In the T Bag shop at Kronendal, we have a large jar that stands on our counter. It has a little note on it which reads ” Save your bread clips to buy wheelchairs”.
Some would think that it’s an urban legend that the collection of the bread bag tag, provide wheelchairs to the needy. Well – it’s true!!
Yes, we are talking about the tiny plastic tag which keeps our bread bag closed which is something which most people discard without giving it a second thought.
Rotary Clubs and Rotarians round the world have joined the mission of the Wheelchair Foundation.
The tags are bought by polystyrene packaging companies who recycle them.
About 1 million tags raise enough money to buy a basic wheelchair.
The tags, made from high impact polystyrene (HIPS), are put through the recycling process together with expanded polystyrene (EPS or plastic type 6), such as food trays and cups in the following process:
Different colors are sorted
A hammer drill pounds it down into granules
They are sucked up into canvas bags mounted on top of 4 elements with steel screws inside
When full it is heated up to 200 ÌŠC, so it melts inside
This is called extrusion
This liquid pours out in long tubes into ingots or moulds of 10kg each
These are sent to companies who create a number of products from recycled polystyrene, such as picture frames, skirtings, cornices, seedling trays, curtain rods and tiebacks.
So now polystyrene goes back onto the market in a full circle.
So if your bread tags are not yet being recycled, you can organize a collection at work, at your nearest school, church, library, hospital or prison. The sky IS the limit to what you can do!