Re-envisioning Recycling, an initiative launched by ELI students, Ella Graban and Stephen Bond, offers the UCSB community the opportunity to give thin-film plastic waste, like plastic bags, a new life.
Thin-film plastics are everywhere - grocery bags, bread bags, shipping packages, bubble wrap, and more - yet, this plastic waste is rarely recycled due to limitations in our local recycling facilities. In an effort to tackle the mountain of plastic waste that ends up in the landfill, breaking down into small pieces of microplastics, ELI students, Stephen Bond and Ella Graban, launched a Re-envisioning Recycling Initiative to collect this thin-film plastic and divert it from landfills.
Stephen and Ella have established two thin-film plastic collection locations, one on campus at the UCSB Arbor and one in Isla Vista at the Amazon location. They have also hosted community collection opportunities such as the Isla Vista Winter Waste Fix-It Fair, the IV Earth Day Festival, the Associated Students (A.S.) Zero Waste Festival, and more. At these events, Stephen and Ella educated participants on which thin-film plastics could be recycled and why. Stephen and Ella sort through collected plastics and deliver them to Planet Protectors–a not-for-profit effort in collaboration with Ablitt’s Fine Cleaners in Santa Barbara. Planet Protectors collect 20,000 tons of plastic a year, shipping it to contracted third parties such as GreenPath Enterprises. The thin-film plastics are melted down into pellets, resold, and utilized to create new items like outdoor decking or furniture.
With the assistance of funding from Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (URCA), they were able to attain $450 to launch the initiative. An exploration into campus partners is a crucial part of the initiative's future functioning and adoption into campus programming. Moving into the next school year, they hope to partner with A.S. Zero Waste or A.S. Recycling to continue and expand the collection sites. To learn more about this project and to find a thin film recycling location, visit Ella and Stephen’s project at @reenvisioning_recycling or subscribe to receive emails from Ablitt’s Planet Protector program.
