Traveling Bench Comes to SLU’s Campus
01/05/2022
Saint Louis University is helping raise awareness on how to properly recycle plastic bags and wraps through the 2021-2022 Bags2Bench Tour.
During the month of January a traveling park bench made from approximately 13,500 recycled plastic bags will be on SLU’s St. Louis campus. The Bags2Bench Tour is making a month-long stop on campus. SLU is one of nine local universities that have stepped up to participate in a region-wide Recycle Responsibly educational program sponsored by OneSTL.
The touring bench was produced locally by Ranken Technical College, and the prime material of the bench is Trex composite decking. The bench will be delivered before the start of the spring semester and will be placed at the edge of the quad across from the Griesedieck Complex.
Plastic bags and wraps are the No. 1 contaminant in the single-stream collection process. When plastic bags and wraps are mixed with other recyclable items, they can contaminate an entire load of good recyclable items and cause it to be sent to the landfill. Nationally, on average, contaminants divert about 20% of good recyclable items away from processing centers.
This challenge is easy to address, simply never place plastic bags and wraps in traditional recycling bins. They should always be placed in designated recycling points at local grocery stores like Schnucks and Dierbergs. When returned to the store they are given new life as composite decking, playground equipment, or other consumer products. Plastic Film Recycling has a complete listing of recycling points.
The traveling bench tour is sponsored by OneSTL, a collaboration of individuals and organizations from across the St. Louis region that are working together to create a more sustainable future. Funding for the traveling bench tour and the Recycle Responsibly project is provided by the St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. For more information, visit www.recycleresponsibly.org.