What happens to plastic bottles when you recycle them?
Every day, you likely use all kinds of plastic - everything from water bottles to containers, and you may be recycling them, but are you doing it right? Currently, in Michigan, we recycle 15% of plastic, and their goal is to raise it to 30% by 2020. "In fact, 15% is really low for the Great Lakes region," said Greenberg. Karl Hattopp also joined us from Clean Tech Recycling to show us what happens when we recycle correctly. Hattopp says that Clean Tech Recycling takes the recycled bottles such as laundry detergent bottles and water bottles and they turn them into pellets that are eventually turned back into bottles.
Did you know there’s a right way and a wrong way to recycle?
You know recycling has many benefits, including saving energy and conserving resources. However, Michigan ranks as one of the states with the fewest people who actually recycle, and not all who do recycle do it properly. Greenberg introduced the EGLE's new campaign effort with the "Recycling Raccoon Squad", who are encouraging people to know it before you throw it. The "squad" helps people by giving them the general rules of thumb when it comes to properly recycling so a reusable product can be made from it. For instance, many people do not know that plastic bags cannot be recycled.