Recycling Nursery Plastic Pots
From growing flats to plant transplants, gardeners collect a lot of plastic nursery pots each year they garden. According to the University of Illinois Extension, nursery plastic account for 320 million pounds of waste each year. In order to keep those plastics out of landfills, many communities have begun a recycling program for nursery waste. Yet, there are some things you can do yourself to keep the pots out of your local landfill.
List:
Bleach
Foil or wrapping paper
Wash and sanitize nursery pots after you transplant the existing plant into the garden. A capful of bleach to a gallon of water will sanitize the pots. The pots will be ready to use a second time for your own seed starting and transplants.
Reuse plastic pots to start seed the following spring for next year's garden.
Fill the empty pots with soil and use them to start cuttings.
Start gift plants in the sanitized containers. Once the new plants have reached the proper size, wrap the outside of the container with foil or wrapping paper and give the plant to a friend as a gift.
Contact your county extension agent. He or she may know of a nursery recycling drop-off point in your area or may be able to give you more ideas of how to recycle the plastics and keep them out of the landfill.
Words to the Wise:
Only certain types of nursery plastics are accepted at recycling centers. Be sure the plastics you send in are clean, as most centers will not take anything that has dirt or soil debris.
When dropping off pots for recycling, insure that the pots are grouped by size and type, and that any metal has been removed from the pots.
