Recycling plastic flower pots and plant trays

hethmar

I give them away to friends, allotements, or on freecycle

Last weekend as I passed a large skip which has old trays and pots for recycling in at my local Notcutts, I spied a beautiful victorian pot plant holder in the pile, whipped it out and have my miniature cyclamum in it now. Thanks to whoever dumped it.

Alan_Neath

I would like to take them to a garden centre who recycles

Thanks Dollparts, i had a good look around the homebase website where i found details about what they do about recycling, and no mention of plant pots, which seems a bit of a shame, so i will speak to them to find out more...

The contamination of recycled wheelie bin waste collected by councils is enough to cause a whole lorry load to be rejected from a MRF municipal recycling centre, and reloaded for landfill, you are right, councils don't want your old pots, the main reason is perhaps no so much that they have traces of compost etc, but more about them made of plastic they don't recycle, that is not to say that they are made of a plastic that is not recyclable, indeed lots of your house hold plastic is not recycled because the councils and the recycling companies under contract to them, only recycle specific types of plastic, mostly bottles, but not even all types, so even a plastic bottle made of pp polypropylene the same as a plant pot, could be described as a contaminate in the recycled waste, which would need to be removed and most likely sent to landfill, with tons of other stuff in your waste.

dollparts wrote: »

I have a huge stash piled high in the shed, I have all sizes and use them for cuttings, seeds and giving away matured plugs for neighbours-which they plant in their gardens and hand back to me.

In the homebase stores nearest to me (Purley Way, Croydon and Penge-London,) there is a huge cage at the checkout and another in the outdoor plant section full of plastic trays and pots and a sign telling you to help yourself. They vary in size so are handy for just about anything you would need them for in the garden.

I was told by the council that if you place incorrect items into your recycling bin and they are no weeded out in good time it contaminates that particular load and it has to be sent to landfill anyway. It's a thought that has stayed with me and makes me double check what I put out in which box so my efforts do not end up in a hole in the ground.

Alan_Neath

I would like to take them to a garden centre who recycles

Congratulations on your lovely Victorian pot plant holder rescued from the skip, not only have you nabbed a free goodie, but you have even done Nottcutts a favour, as your freebie was unlikely to be plastic, it should never have been bunged in with all the plastic pots at all, sadly, this oversight by the person who chucked out the victorian oldie, is one of the biggest barriers to having more plastic recycled, because of the other stuff that get thrown in :mad: which means recyclers walk away from this situation.

hethmar wrote: »

Last weekend as I passed a large skip which has old trays and pots for recycling in at my local Notcutts, I spied a beautiful victorian pot plant holder in the pile, whipped it out and have my miniature cyclamen in it now. Thanks to whoever dumped it.

Alan_Neath

I would like to take them to a garden centre who recycles

That's the strange thing about recycling, not just at Homebase but everywhere, and for all types of waste, it is often determined by what facilities are nearby , and then what materials, that facility is capable of processing, so there is no consistent model to predict what you can recycle !

have a look for my site by searching for
Recycle Plastic Flower Pots and Plant Trays

or even easier, double click my name over on the left, and then click the link for "contact info" and then look for "home page"

cheers

Alan

lolly5648 wrote: »

Nothing like that in either of my two local Homebases - wish there was.

Alan_Neath

I would like to take them to a garden centre who recycles

Peter the Piper, ooooh, you got my pulse racing there for a moment, till i read your comment twice, then realised the importance of what you said, "no economic way of recycling" , which does not mean the same as "no way of recycling" but may be closer to " not enough profit to recycle" which is why i hope you don't mind that i am trying to help make it "economically viable" and accessible for as many people as possible.

do i get your support and approval ?

http://recycleplasticflowerpotsandplantseedtrays.com/

ps, i like your home page too !

peter_the_piper wrote: »

Unfortunately most plant containers are made from 5 or 6 plastic and there is currently no economic way of recycling them. Short of landfill or bonfire there's ultimately no way of disposing of them.

Alan_Neath

I would like to take them to a garden centre who recycles

In your part of the world around Yorkshire and generally up north of the country there are more recycling and processing companies than else where, so don't despair or give up, give me some time and i should be able to add a place close to you on the site directory:
http://recycleplasticflowerpotsandplantseedtrays.com/

thanks :beer:

TravellingAbuela wrote: »

I wish this problem could be solved. I have an enormous box in the garage full to overflowing with plant pots of all shapes and sizes. Yes, some I re-use and pass on but that's the tip of the iceberg as more are soon added to replace them. I don't just want to chuck them in the wheelie bin to go in landfill but can't find anywhere local that recycles them.