The Allagash Recycling Co-Op turned five this year, and we wanted to provide an update on its waste-reducin’ progress.
Starting in late 2020, the co-op has grown, shifted, and adapted with the needs of our community—just like we were hoping it would! The whole point of this co-op has been to help ourselves, and our neighbors, to reduce the amount of waste we’re putting into the landfill. And we’re glad to say that, so far, we have!
Read on for the details of what we recycle, the types of folks we work with, and how our program works.
What are we recycling?
Plastic.
Specifically, there are three types of plastic that find their way into the brewing process. #2, #4, and #5.
#2 plastic is often in PakTechs, those little plastic holders that click onto the tops of 4-packs and 6-packs of cans.
#4 plastic comes in the form of shrink-wrap, an item that pretty much any large manufacturer uses to keep their goods secure, clean, and safe from tipping over, during transportation.
#5 plastic comes in the form of grain bags. These come in all shapes and sizes, but the core idea is that they’re bringing grain from a supplier here to our brewery, so that we can use it to brew.
The fun fact: #2 and #4 plastics can actually be bundled for recycling together. So that’s what we do!
So, without further ado, the Numbers
In 2024, we were able to recycle
- 8.1 tons of #2 and #4 plastic (Pak Techs and Shrink Wrap)
- 2.2 tons of #5 plastic (Grain Bags)
That’s over 10 tons of materials that we were able to keep out of the landfill. In other terms, that’s 10 medium-sized elephants worth of plastic that is going to a better place than the landfill.
The natural next question: where does it go?
This is bulk plastic, bailed up and ready to be sent off for recycling.
Where we send our recycling
Our used grain bags go to Casella, our waste hauler, for recycling. They have the systems in place to handle these bags when they’re delivered in bulk, whereas individual grain bags in your single-sort bin might not work. So that one is pretty easy to explain.
Our #2 and #4 plastics actually go on a much cooler path.
First, we deliver them to our local Hannaford store. Hannaford is a grocery chain here in Maine and parts of New England that we’ve developed a really positive relationship with over the years. And they also happen to recycle quite a bit of #2 and #4 plastic. The cool part is that they then ship our plastic, and theirs, to Trex, who makes composite decking materials with recycled plastic.
The reason why we send it to Hannaford first is that Trex acquires their plastic in such bulk that it would take us nearly an entire year to put together enough plastic to send their way. But because Hannaford is a more frequent accumulator of plastics, we’re able to put in smaller amounts, more frequently—freeing up space in our warehouse.
Plastic being lovingly placed into a bailer.
Who’s in our co-op?
At the time of this writing, we have about 10 active members in our co-op. The types of folks we receive goods from include: smaller breweries, a regional specialty grocery chain, and a craft maltster who we work with. It’s an eclectic and dedicated crew that we’re thankful for.
We’re not currently bringing on new members, but we’ll be sure to reach out to folks who have expressed interest if we’re able to expand the program in the future.
