Washington County, Pa. Non-Profit Works to Recycle Unwanted Plastic

A nonprofit organization in Washington County, Pa. has found a way to take a large amount of non-recyclable plastic and repurpose it into usable items.

Clean and Tidy Our County, a non-profit group in Western Pennsylvania, is working with Green Tree Recycling on recycling plastics into items such as park benches that local groups and business can acquire and install.

“One day I ran a Google search on how I could recycle plastic and plastic lids, and there was a link for a company in Evansville, Ind., called Green Tree Recycling,” said Fern Sibert, a member of the nonprofit group Clean and Tidy Our County.

Green Tree Recycling accepts a few different types of plastics that most haulers don’t accept. This includes items such as low-density polyethene, typically a No. 4 plastic, and polypropylene. These plastics make up items such as detergent caps, hair spray, toothpaste, deodorant, apple sauce, and peanut butter jars.

Clean and Tidy Our County has set up local collection bins in the area, one of which is at the Citizens Library in Washington.

“Fern was one of the guest speakers at the Primo Italiano Lodge where I belong, and she was looking for donation centers,” said Kathy Pienkowski, operations manager at Citizens Library. “So, we put a collection area at the library, and it’s gone viral. I have to call her once a week to come pick up the donations.”

Green Tree Recycle creates a variety of several items, including a 4-foot bench made from “plastic lumber” which requires about 100 pounds of recycling and costs around $180.

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