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You can still get rid of hard-to-recycle items

Weavers Way is expanding its own list of acceptables to stay one step ahead of the city. For one thing, they're taking styrofoam

When Philadelphia expanded the curbside recycling program to include all seven numbered plastics (as well as glass, metal and paper) we weren't the only ones who wondered, "Now what is Weavers Way going to do?" We heard others independently asking the same quesion.

The Mt. Airy food co-op had distinguished itself over the past couple years as a place you could get rid of your #5 plastics with a monthly event encouraging people to drop those off and get them recycled. Now that you can put them in with everything else, will Weavers Way keep on with the collection?

The answer came today in the E-newsletter from Weavers Way. The short answer is yes, the co-op is expanding its own list of acceptables to stay one step ahead of the city. For one thing, they're taking styrofoam, which your curbside collection will not. Here's the lowdown in their own words....

Next collection: Saturday, September 18, 10 am – 1 pm
Garage at 542 Carpenter Lane (across from the Mt. Airy Weavers Way co-op)

As many of you have heard, the City of Philadelphia is now collecting ALL recyclable plastics numbered 1 through 7. This includes #5 plastics, which the Weavers Way Environment Committee has been collecting and recycling on the third Saturday of the month over the last two years. We are in the process of considering how to respond to this new situation.

FOR NOW we have decided to continue with monthly collections on the third Saturday of each month, focusing on collecting difficult-to-recycle items that will be reused (this is preferable) or recycled locally. For the moment we are continuing to accept #5 plastics from residents outside the city, but we encourage Philadelphia residents to recycle their #5 plastics through the City's curbside program.

Starting with the September collection, we will accept the following:

  1. Corks - natural and plastic.

  2. Household batteries. We pay to recycle these heavy items at the highest regulatory standards and must therefore charge $2 per lb to cover our costs. We will have a scale available at the collection.

  3. Egg cartons – paper, plastic & styrofoam. These are collected by a local farmer who supplies Weavers Way.

  4. Plastic yogurt containers – nesting containers only. We send these #5 plastics to Trenton-based TerraCycle, where they are re-purposed and re-sold. They are not subjected to the processing required for recycling.)

  5. Used Brita filters - Let them air dry for several days to make sure they are completely dry.

  6. Stay tuned as the complex world of recycling – and our response to it – continues to evolve. We'll keep you posted!