SPRINGFIELD, Vt. – The Springfield Rotary Club has donated its 16th Trex recycled-plastic bench to the Springfield Lions Club Dog Park, located at 5 School Street in North Springfield, continuing a community effort that has diverted more than seven tons of plastic film from the waste stream since February 2023.
The latest bench represents another milestone in the Rotary Club’s participation in the Trex Thin Film Plastics Challenge. The program encourages communities to collect hard-to-recycle plastic film and turn it into useful products rather than sending it to landfills.
When the Rotary Club began the challenge, Trex awarded a recycled-plastic bench for every 1,000 pounds of plastic film collected. That incentive was discontinued by Trex in January 2026, but the Rotary Club is continuing its recycling effort. With support from a grant from Rotary District 7870, the club will continue collecting 1,000 pounds of plastic film at a time and donating benches to five community organizations.
The most recent collection included contributions from throughout the community. The Springfield Town Library accounted for 49% of the material collected, followed by Magee Office Products at 15%, and the Springfield Food Co-op at 10%. Additional contributions came from Bibens Ace Hardware, Springfield Hospital, Springfield GMC, and Factorum Designs, of Waterbury.
Since the project began in February 2023, Springfield Rotary has collected 14,152 pounds of plastic film – more than 7 tons. That is approximately the weight of a large male white rhinoceros.
The Trex Challenge accepts a variety of plastic-film materials that are difficult to process through conventional recycling systems, including grocery and produce bags, bubble wrap, bread bags, and cereal liners. Plastic film can jam the machinery used at traditional recycling facilities, making specialized collection programs particularly important.
Collected plastic film is transported to Shaw’s Supermarket in Springfield, the Rotary Club’s local drop-off point and an important link in the recycling process. Rotary members bring the collected plastic to Shaw’s, where it begins the next leg of its journey to Trex for processing and repurposing. The Rotary Club extends its thanks to the Springfield Shaw’s team for supporting the program and helping make the community’s recycling effort possible.
The 16th bench joins other Rotary-donated benches located throughout Springfield, including at The Commons, Park Street School, the North Springfield Bog Trailhead, Main Street, Springfield Town Library, Elm Street School, Springfield Community Players Theater, Springfield Hospital, Springfield Parks & Recreation facilities, and Union Street School.
Rotary members and Springfield Town Library volunteers manage the local collection effort, including sorting, weighing, and transporting the plastic film to Shaw’s. A collection bin remains available at the Springfield Town Library for community members who would like to participate.
The new bench is being dedicated in honor of the 95th anniversary of the Springfield Rotary Club and the Springfield Lions Club Dog Park.
The Rotary Club has already begun collecting material toward its next 1,000-pound goal. The next bench will be donated to the Springfield VFW.
Founded in 1927, the Rotary Club of Springfield has approximately 30 members dedicated to service in the local community and around the world. For more information, visit www.springfieldvtrotary.org.