The amount of post-consumer non-bottle rigid plastics collected for recycling in the US increased by 11% in 2008, it has been revealed.
Nearly 361 million pounds of these materials have been collected for recycling, which includes non-durable items or packaging such as HDPE tubs, PP cups and durable items such as pallets, crates, carts, and 5gal buckets.
Around 62% of the material was used for new products, with the remainder exported primarily to China, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) said.
The report said nearly 38% of the non-bottle rigid plastics collected in the US were exported to China in 2008, down from 63% in 2007.
In 2008, 28 of the 100 largest US cities collected non-bottle rigid plastics through curbside programmes.
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