The story behind where the #6 plates are going

By Emma Latendresse ‘20

With no end to the tennis court lunches or plastic foodware in sight, students and community members must learn to recycle the plates, cups, clamshells and cutlery in the #6 labeled bins or risk sending recyclables to sit in the landfill. 

Since the start of the school year, the food on campus has been served on #6 plastic because it can be recycled at a company located in Tigard called Agilyx. 

What do students believe they need to do with their #6 plastic dishes? 

In casual conversation, many students told CatlinSpeak they weren’t sure which items were recyclable or if they were supposed to clean them. The reality is that all of the #6 plastic items are recyclable, as long as diners quickly rinse them of food waste before disposing them in the proper bins.

Agilyx turns the #6 plastic into styrene oil to make new plastic products, as well as a “light sweet synthetic crude oil” that can be used to make gasoline and diesel. CatlinSpeak reached out to Agilyx, but they were unavailable for comment. 

Bins marked #6 are distributed throughout campus, but some #6 plastics continue to be placed in the wrong bins. Some of these dishes are being rescued by concerned students and faculty members like Upper School social studies teacher Patrick Walsh, who takes recyclable goods out of the Dant and Vollum trash cans for 10-15 minutes each day. 

Walsh reports “quickly find[ing] between 10 and 20 plates, a number of cups, plastic cutlery, and a clamshell or two” in the time he spends making the rounds.

All members of the Catlin Gabel School community must learn, and quickly, that their plates, cups, clamshells, and utensils can be made back into our plates for the future, in addition to powering our transportation, if only they’re put into the right bin.