European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 16, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Darrell Morrow director of the Center for plastics recycling research rests on a Bench made of recycled plastic. Recycled plastic by Donald j. Frederick National geographic sed plastic containers Long regarded As the unwanted and eternal Dregs of a throwaway society Are being profitably resurrected As carpets corrugated pipe blankets and Park benches. An estimated 15 billion to 20 billion pounds of plastics land in America s waste Stream each year. Less than 1 percent is recycled. Manufacturers in the United states have routinely recycled plastic scraps but Only recently have companies and communities faced with littered landscapes and bulging landfills taken seriously the recycling of used plastic containers. There s new Hope for Many formerly a salvageable containers such As detergent and Ketchup bottles made of various plastics. New processes blend formerly incompatible plastics into everything from Fence posts to automobile barriers. Like Wood the blended plastic can be nailed screwed Cut and planed. Every dirty garbage bags once considered beyond salvaging can now be blended with other plastics to create a lumber substitute. We re doing research now to see if we can make these co mingled plastics Load bearing said Darrell Morrow director of the Center for plastics recycling research at Rutgers University. Being impervious to weather and insects the material would make wonderful Railroad ties. Who knows houses of the future might even be made of  experiments at the Rutgers Center Here indicate that polystyrene foam common in cups trays and packaging might add strength to the hybrid plastic. At the very least we expect that the foam will be turned into housing insulation someday Morrow said. The two plastics favored by recyclers polyethylene terephthalate pet and High density polyethylene hop come from bottles and other containers. Most soft drink bottles Are made primarily from pet milk and juice jugs from Hope. The largest . Pet recycler Wellman inc. Of Clark n.j., needed about 800 million bottles to produce 100 million pounds of recycled plastic last year. Much of it went into Industrial resins used As fibres in carpets blankets furniture wearing apparel and a thick fabric that helps stabilize Railroad Beds. We re expanding and in the near future we could use three times As Many bottles but we have a collection problem said Dennis m. Sabourin vice president of Wellman s trading division. Absence of an assured source of used plastics has been a major drawback for recyclers. Only nine . States and three Canadian provinces now have Deposit Laws that encourage the return of empties for recycling. Only five states new Jersey Pennsylvania Connecticut Florida and Rhode Island have statewide compulsory curbside collection of recyclables such As Glass aluminium paper and plastics. Other states Are expected to follow As they run out of Landfill space. I m convinced that curbside collection properly developed on a National scale will be far Superior to Deposit Laws in both Cost effectiveness and level of participation said Morrow. He favors the development of regional recovery centers for recyclables that would serve 250,00 to 500,000 people each. In Many places he says mom and pop Type operations might suffice. You would t need multimillion Dollar  but most municipalities concerned with lowering the weight of trash in their landfills Haven t mandated plastics in their curbside collections. This is an oversight said Luke b. Schmidt president of the National association for plastic Container recovery. Plastics May account for Only 4 percent to 7 percent of the total waste Stream but because of the size of containers they account for More than 15 percent of the volume of trash at  Schmidt is convinced that if curbside collection of plastics becomes widespread 600 million pounds of the material could be recycled by 1992. If Export markets Are found the amount could be far greater. Plastics Are made almost entirely from Petroleum and natural Gas. Potential overseas buyers of recycled plastics Are Large Petroleum importers such As Japan which might dramatically increase purchases of recycled plastic in order to decrease the Petroleum they now must use to manufacture plastics. Tiny Rhode Island took a big Lead in plastics recycling in 1986, when it became the first state to mandate statewide collection of some forms of plastic. Plastic soft drink bottles and milk jugs Are picked up at curbside and hauled off for recycling along with aluminium and Glass containers and newspapers. Initially we re focusing on the easily identifiable and sortable items made with High Grade plastics for which there is a ready Market said Janet Keller recycling program administrator for the Rhode Island department of environmental management. Lower Grade plastic containers Ketchup bottles for example continue to go into landfills along with wet garbage. This May change officials say if collection costs can be lowered and Strong markets developed for recycled mixed plastics. Surveys in Rhode Island show that plastic containers account for Only 4.3 percent of the weight but 35.5 percent of the space in trash trucks. We Don t want to go into the Willy Nilly collection and sorting of mixed plastic containers yet because we Don t know what the incremental collection costs Rev rat be said Keller. For instance would the increased volume require a lot of additional trucks and trips to the recycling Plant one answer May be found this Winter As the state tests equipment that compacts plastics on a trash truck. If it reduces trips and saves much space it May become Standard equipment that will greatly increase the flow of plastics for recycling. Erma Bombeck is taking a one week vacation. This Best of Bombeck originally appeared 5-19-85. See Jim. Jim used to run and jump and Chase accounts. Jim is going to stay Home now. He has a new watch. He will Tell you what time it is even when you Don t ask. It is time to get up. It is time to remove the Oil stain from the driveway before it spreads to the rest of the House. It is time to alphabetize your spices. It is time to eat lunch dinner breakfast break snack party it is time to use the packet of yeast before it expires at noon tomorrow. Sometimes Jim will act like a House guest. Is where do you hide the iced Tea glasses the Hall Bath needs toilet  there is someone at the door Selling  i d put the dishes away but i Don t know where they  sometimes Jim will act As if he has hired you for the summer. Who was that on the phone and what did they want where Are you going and what time Are you coming Back i Don t think the grass can wait another  retired men like Jim bring efficiency to the Home. It is cheaper to make your own Tea bags than to buy  Don t heat up the oven for one baked potato. Do a dozen and freeze  see Jim drive a Nail by the door to hold your car keys. See Jim drive a Nail by the phone to hold a Pencil. See Jim drive a Nail in the desk to hold your unpaid Bills. See Jim drive you crazy. You Are surprised. You did not know you married a Man who knew so much about dishwashers Wax buildup hand washable stain removers children and How to keep bananas from turning Brown. Jim is surprised. He does not know How you have managed to stumble through 40 years of running a House without him. Everyone is surprised he is busier than Ever. You re not. C 1988 Erma Bombeck Page 16 the stars and stripes monday january 16,1989