Earth Week: The rebirth of the plastic bottle at PQ Recycling

This Earth Week, News 12 is looking at the rebirth of the plastic bottle at PQ Recycling in Farmingdale.
The PQ Recycling Plant in Farmingdale is one of only two in New York state that purchases redeemed plastic bottles. It then sends them on a two-hour journey - transforming the bottles into a product that can be reused to make more bottles, containers and even clothes. It can be done with less of a carbon footprint than making brand-new bottles.
Owner George Smilow says he wants to show consumers that recycling is alive and well on Long Island.

“We do about 50 million pounds through this plant each year between grinding and washing,” he says. It adds up - Smilow says the plant keeps 1 billion bottles out of the landfill each year.

Will Flower, the recycling guru for Winter Brothers Waste Systems, says instead of shipping plastic overseas - recycling plants like PQ Recycling are the way to go.

“When you talk about a facility like PQ recycling, its very vital to the entire recycling process,” he says.

PQ also recycles 2 million pounds of bottle caps each year, with most of them made into decking material.