Pulaski County’s problems with plastic are much more limited than previously thought.
The County Commissioners clarified an issue Tuesday night involving plastic products sorted at the Pulaski County Recycling and Transfer Station. The County has experienced difficulty in recent weeks connecting one vendor with another in the plastics market due to the price of oil: currently near $30 per barrel.
Commissioner Larry Brady says their difficulties are limited to a plastic produced by the Braun Corporation.
“The Braun plastic is a different type of plastic than your normal soda bottle, laundry detergent bottle, along those lines,” says Brady. “The Braun automobile plastic is the one that we are currently having problems getting it off our hands and into another vendor.”
The Pulaski County Recycling and Transfer Station sorts the automobile plastic allocated to them by the Braun Corporation, and connects the supply to vendors in China.
Demand for that specific product has slowed, causing the vendors to turn their attention to newly produced plastics, or virgin plastic, of a similar nature. This has caused a build-up of the automobile plastic supply at the Recycling and Transfer Station, and ultimately prompting a discussion about what to do with the product.
According to Station Manager Brad Bonnell, the Braun Corporation automobile plastic works a bit differently.
“Most of the problem is there are three or four different types of plastic in it, and it all has to be sorted out into its respective place,” says Bonnell. “It’s time consuming.”
Prior recommendations involve putting the plastic outside for storage. Sunlight may ruin the integrity of the plastic, making it less useful to the vendors. Alternative options are being explored by Pulaski County at this time.
The Pulaski County Recycling and Transfer Station says they will continue accepting household plastics.
