map of the tour locations and is working to add tour sign-up links for them.
Steve Alexander, APR president and CEO, said that “recycling starts in millions of homes, but many people don’t know what happens next.”
“By seeing the process up close, we hope to inspire even greater participation and investment in recycling,” he added.
APR has run several other recycling transparency campaigns, pushing for tours over methods such as trackers.