How to Dispose of Plastic Flower Pots
- 1). Sort your plastic pots into appropriate piles according to the type of plastic. To determine the material, look at the bottom of each pot to read the recycling code found inside the triangular shape. Pots may be made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) (recycling code #2), polypropylene (recycling code #5) and polystyrene (recycling code #6), among others.
- 2). Contact your municipality to find out which plastic codes are collected curbside. Search for specialized recycling centers that accept the other plastics. Earth 911 offers a listing of centers (see Resources).
- 3). Talk to your local nurseries to see if they will accept your used flower pots. They may reuse them for seedlings and transplants or may have recycling connections.
- 4). Use your ingenuity to transform plastic flower pots into something useful. Give them to your children to use as craft material or toys for the sandbox. Organize elastics, nails, thumbtacks and other tools by sorting them into individual plastic pots. Use a plastic pot as a scoop for kitty litter or as a holder for vegetable scraps that you can add to the compost heap later.