April Lang, a local teacher and member of the Trumbull Sustainable Team, is trying to build support for a recycling effort that would partner the town with the Trex Company, which transforms plastic film into seating surfaces. “The idea is to get these things out of the stream,” Lang said. “Get them out of the trash, out of the recycle bins, and recycle them into something useful.”
Plastic films, which are used in grocery bags, bread bags, dry cleaning bags, newspaper sleeves, produce bags and more, are the primary ingredient Trex uses in its composite material. The company recycles the plastics into decking and fencing material and more.
The recycling program is called the Plastic Film Recycling Challenge. Communities that sign up have six months to collect 500 pounds of recyclable plastic (about 40,000 plastic bags). The company will provide promotional materials and recycling bins, and will award a composite bench to communities that complete the challenge.