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This is interesting. After the recent collapse of a recycling company in Australia I was under the impression that soft plastic recycling wasn't economical. Are

This is interesting. After the recent collapse of a recycling company in Australia I was under the impression that soft plastic recycling wasn't economical. Are the posts particularly expensive? Or maybe are the definitions of 'soft plastic' in each case different? https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/redcycle-softplastics-recycling-scheme-collapsed-owing-5-million/news-story/918c7c202339790da52fea4b9ac03424 https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/redcycle-sof...

bawolff 3y ago
I imagine there is a rather limited market for fence posts relative to the amount of soft plastic being recycled.
- PlunderBunny 3y ago
  Depends on how many old wooden posts you have - in a country like New Zealand, there's a lot. Several years ago, they (the soft-plastic recycling company) did get too much plastic at one point, and had to pause collection for several months while they sorted out new suppliers, and found new uses for the product. I think they have now exceeded the original amount being collected, but they roll out new collection areas cautiously to ensure supply matches demand. It helps that we're progressively banning some types of soft plastic too (e.g. shopping bags are already gone).
- brutusborn 3y ago
  This is true but hopefully it is just the first product of many.
PlunderBunny 3y ago
I think the posts came out about the same price as treated timber - maybe a little bit more. But they're easier to install (because they can often be rammed straight in where wooden posts would have to be dug in, and because you don't need to put concrete around the tip), last longer, and don't leach anything into the soil. The latter is particularly important for organic farms, where treated timber posts are a non-starter.
- peteradio 3y ago
  Most treated lumber sold to consumers is copper based, I think that is generally accepted in the States for organic farming. Is it not where you are?
  - prawn 3y ago
    I think treated pine sleepers in Australia are mostly CCA (copper chrome arsenate). For garden beds, lining with plastic is usually advised. The less common (?) alternative is ACQ - alkaline copper quaternary.
billti 3y ago
We bought our outdoor furniture from this company in the U.S. (https://lolldesigns.com/pages/sustainability https://lolldesigns.com/pages/sustainability), which states on that page "All Loll outdoor furniture is made with recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE), one of the most commonly used plastics in the U.S. <snip> Loll’s recycled material is sourced primarily from single-use milk jug containers". It wasn't cheap, but it looks great and has been very durable (had it about 5 years now out in the sun and still looks like new).
- blkhawk 3y ago
  I don't like this type of down-cycling - while this is good because it double-uses a single use thing extending the use of the material to another cycle this is bad because it is sold as recycling to the consumer (on the milk bottle side at least). Those containers are probably easy to identify visually even at larger scales so its probably actually pick them out of the general plastic waste. The main issue with recycling plastic is that there are several plastics that just look the same until you check the embossed mark and number. This is not always easy to find / visible or even there at all. if you manage that you need to identify and remove the other plastics that make up the bottle. Many PET bottles have a shrink wrap label on them that uses a different plastic altogether. Generally it don't have a mark and can't be identified so it needs to go into the general garbage. same goes for the lid and related parts (bottles often have a ring that splits off when you open them) but realistically this does not have a mark showing the plastic type so you have to discard it into normal garbage. So basically plastic recycling while possible isn't really viable unless you reduce the allowed types of plastic and colors massively, school consumers a lot more and somehow create a cheap way to sort out the mistakes that happen. even then plastic is only good for a few cycles at best and after that down-cycling is the only thing you can do. glass, steel and aluminum do not have that issue.
PlunderBunny 3y ago
I think it's the same type of soft plastic - I've seen both the RedCycle and NZ Soft Plastic recycling scheme logos on some products sold in both Australia and New Zealand. Reading between the lines of that report, it sounds more like 'mismanagement' was the problem rather than economics.
- brutusborn 3y ago
  Yeah I had a deeper look and RedCycle went under because their main processing partner had a fire at their facility and couldn’t take delivery. Sounds like RedCycle started storing the soft plastic in the hopes of finding a new processor but ran out of money in the interim.

bawolff 3y ago

I imagine there is a rather limited market for fence posts relative to the amount of soft plastic being recycled.

PlunderBunny 3y ago
Depends on how many old wooden posts you have - in a country like New Zealand, there's a lot. Several years ago, they (the soft-plastic recycling company) did get too much plastic at one point, and had to pause collection for several months while they sorted out new suppliers, and found new uses for the product. I think they have now exceeded the original amount being collected, but they roll out new collection areas cautiously to ensure supply matches demand. It helps that we're progressively banning some types of soft plastic too (e.g. shopping bags are already gone).
brutusborn 3y ago
This is true but hopefully it is just the first product of many.

PlunderBunny 3y ago

I think the posts came out about the same price as treated timber - maybe a little bit more. But they're easier to install (because they can often be rammed straight in where wooden posts would have to be dug in, and because you don't need to put concrete around the tip), last longer, and don't leach anything into the soil. The latter is particularly important for organic farms, where treated timber posts are a non-starter.

peteradio 3y ago
Most treated lumber sold to consumers is copper based, I think that is generally accepted in the States for organic farming. Is it not where you are?
- prawn 3y ago
  I think treated pine sleepers in Australia are mostly CCA (copper chrome arsenate). For garden beds, lining with plastic is usually advised. The less common (?) alternative is ACQ - alkaline copper quaternary.

billti 3y ago

We bought our outdoor furniture from this company in the U.S. (https://lolldesigns.com/pages/sustainability https://lolldesigns.com/pages/sustainability), which states on that page "All Loll outdoor furniture is made with recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE), one of the most commonly used plastics in the U.S. <snip> Loll’s recycled material is sourced primarily from single-use milk jug containers". It wasn't cheap, but it looks great and has been very durable (had it about 5 years now out in the sun and still looks like new).

blkhawk 3y ago
I don't like this type of down-cycling - while this is good because it double-uses a single use thing extending the use of the material to another cycle this is bad because it is sold as recycling to the consumer (on the milk bottle side at least). Those containers are probably easy to identify visually even at larger scales so its probably actually pick them out of the general plastic waste. The main issue with recycling plastic is that there are several plastics that just look the same until you check the embossed mark and number. This is not always easy to find / visible or even there at all. if you manage that you need to identify and remove the other plastics that make up the bottle. Many PET bottles have a shrink wrap label on them that uses a different plastic altogether. Generally it don't have a mark and can't be identified so it needs to go into the general garbage. same goes for the lid and related parts (bottles often have a ring that splits off when you open them) but realistically this does not have a mark showing the plastic type so you have to discard it into normal garbage. So basically plastic recycling while possible isn't really viable unless you reduce the allowed types of plastic and colors massively, school consumers a lot more and somehow create a cheap way to sort out the mistakes that happen. even then plastic is only good for a few cycles at best and after that down-cycling is the only thing you can do. glass, steel and aluminum do not have that issue.

PlunderBunny 3y ago

I think it's the same type of soft plastic - I've seen both the RedCycle and NZ Soft Plastic recycling scheme logos on some products sold in both Australia and New Zealand. Reading between the lines of that report, it sounds more like 'mismanagement' was the problem rather than economics.

brutusborn 3y ago
Yeah I had a deeper look and RedCycle went under because their main processing partner had a fire at their facility and couldn’t take delivery. Sounds like RedCycle started storing the soft plastic in the hopes of finding a new processor but ran out of money in the interim.