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Re: GBlist: Plastic Lumber
>
> On a large project I'm involved with, 100% plastic lumber will be used in
> place of Trex or other composite materials. The decision was based on the
> recyclable nature of these products...
Having read various emails about the use of plastics in construction, I
thought I would offer this alternative perspective on plastic as food for
thought:
Plastic recycling is considered a myth by many who have studied the issue
for two reasons:
1. Every day up to one million pounds of plastic waste collected
funder so-called recycling programs in the US are shipped to third world
countries where they are either dumped or reprocessed in dirty factories
with little or no environmental or worker health protection;
2. Plastic cannot be recycled into the same product as the
original because plastic degrades when melted, and the secondary products
are almost never reprocessed further. Thus plastic lumber may become shoe
soles, carpet backing, or artificial fleece fabric, but not new soda
bottles. This is reprocessing, not recycling. At best, such reprocessing
delays the time until the plastic inevitably finds its way into a landfill
or incinerator; at worst, it encourages plastic use since people are
fooled into thinking plastic can be recycled and is thus good for the
environment.
The plastics industry loves plastics recycling because it cleans
up plastic's image and diverts public attention from the huge amounts of
toxic waste created by plastic production. The industry has poured
millions of dollars into public relations campaigns promoting plastic
recycling. The American Plastics Council spent $18 million on a nine-month
advertising effort praising recycling. Dow Chemical routinely spends more
money advertising the company's plastic recycling research than it
lavishes on the actual research.
Should this artificial material really be considered "green" or
"sustainable"?
Nicole Capretz
Wood Reduction Clearinghouse
ncapretz@essential.org
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