Greenscape Gardens Green Blog

LIMIT LANDFILL WASTE; RECYCLE PLASTIC GARDEN POTS AND TRAYS

Botanical Garden Collections on Weekends from May 19 through Jun. 24

WHAT: Plastic Pot Recycling
WHEN: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends only, May 19-20, 26-27; June 2-3, 9-10, 16-17, 23-24 WHERE: Monsanto Center of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 4500 Shaw Blvd. at Vandeventer; visit Web site for satellite collection locations

SPONSORS: Missouri Botanical Garden; St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management; Missouri Department of Natural Resources; Environmental Improvement and Energy Resource Authority; and Monrovia Growers, Inc.

INFO: (314) 577-9440; www.mobot.org/hort/activ/plasticpots.shtml
(ST. LOUIS): Area gardeners planting flowers to beautify a landscape have somewhere to turn to ensure their leftover plastic pots don’t do the opposite. Help reduce the amount of horticultural waste in landfills by recycling your plastic garden pots, polystyrene cell packs and trays at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Plastic Pot Recycling will be offered from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays from May 19 through June 24.

The Garden’s effort is now in its ninth year. “The horticultural waste stream represents over 350 million pounds pitched into our landfills annually,” said program founder Dr. Steven Cline, manager of the Kemper Center for Home Gardening. “The Garden is pleased to offer this service again to area gardeners, closing the recycling loop by turning collected waste into new plastic landscape timbers for building retaining walls or replacing deteriorated railroad ties.”
Program organizers hope to expand upon the successful collection of 70,000 pounds in 2006 by amassing 100,000 pounds of horticultural plastic this year. The Garden’s collection capacity doubled last year due to the purchase of a larger granulator, used for processing plastic into chips. This year, organizers will also separate the plastics by type so they can be more easily marketed for recycling into other products. Proceeds from the sale of plastic regrind will be used to sustain the annual collection. The St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District and Monrovia Growers, Inc. have also contributed a combined $65,000 in grants and a donation to fund this year’s program.
Horticultural plastic will be accepted at the Garden’s main collection facility located at the west parking lot of the Monsanto Center, 4500 Shaw Blvd. at the corner of Vandeventer. The collection is open weekends only, May 19-20, 26-27, June 2-3, 9-10, 16-17 and 23-24, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. One complimentary Garden admission pass for two will be issued per individual recycling at this location.
Six area garden centers and one municipal recycling center will also serve as satellite collection centers in 2007. Greenscape Gardens, For the Garden by Haefners, Crabapple Cove Nursery, Summerwinds at Timber Creek, Schmittels Nursery, Garden Heights Nursery and the City of Kirkwood Recycling Center will each collect horticultural plastic during their normal business hours in May and June. Visit the Garden’s Web site for location information.
Horticultural plastic accepted includes cell packs, trays, pots of all sizes and hanging baskets. Please shake soil and rocks out of containers and remove all metal hangers, rings or other foreign materials. Garden edging, plastic sheeting materials and food plastic will not be accepted.
Recycled landscape timbers made from the collected plastic will be available for purchase from the Kemper Center at (314) 577-9441. Each seven-by-nine-inch, slate-colored timber is eight-and-one-half-foot long, weighs 280 pounds and requires load-bearing transportation. The plastic timbers last up to 50 years and are suitable for any projects where wood and water meet, including retaining walls and elevated gardening beds. Each timber sells at cost for $40.
For more information on Plastic Pot Recycling, call (314) 577-9440 during regular business hours or visit www.mobot.org/hort/activ/plasticpots.shtml.
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