Clear Plastic Clamshell Containers Now Recyclable at Rumpke

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Sept. 10, 2024—North America’s largest recycling center wants you to recycle more and to help with the effort Rumpke Waste & Recycling is adding another recyclable item to its program.

Rumpke is berry egg-cited to announce that clamshell plastic containers are now recyclable. Residents can start adding them to their recycling Nov. 1.

Acceptable items include:

• Clear plastic carry-out containers
• Clear plastic fruit, berry and lettuce containers
• Clear plastic egg containers

“Rumpke is the recycling leader and our customers are counting on us to provide the best and most innovative recycling options, said Andrew Rumpke, President at Rumpke. “The new technology at the Rumpke Recycling & Resource Center allows us to segregate new types of recycling from the stream, our latest addition is the clamshell container.”

Rumpke’s $100 million private investment to build its new recycling center not only doubles the Region’s processing capacity to 250,000 tons annually, but also ensures a material processing system with 19 optic scanners and artificial intelligence that is delivering a cleaner and more efficient sort of materials. “New artificial intelligence and optic technology allows Rumpke to identify and sort plastic clamshells from other types of plastics within the recycling stream. Couple our innovations with the emergence of new, long-term end users, and we’ve created the foundation for the acceptance of clamshell container recycling in our region,” added Jeff Snyder, senior vice president of recycling and sustainability at Rumpke.

After processing, Rumpke will bale the clamshell containers and ship them to a partner manufacturer that will recycle them into plastic pellets for use in the production of a variety of new plastic products.

About The Rumpke Recycling & Resource Center

• The new 226,000 square-foot facility is the largest, most technologically advanced of its kind in North America.
• It increases processing capability from 160,000 tons of material a year to 250,000 tons.
• It increases material processing speed to a minimum of 60 tons per hour versus 30 tons per hour.
• It increases the material recovery rate to 98%.
• The facility is built with evolution in mind. Cranes inside the facility allow for equipment upgrades as future technology comes online and the composition of recycling material changes.
• The new facility features a 3,000 square foot education center built in collaboration with COSI.
• Public tours are available. Schedule them here.
• The facility also includes a research and development area and career center.
  
  Learn more about The Rumpke Recycling & Resource Center.