Three independent Goodwill organizations serving the District of Columbia, Maryland, Northern Virginia, Delaware and Delaware County, PA, announced a partnership with Trex to collect plastic film that will be used in Trex composite decking products. Trex is the world’s largest composite decking company, offering an array of composite outdoor products that include fencing, furniture, and pergolas made from 95% recycled plastic and wood pulp material.
Members of the public can now bring clean, dry plastic film to any Goodwill of the Chesapeake, Goodwill of Delaware and Delaware County, or Goodwill of Greater Washington retail store to be recycled at no charge. Historically plastic film is the most difficult type of plastic to recycle. As a rule of thumb, any clean, dry, plastic film that you can push your thumb through can be recycled under this new initiative. Examples include single-use plastic bags, e-Commerce mailers, bubble wrap and air cushions, and dry cleaning bags.
The collaboration between the three Goodwill organizations and Trex will reduce plastic pollution that ends up in landfills or is thrown into unregulated dump sites, adversely affecting wildlife, their habitat, and humans. In the first three months of collection, more than 40,000 pounds plastic film was collected and recycled. The Goodwill collaborative anticipates diverting in excess of 300,000 pounds of plastic film in 2022 and 2023.
Goodwill of the Chesapeake, Goodwill of Delaware & Delaware County and Goodwill of Greater Washington are autonomous 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that provide job training, employment services, and other community-based programs for people who have barriers to employment. Spearheaded by three women Goodwill CEOs – Lisa Rusyniak (Chesapeake), Colleen Morrone (Delaware) and Catherine Meloy (DC) – the collaborative plastic film recycling partnership with Trex is the first of it’s kind in the global nonprofit Goodwill Industries network, and also a first step in a multi-layered approach to greater sustainability for the three Goodwill organizations. The collaborative envisions that their sustainability initiatives will ultimately serve their respective communities in two ways: new employment opportunities – in alignment with the Goodwill mission – and reduction of the amount of plastics sent to landfills and littering communities and wildlife habitats.
Recycle These Items at Your Local Goodwill
