A new law in N.C. requires residents to recycle more items, including plastic bottles. This new law goes into effect Oct. 1, 2009. After Oct. 1 it will be illegal to throw away plastic bottles including soda bottles, milk jugs, laundry detergent bottles, oil filters and wooden pallets in landfills.

            “Currently the average Raleigh resident recycles 384 pounds each year. The goal of the City’s Solid Waste Department is to increase that number to 451 pounds per year by 2012,” said Linda Leighton, waste reduction specialist for the City of Raleigh Solid Waste Services Department.

            N.C. is the first state in the Southeast to ban disposal of plastic bottles in traditional trash bin. This new law was introduced by Joe Hackney, State Representative. Massachusetts, Wisconsin and some municipalities throughout America have similar plastic-bottle bans.

            Reasons for this new law are to use what is going to waste, conserve energy consumption, lower greenhouse gas emissions and lower taxes. This new law is not made to prohibit the purchase of these commonly used plastic items; the only change is the way in which they are being disposed.

            “There is a huge environmental payoff, but what made this bill so attractive to legislators was the economic benefits it will provide statewide,” said Scott Mouw, environmental supervisor for the N.C. Department of the Environment and Natural Resources. “Plastic-bottle recycling is big business both domestically and internationally, as corporations can cut their cost by reusing the containers instead of producing new ones forms virgin materials.”

            Polyethylene teraphthalate plastic (PET) is a plastic resin and a form of polyester, reports NAPCOR. PET is inexpensive, lightweight, resealable, shatter-resistant and recyclable.

            Jennifer Preyss, of the Winston-Salem Journal, reports that the Clear Path Recycling in Fayetteville is building a $50 million plant that will rely heavily on the company’s ability to amass recycled PET plastics from regional material-recovery facilities. After municipalities collect recycled waste from curbside pickup, materials are sent to Material Recycling Facility (MRF) where they are separated to be sold to corporations or recycling centers for profit.

            To learn more information about the new law and recycling programs visit the City’s website, www.raleighnc.gov/recycling. Next time you find yourself throwing your water bottle in the trash, think again!