Recycling program saves plastics from landfills in Missouri

Missouri Botanical Garden set a new recycling record in 2007 when it collected more than 100,000 pounds of horticultural plastic. The recycling program has collected more than 300 tons of waste during the past 10 years, saving the plastic from disposal in landfills. During the last four years, the program was extended to greenhouses and nurseries.

This year, collection centers will be available year-round.

“It is increasingly apparent that our disregard for the reuse of plant containers ends in millions of pounds of plastic being wasted into landfills each year,” said Steve Cline, manager of the Kemper Center for Home Gardening and recycling program founder. “Providing an alternative to pitching pots by offering a program to recycle them has sparked a sense of loyalty to doing the right thing. We continue to be impressed with the public and green-industry response to this effort.”

The horticulture pots and trays are transformed into plastic landscaping timbers.

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For more: Missouri Botanical Garden, (314) 577-9561; www.mobot.org/hort/active/plasticpots.shtml.