While doing research for an article on horticultural recycling for Garden Center’s Project: Green series, I was thrilled when I came across a Web site of a recycler that specializes in horticultural and agricultural recycling, Southern Agri Recycle.
I’ve learned that recyclers are the big stumbling block in recycling horticultural pots. Not that it’s their fault. Recyclers handle every industry’s recycled goods, and there are a lot of extra steps needed to successfully recycle horticultural pots.
First, the pots are made from far too many different types of plastics. Take a look at the bottom of the pots in your store, and you’ll see No. 2, No. 5 or no recycling code marks.
Those three are the most common categories, but just about all seven of the recycling codes can end up on the bottom of a pot.
Since each plastic is processed differently -- such as melting at different temperatures -- you must sort them. Then there’s the dirt problem. A light dusting doesn’t matter too much, but how many pots are crusted in mud? Just a couple of those in a large delivery to a recycler can cause the entire load to be rejected.
Which brings me back to being thrilled at finding a recycler that understands horticultural pot recycling -- it specializes in hort pots. Cool!
Then I clicked to the contact page and found that the recycler is located in southern England, not the American South. Sigh.
I couldn’t resist setting up an interview, though. I wanted to see if the model could be replicated here in the U.S. And I have to say it seems to my uneducated self that it would be very easy to do.
Are you a sustainability geek, too? Then you’ll be interested in my interview with David Jones at Southern Agri Recycle.
