No recycling changes at Lopez Solid Waste – for now

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Some confusion exists as to whether The Lopez Dump is accepting plastics as recycling after last week’s widespread news article “San Juan Island recycling heads to landfill.” All sorted plastics are being accepted, baled and shipped as recycling at this time, free of charge. Lopez Solid Waste Disposal District can still accept plastics because we self-sort, and thus our bales of plastic are higher quality than those collected via mixed recyclables. However, reducing plastics used on the island will be an essential long-term solution for all of us wanting to minimize garbage costs and impact. The Chinese ban on material imports is an evolving situation and demands rapid solutions for plastics reduction, and new processing capabilities in the US.

Together, our local and daily efforts to minimize plastics in our lives will be the most effective. No “War on Plastics” need be declared. Our reliance on plastics is often very real and we must simply build a smarter partnership, in which plastics are not a daily necessity. In the interim, there need to be entrepreneurial solutions to reuse existing plastics in the U.S.

Please share your best practices for reducing plastics with your neighbors and friends, and with us by emailing info@lopezsolidwaste.org. Check out new ideas and information at lopezsolidwaste.org.

Thank you!

Paul Andersson

District Manager, LSWDD