IntegriCo Accepts Plastic That China Will Not

Forester Media | Arturo Santiago

Sarepta, LA – China once received 70 percent of plastic waste from around the world, but in January 2018, a ban was imposed that drastically decreased the amount of plastic the country received. Globally, over 90 percent of plastic becomes waste, and IntegriCo is one company rising to the challenge to reduce this number in the United States.

“IntegriCo is proud to have diverted over 80 million pounds of plastic away from landfills,” said Brian Gaughan, the company’s Vice President of Business Development. “This plastic has been turned into our composite products including IntegriTies™ railroad ties and construction matting through IntegriCo’s innovative technology.”

Over 34 million metric tons of plastics are sent to a landfill or incinerated in the U.S. and Canada each year. Once recycling is collected from a consumer’s curbside, it is delivered to a material recovery facility (MRF). Items are sorted, baled, and then bought by both foreign and domestic companies to be turned into various materials. The bales vary in consistency, and plastic bales are sometimes contaminated or contain plastic of less-value that will not be sold. Instead, it is sent to landfills throughout the country.