Students nationwide are learning just how rewarding recycling can be. Trex Company, a decking and railing brand and leader in outdoor living products, has announced the winners of its 10th annual Trex Plastic Film Recycling Challenge, which pits K-12 schools against one another in a fun, friendly competition to collect and recycle the most polyethylene plastic for the chance to win Trex products for their schools.
Trex awards prizes to top recyclers based on grade level, school size and region. This year, 54 winners representing schools from across the country worked hard to recycle the most plastic and earn a new Trex bench for their campus or playground as well as a picture frame made from Trex composite materials to showcase their winner certificate.
More than 550 schools nationwide participated in the 2016-17 Trex Plastic Film Recycling Challenge. Through their combined recycling efforts, a total of 252,813 pounds of polyethylene plastic were salvaged and kept from winding up in landfills.
“Offering a rewarding, hands-on school project, the Trex Plastic Film Recycling Challenge provides students with a better understanding and appreciation for sustainable practices,” said Stephanie Hicks, material resource coordinator for Trex. “After a decade, the program is still growing – with a record number of pounds recycled this year – and continues to educate tens of thousands of students about environmental responsibility.”
Launched back on November 15th in conjunction with America Recycles Day, schools were given detailed instructions, promotional materials, recycling bins and a list of qualifying recyclable materials. Participants weighed and reported collection totals to Trex each month throughout the program before delivering the recycled plastic to designated Trex drop off points in their communities.
One of the largest recyclers of plastic in the U.S., Trex uses more than 1.5 billion plastic bags to make its eco-friendly, wood-alternative outdoor living products each year. In addition to plastic grocery and retail bags, Trex reuses polyethylene plastic from a variety of common household items – such as case overwraps, bread bags, bubble wrap, newspaper sleeves and dry cleaning bags – to create composite products that offer a superior alternative to wood and an eco-friendly choice to consumers.
“The value of recycling influences everything we do as a company. For example, a standard 16 foot Trex board contains recycled material from approximately 2,250 plastic bags,” said Jim Cline, president and chief executive officer of Trex.
Published in the June 2017 Edition of American Recycler News