What to do with hard-to-recycle items? This start-up can help
In California, Ridwell helps dispose of items that are difficult to recycle, from corks and light bulbs to batteries and plastic bottle caps
Newspaper? No problem. Tin cans? Sure. Plastic bottles? Easy. But what about batteries, corks or granola bar wrappers? Even the most ardent of recyclers would struggle to find a service that gives new life to those.
Take bread tags, for example. The bread tag is a seemingly innocuous facet of everyday life. The tiny, usually plastic, closure keeps bread fresh until a loaf is done, when it is unceremoniously tossed into the rubbish – if it has not already fallen down the dreaded crack between the fridge and the counter first.
Sure, those little clasps could be reused for other closure needs, but more often than not, these small conveniences are thrown out.
Even if they make it into the recycling bin, the billions produced every year are going to end up in a landfill, a casualty that municipal recycling facilities just cannot handle because of their size.
But bread tags can be recycled. The #6 polypropylene just has to be separately delivered to a special recycler in mass quantities, and then the colourful tags can be melted down and transformed into a colourful bowl, food utensil or coaster.
