Plastics recycling focus of interactive events April 19 and 24 in D.C.

With Earth Day (April 22) approaching, the environmental issue of recycling plastic will be featured at two events in D.C. this month, to which reporters are invited.

First, Rob Krebs, Director of Communications with the Plastics Division of The American Chemistry Council, will conduct a unique interactive test Thursday, April 19, to find out how much people really know about recycling plastic. The event will be held at 11 a.m. with staff members of the American Chemical Society (ACS), 1155 16th Street NW, Marvel Hall.

Among the questions he will ask and answer are:

Are plastics filling up our landfills? Do municipalities put non-trash extra plastic into landfills? Are we wasting our fossil fuels on plastics food packaging? What happens to all that plastic under our cars hood and in the interior of our car? Does it all end up as land fill? How long does material in a landfill last, a million years? We use so much plastic (100 billion pounds a year) that if we could just stop wouldn’t the planet be better off?

On Tuesday, April 24, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Krebs will give an expanded presentation on plastics recycling, free for the public, at Busboys & Poets, 2021 14th Street NW.

The ACS observance of Earth Day on April 22 — Chemists Celebrate Earth Day 2007 — will include a wide variety of community activities focusing on the program’s theme, "Recycling –– Chemistry Can!" Check Chemists Celebrate Earth Day for details about Earth Day activities.