Hi folks, I've been getting a lot of questions from Obaggo users lately about where the best place is to take your Obaggo disks for recycling. I apologize for any confusion you may have had. Hopefully this provides some clarity.
The best places to recycle your Obaggo disks right now are in the plastic bag drop-off bins at certain retail stores (those stores that are part of the Trex network), at Helpsy Clothing & Shoe bins in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and other places where Obaggo has placed specially-marked drop-off bins. All of these can be found on our website using our drop-off locator or the Helpsy drop-off locator (on our website's Pilot page).
Obaggo relies on the retail store drop-off bin system in most of the country, as we work on creating an alternate system to provide additional convenience. But the retail store system is not obvious or clear, where the bins are located, or what can be placed in the bins, and the locations themselves appear and disappear. We are trying to keep the Obaggo drop-off locator updated, and most states are up-to-date, but there are still a few states that need work. Thanks for your patience with us.
For an example of the confusion, the Whole Foods in my own town of Melrose has a terribly marked plastic bag recycling bin. As you can see in the image above, the plastic bag recycling bin is the smallest container, the label that says "Plastic Bags" is hidden from view, and the lid has a slot that looks more like it is for recycling paper. This little bin, along with another bin at the local Shaw's, clearly can't handle recycling the plastic film waste for the whole town of Melrose, population 30,000. This is a major reason Obaggo is trying to develop a real alternative to the retail store system.
At retail store drop-off bins, you will never see the names of the companies that actually collect and recycle the material. You will not see the name, TREX, even though the material from over 12,000 stores is collected by them. And you will also not see a label with OBAGGO, as we are just piggy-backing on Trex's system. The retail store employees will often not know anything about what happens to the loose bags and Obaggo disks in the bins. Since they are not familiar, they may even tell you not to place Obaggo disks in the bins. It is better if you simply don't ask, just continue to use the bins. We have been assured by Trex that Obaggo disks placed in these bins will be recycled along with the loose bag material.
So what happens to plastic bags and Obaggo disks that are placed in these various bins?
It depends on where you drop your disks off:
At retail store locations, found on the drop-off locator on www.obaggo.com/drop-off-locator/
Both loose bags and disks placed in these bins make their way to Trex
At Trex, they are either recycled into decking, or made into post-consumer resin (PCR) by their NexTrex division, and sold to manufacturers who make other products from it
At Helpsy Clothing and Shoe bins
In Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the disks make their way to Obaggo, which we are using for Pilot testing (see the Obaggo bin section for details)
Outside of Massachusetts, loose bags placed in Helpsy bins make their way to Trex
At Obaggo Drop-Off Bins
Obaggo will use disks collected at our bins for pilot testing the various stages of the recycling process. We aim to collect many tons of material to do the following:
Sorting tests at Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs)
Baling tests (packing into cubed "bales" for transportation)
Characterization tests (which identify the types of plastics, levels of contamination, etc.)
Recycling tests, into various types of end-products and commodities
At Retail store locations not part of the Trex network (which we will not list on our website)
I can’t vouch for what happens to this material. Some is certainly recycled. But there are stories that some stores simply discard.
If you still have any questions about where to take Obaggo disks, or what happens to them, please reach out to me using the "Contact Us" form on our website's Support page.
Thanks so much,
Dave New
