Name: June Binnard
Social Justice Group: 2022-2023, Environment: Microplastics
Date of Fieldwork: February 15, 2023
Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):SIMS Recycling Center
Type of Fieldwork: Tour of Organization
What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork?:
On February 15, 2023, we traveled to 36th Street on the D train, and from there we walked to the SIMS Recycling Facility on the pier. Since we haven’t really gained much knowledge about the recycling process, we wanted to learn more about it. In Sunset Park, Brooklyn, the SIMS Recycling Center is a material recovery facility (also known as a “MRF,” meaning that they receive plastic and other recyclable materials and sort them out). When we were outside, we noticed some tiny plastic pieces being used as decorations outside the recycling facility, which we thought was an interesting addition.
We met Kara Napolitano, who served as our guide and appeared to be very knowledgeable about recycling. She was also a really pleasant person to talk to. Kara did a great job of explaining the various recyclable items as well as which bin they should go in. The blue bin is used for rigid plastic, cartons, metal, and glass. The metal can be anything that contains at least 50% metal, including appliances, though electronics cannot be recycled. You can only put glass bottles and jars in the blue bin because that is what is required to make more glass. Given that the cartons contain both paper and a thin layer of plastic, they should actually go in the blue bin rather than the green bin (paper). Following this, we were released into an interactive room designed for tours, with different activities to help us understand the process more. We learned how the recyclables were sorted, how much money each bunch of sorted recyclables would bring in, and what kinds of jobs can affect social change. After finishing that, we entered the recycling facility. It was enormous and had a musty, slightly sour cheese-like smell. As we walked further in, we could see the various ways they sorted the enormous pile of trash that they had already gathered. To sort the plastic as effectively as possible, they used a magnet, hand sorting, and a few other interesting techniques. We then thanked Kara and departed to return to school. It was very interesting because I don’t believe I’ll ever go to a recycling facility again in my life.
