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Power To Save: Low Oil Prices Reduce Value of Recyclables

PLAINS TOWNSHIP — What may be good news for drivers is bad news for recycling centers. Plastic is made out of oil, and with oil prices so low, plastic mak...
recycling_new

PLAINS TOWNSHIP -- What may be good news for drivers is bad news for recycling centers.

Plastic is made out of oil, and with oil prices so low, plastic makers find it cheaper to make new plastics from oil than recycle.

People often go out of their way to drop off recyclables at the Plains Township recycling center on Cemetery Street.

But people like Mike Salina make the trip, because recyclables can quickly pile up between trash days.

"They pick it up once a month," said Salina. "It's not enough for me because I have my bottled water and that stuff."

Before recycled plastic is made into new products, it usually goes through a middle man, like the Bielecki Scrap & Recycling Center in Wilkes-Barre. The center depends on manufacturers buying recycled plastics, but lately, it's been having difficulty selling them.

"Oil is cheap so they figure it's cheaper to make new plastic than recycle the old plastic," said owner Pete Bielecki.

The drop in oil prices is costing Bielecki thousands every month.

"It's crazy, you know, we're trying to recycle it."

But people who work at recycling centers point out it's still better to recycle than to have their trash end up in a landfill.

"Oh yes, definitely better to recycle it, yes," said Bielecki.

Bielecki expects the price of oil to eventually climb up again, and if that happens, so will the value of his recyclables.

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