Q: How much will the recycling of these "rigid plastic" items reduce the garbage going into the city's Los Reales landfill?
A: At a news conference Thursday in which he proclaimed Tucson Recycles Week, Mayor Bob Walkup said he hopes this step will raise the amount of recyclables saved from landfills from 25 percent today to 30 percent. However, Shawn Tackitt, Waste Management's Western Recycling Group manager, later estimated the expansion will increase the amount of recycled materials by 1 percent.
Q: What happens to these plastics once the recycling plant takes them?
A: At the plant, they are separated and baled, and then shipped to China. There, manufacturers strip the plastic down to its basic elements, then wash and grind it into tiny pellets, less than 0.03 of an inch. Then, companies there will reshape the plastics into many of the same kinds of products that were originally sent to the Tucson recycling plant.
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Q: Why can't the Recycle America plant in Tucson accept other forms of plastics, such as yogurt containers, other dairy tubs and PVC pipes?
A: To do that, Waste Management would have to redesign its entire system at the plant, mostly because these items are too small or too large to fit in with the other recycled materials, Tackitt said.
Q: Will this ever change?
A: Yes, by July 2012, when a new recycling plant comes on line, said Fran LaSala, environmental manager for the city's Environmental Services Department. Proposals from private companies to build a new plant are due to the city on Nov. 16. The new plant will be designed to handle many, though not all, of the plastics that are now not accepted, he said. A city selection committee will choose a proposal, he said. The facility's cost will be paid by its new developer.
Q: Why is the city planning a new facility?
A: Its current contract with Waste Management to run the Recycle America plant will run out on June 30, 2012, LaSala said.
Compiled by reporter Tony Davis. Contact him at tdavis@azstarnet.com or 806-7746.
