Plastic plant pots get a second life at The Home Depot
Planting season is in full bloom with households and businesses across the country adding color or accents to their properties.
But all those new flowers being planted also mean plenty of empty plastic containers. According to
The Home Depot, every year people throw away enough plastics to circle the Earth four times.
In 2009, the Atlanta-based retailer began a program to help cut down on plastic potting waste. The recycling program for plastic containers reuses or recycles plastic pots that hold flowers, plants, bushes and trees.
At all The Home Depot Garden Centers nationwide, customers can bring back their empty pots for growers to refill. When the pots are no longer reusable, The Home Depot’s partner, East Jordan Plastics Inc., turns them into new pots, trays, and hanging baskets.
Each year, East Jordan Plastics recycles more than 15 million pounds of used plastic containers, equivalent to nearly 1,000 semi-truck loads of containers, according to The Home Depot. Recycled plastic containers can recover upwards of 60% of the energy tied to initial product processing and diverts unnecessary waste from the landfill, the company said.
By recycling what would otherwise be discarded, The Home Depot said that it is moving toward a circular economy.
The home improvement retailer also donates the plastic film used to wrap its products to Trex, a decking company which uses the plastic in their products.
“The Home Depot’s core values are based on doing the right thing, and this commitment extends to our communities and the environment. We offer this service to our customers based on the environmental impact of plastic. It’s just the right thing to do,” says Tiffany Seto, Home Depot manager or environmental sustainability.
But all those new flowers being planted also mean plenty of empty plastic containers. According to
The Home Depot, every year people throw away enough plastics to circle the Earth four times.
In 2009, the Atlanta-based retailer began a program to help cut down on plastic potting waste. The recycling program for plastic containers reuses or recycles plastic pots that hold flowers, plants, bushes and trees.
At all The Home Depot Garden Centers nationwide, customers can bring back their empty pots for growers to refill. When the pots are no longer reusable, The Home Depot’s partner, East Jordan Plastics Inc., turns them into new pots, trays, and hanging baskets.
Each year, East Jordan Plastics recycles more than 15 million pounds of used plastic containers, equivalent to nearly 1,000 semi-truck loads of containers, according to The Home Depot. Recycled plastic containers can recover upwards of 60% of the energy tied to initial product processing and diverts unnecessary waste from the landfill, the company said.
By recycling what would otherwise be discarded, The Home Depot said that it is moving toward a circular economy.
The home improvement retailer also donates the plastic film used to wrap its products to Trex, a decking company which uses the plastic in their products.
“The Home Depot’s core values are based on doing the right thing, and this commitment extends to our communities and the environment. We offer this service to our customers based on the environmental impact of plastic. It’s just the right thing to do,” says Tiffany Seto, Home Depot manager or environmental sustainability.