After a two-year hiatus, the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority sponsored its fifth annual Plastic Film Recycling Challenge for local schools with the goal of promoting and educating youth and the community on proper film recycling. plastics, which cannot be recycled through regular sidewalks. recycling programs.
“In 2009, the New York State Plastic Bag Reduction, Reuse and Recycling Act went into effect. The law states that stores with 10,000 square feet or more of retail space and chains that operate five or more stores with more than 5,000 square feet of retail space and provide carrier bags plastic to customers are required to establish a store in store. plastic film recycling program and ensure that collected plastic film is recycled,” a statement noted.
As of March 1, 2020, a new statewide law prohibits the distribution of plastic carrier bags for all retailers required to collect New York State sales tax. These locations are still required to accept the return of plastic films for recycling.
For more information on the effects of this law, exempt bags, and more, please visit the New York State Bag Waste Reduction Act page on the New York Department of Conservation’s website. the environment.
Fourteen schools took part in the 2022 Plastic Film Recycling Challenge and had six weeks to collect plastic film for recycling.
Participating schools partnered with local grocery/retail stores and delivered the plastic wrap directly to them for proper recycling.
The initiative focused on collecting clean, dry plastic wrap to keep it from ending up in landfills in our area.
Thanks to the efforts of the 14 schools that participated in the challenge, more than 4,500 pounds of plastic film were collected for recycling in six weeks, the equivalent of recycling nearly 340,000 plastic grocery bags. Here are the schools ranked first and second in each category as well as other recognized schools.
Primary school
First place: ER Hughes Elementary School With 469 students, ER Hughes School collected 1,443 pounds of plastic wrap for recycling. This equates to 3.08 pounds per student. ER Hughes alone collected 32% of the plastic wrap in this challenge.
Second Place: Sauquoit Valley Elementary School With 390 students, Sauquoit Valley Elementary School collected 1,142 pounds of plastic wrap for recycling. This equates to 2.93 pounds per student. Sauquoit Valley Elementary School collected 26% of the total number of films reported in this challenge.
The Authority also recognized Clough School, Camden Elementary School, Owen D Young Central School, Myles Elementary School and Frankfort-Schuyler Elementary School for their excellent participation.
Middle School High School
First Place: Remsen Jr/Sr High School With 192 students, Remsen Jr/Sr High School collected 694 pounds of plastic wrap for recycling. This equates to 3.61 pounds per student.
Runner-up: Poland Central School With 550 students, Poland Central School collected 356 pounds of plastic wrap for recycling. This equates to 0.65 pounds per student.
The Authority also recognized Camden Middle School, Jarvis Middle School, Herkimer Jr/Sr High School, Thomas R Proctor High School and Mount Markham Middle School for their excellent participation.
ER Hughes Elementary School will receive presentations from the Utica “Zoomobile” and Remsen Jr/Sr High School will receive a Trex Decking Cornhole Set – made from recycled plastic film.
This year, all participating schools will receive an engraved Trex deck board (made from recycled plastic film) to champion their recycling efforts.
For more information on recycling and waste disposal, visit www.ohswa.org.