First it was plastic straws, now Halloween candy?
An article was posted on the Huffington Post suggesting a ban on Halloween candy because of the amount of plastic waste it produces after the holiday is over.
The war against Halloween is upon us!
Republic Services told the HuffPost.
“Though some wrappers feel like paper, they often have a ‘waxy’ or ‘poly-coating,’ leaving it unfit to be mixed with paper for recycling. Recycling is in part about economics — the value of the raw materials you’re collecting needs to exceed the cost of collecting them. Candy wrappers make that math hard because they’re made from low-value plastics."
Why not change the candy wrappers into something that can be recycled? It turns out that some food manufactures have experimented with recyclable snack wrappers. But there are still issues with that!
Jeremy Walters, the sustainability manager for Republic Services, tells the HuffPost that there will be contamination with the wrappers.
"Think about the sticky, chocolatey mess inside that wrapper. If that new ‘recyclable’ type of wrapper is soiled with chocolate or other food materials it cannot be mixed with paper grades coming out of the modern-day recycling center.”
If you really want some tips to help reduce wasteful candy wrappers, the HuffPost suggests handing out candy that comes in paper containers like Nerds and Lemonheads.
We say eat or hand out whatever you want, and enjoy your Halloween!
Read the full story at the HuffPost.
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