Can blister packaging be recycled?

[Melwing17]

Originally Posted by Onacara

Good points Melwig...

Another important tip is this...if you are putting say an empty pickle jar in the recycling bin do not put it in with the top on it. They are two separate recyclable materials and many recycling centers do not have the machines or manpower to remove the lid so the whol thing ends up going to the landfill. This also holds true for water/soda bottles as they are made of 2 different plastics.

Yes! Very true. Taking lids off of any containers (and throwing the lids away or reusing them for custom terrain, etc ) is equally important.

[cmgames]

Better yet, re-use them before they ever get back into the wastestream.

~Z

[mad_wookiee]

Originally Posted by Melwing17

When they see one improper item at the recycling plant, they consider that entire portion of the load contaminated and it ends up at the dump- not just your blister packaging, but all of the legitimately recyclable materials around it. They do not have time to sort out every item. That is why the recycle symbol system is placed on products. You need to think ahead a bit more- your heart is in the right place but unfortunately the opposite is true.

Honestly, this doesn't track for me. They'd be dumping everything if this were the case, as surely improper items are recycled constantly.

[Melwing17]

Originally Posted by mad_wookiee

Honestly, this doesn't track for me. They'd be dumping everything if this were the case, as surely improper items are recycled constantly.

I've volunteered in a recycling facility, and sadly it is the case. Sometimes there are private organizations that volunteer to sort out loads the recycling plant had to toss out, but it's not enough to keep up with it.

The entire load being thrown out every time is more of an simplification/exaggeration to make the point- even if the entire load isn't thrown out every time, the 'extra' stuff that makes it through contaminates the load enough that TONS more properly recycled product is required to make the end product. This is a big part of the reason they say it takes "3 recycled bottles to make 1 new one".

[Bobofdeath's Dad]

Originally Posted by Darkmage7a

Also whenever they recycle something you never get back as much as you put in. I talked to the buy as a glass bottle plant once and he said it takes about 3 glass bottles to get 1 recycled bottle.

That is a great point. I am all for recycling, but another thing to consider is how much energy is required to recycle those 3 bottles into 1. I am sure it is less energy than to create the bottle from raw resources.

I have wondered why pop is no longer sold in the reusable glass bottles. That was a 1 for 1 system. Just had to return and clean the bottle and it was ready to go. I found the answer when talking to an old guy who drove a pop truck years ago. The expense and time in delivering and returning the bottles was more than with aluminum cans.

As far as the recycling plants tossing whole loads, they have to do whatever will make there business economically viable. As a business they have to be more concerned about their bottom line than what percentage they are able to recycle.

That's a lot more than I planned to write.

[ollie]

Originally Posted by Bobofdeath's Dad

I have wondered why pop is no longer sold in the reusable glass bottles. That was a 1 for 1 system. Just had to return and clean the bottle and it was ready to go. I found the answer when talking to an old guy who drove a pop truck years ago. The expense and time in delivering and returning the bottles was more than with aluminum cans.

There's an easy answer to this one: switch to beer.

In my state at least, they still use the deposit and return model on glass beer bottles.

[jschild]

Mainly because businesses had to store those bottles until they were picked up for transport.

Do you want to have 500 glass bottles in your store, during summer, attracting thousands of bees and ants?

Although, they probably could be picked up more regularly now, since recycling is more standard these days.

[CanScape]

I sure hope it's recycleable, because I've spent a lot of time separating the plastic from the cardboard from my first purchases onward...I've got a pretty good system going, although getting all the plastic from the cardboard on a blister pack can slice your fingers if you're not careful.

As far as if they can do it, I think they can. When they recycle plastics, everything gets thrown in together...plastic bags, etc. At least that's what I've been told from the recycling depot. I'm not sure what quality grade of plastic you can retrieve from varying sources, but the way I look at it...it can't hurt (or maybe it can, depending on what they do with the waste plastic).

At least you can separate the cardboard...it's about doing what you can, after all. It pays to investigate locally and ask questions about what and how things get recycled.

[Melwing17]

CanScape- maybe it works that way in Canada, I don't know- but not down here.

Different kinds of plastic are very very different, really. There are tons of differences, but first and foremost we have to deal with the issue of food grade plastic vs. ... well, not food grade plastic.

At any rate- just another reminder- please don't recycle the plastic from these packages (or any other plastic not marked as recyclable). Reuse them if you can somehow- use them as packaging material like styrofoam if you're mailing something large. Or just throw them away- throwing them away is better than recycling them.

[SirGalahad]

Originally Posted by cmgames

Better yet, re-use them before they ever get back into the wastestream.

~Z

Precisely what we did for last night's "Scape in the New Year" party. Opened up eight of the Wave 10 boosters, cut away the cardboard and used them initially to hold order and wound markers and dice until people got situated, then used them as dice trays during the matches. They stack easily inside of each other for storage until the next event.

[That Guy0715]

I usually recycle them, but I'm not sure if they are recyclable.

[ElvenEnvy]

Originally Posted by Darkmage7a

The easy way to determine in a rough at home test (for plastic) is to simply ask the question " Does it melt before it burns?"
If it melts then it is usually recyclable. If it burns, or becomes brittle then it is never recyclable. To test this heat it up without using an open flame.

I decided to test this out with the help of my pellet stove. I held the plastic less than an inch away from the hot glass and it slowly limped down and was plyable for a few seconds after I pulled it away. It appears that the plastic melts before it burns.

While this supports that the plastic is probably recyclable, it is still unmarked and that makes it unwelcome at most recycling plants.