Since 2009, Preserve has worked with partners like Whole Foods Market, Stonyfield, Plum Organics, and Berry Plastics to provide access to #5 recycling for instances in which communities don’t offer it, or where the items in question are too small for curbside collection. Preserve’s Gimme 5 program has recycled over 1.2 million pounds of #5 plastic.
Even in areas with access to #5 recycling, single-use cutlery presents a recycling challenge. Due to its small size, cutlery items can literally fall through the cracks of municipal recycling facilities. By recycling cutlery through our Gimme 5 program, we are able to ensure that it gets a second life.
In 2020, due to pandemic-related challenges and for other efficiency reasons, Preserve and partners discontinued the retail-based Gimme 5 recycling program. Gimme 5 now lives on as a service for our food service and corporate partners with a focus on situations that allow us to handle recycling efficiently and at larger scale.