Shabazz City High SchoolShabazz City High School

Plastics Recycling Project

By: K8, Gekka, Isaiah, Abi, Melanie,

Jesse, Ryan, Sam, Doug, Quinn

Results of our ResearchResults of our Research

History of Madison recyclingDifferences between types of plasticSense of the communities’ views

towards recycling

History of Madison RecyclingHistory of Madison Recycling

1968 Madison is the first city in the nation to have curb side recycling

1972 Madison starts recycling metals, wood, and brush 1980 Madison starts leaf pick up 1989 Madison expands to include plastics, aluminum, and

steel cans 1989 Madison helped three neighboring communities start

their own recycling systems 1991 Madison creates mandatory curb side pick up for

recyclable materials

Plastics 3 and 4Plastics 3 and 4

Number 3: shower curtains, some shampoo containers, cooking oil containers, fast food items, PVC pipe

Number 4: thin plastic bags (grocery bags), shrink wrap, margarine tub tops

Plastics 5 and 6Plastics 5 and 6

Number 5: microwave containers, Tupperware, syrup bottles, diapers, carpeting, and yogurt tubs.

Number 6: coffee cups, disposable cutlery, styrofoam (packing peanuts), bottle caps, and plastic cups

Plastics 7Plastics 7

Number 7 plastics are usually made from combinations of plastics 1-6

Ketchup bottles, or other squeeze bottles

This is the hardest to recycle due to the combinations of materials

What We Want to ChangeWhat We Want to Change

Reduce the production of landfills

Recycle 3-7 plastic

Raise awareness in Madison of the current recycling system

Why We Should Recycle 1-7Why We Should Recycle 1-7

Environmentally sound communitySave landfill spaceImprove the city’s recycling programExpand the economic foundation for

the city

Helping the CauseHelping the Cause

Used other cities as examplesFound a web site that lists

companies that will buy recycled plastics

Discovered how much waste is generated with 3-7 plastics

Surveyed local people

Other Communities Other Communities Fitchburg,Wi

– They charge $3.25 a month to recycle everything that Madison recycles, plus 1-7 plastic, and multicolor paper

Grayslake, Il– Charges about $5.00 a month to recycle everything Madison

recycles, plus 1-5 plastic, and multicolor paper

Deforest, Wi– Green Valley, charges $5,332 dollars per month to the city to recycle

everything that Madison recycles, plus 1-7 plastic, and multicolor paper

– Number of monthly stops for recycling pick up is 2,538; price being about $2.10 per stop

Sell, Sell, Sell: Buyers of Plastic!Sell, Sell, Sell: Buyers of Plastic!

This internet site is helpful; it is a search engine to locate buyers and sellers of recycled plastic in any area.

Local Buyers of Recycled Local Buyers of Recycled PlasticPlastic

•Gar plastics IncPurchases plastic 3, 4, 5, and 7

•Arendt BrokeragePurchases plastic 3

•Madison Roto Mold Services Purchases plastic 4, 5, 6, and 7

•Brown Sales CorpPurchases plastic 6

http://markets.plasticresource.com/

Waste With 3-7 PlasticWaste With 3-7 Plastic The Madison Plastic Recycling Guidelines say plastics 3-7

“account for less than 1% of house hold waste” due to the fact that they do not recycle

The chart below provides multiple figures under 1% as to how many tons of recyclable waste Madison generates

2002 the streets division reported 51,455 tons of trash went to the landfill. This chart shows what less than 1% is in tons

_____% of 51,455tons of trash.99% = 509.40 tons.5% = 257.28 tons.3% = 154.37 tons.2% = 102.91 tons.1% = 51.46 tons

So What is a Ton of Garbage?So What is a Ton of Garbage?

Using our figures of less then 1% for plastics 3-7, the chart below shows how much landfill space is used by this recyclable waste.

Waste Management says 1 ton is about 6 cubic yards

_____% of 51,455tons of recyclabletrashTotal Cubic Yards produced fromRecyclable trash.99% = 509.40 tons3087.3 cubic yards.5% = 257.28 tons1543.65 cubic yards.3% = 154.37 tons926.19 cubic yards.2% = 102.91 tons617.46 cubic yards.1% = 51.46 tons308.73 cubic yards

Where and Who We SurveyedWhere and Who We Surveyed

Campus Area and State Street were our main targets

Majority of people surveyed were college students or lived in the campus area

The next large demographic was business people from the area, and teachers from Shabazz and Sherman Middle School

We surveyed a total of about 185 people

Results of our SurveyResults of our Survey

Many people recycle for environmental reasons

A large proportion of people are willing to pay extra money to recycle 3-7 plastics

A large percent of the Madison population does not know how to recycle plastic

Why the Community Should RecycleWhy the Community Should Recycle

We asked the question, do you think that we as a community should recycle for environmental, economical, or other purposes?

0102030405060708090

100

amount of people

EnvironmentalEconomical

Both Other

Reasons to recycle

Pay to Recycle?Pay to Recycle?

What people are willing to pay to recycle 3-6 plastics.

25

3

101

32

2

1

5

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

$0

$5

$15

No Answer

Amount

Number of People

101 People out of 169 people who answered the question said that they would pay $5 a month to

recycle 3-6 plastics!!

Do you Sort Your Plastic?Do you Sort Your Plastic?

When we asked this question we were shocked to find out how many people

didn’t sort out their plastics!!

How People Recycle Plastic

Sort 1-2 plastic

Recycle all Plastic

No Answer or don’t livein Madison

109109

5816

In Conclusion…..In Conclusion…..

– We realize that this is a big task– However…

• Landfill space is not limited• There are buyers out there • Significant support in the communities

around Madison• Considerable support in the Madison

community

Thank You…..Thank You…..

Thank you for your time, and have a great evening!