Not all plastics can be treated equally. Soft plastics such as plastic bags can't be recycled through the same channels as plastic bottles, boxes and the like. 

That's where the Wareham Recycling Center comes in, bringing a program from the Trex Company to turn soft plastics into solid plastic benches. 

The Trex Company makes faux wood planks for decks out of recycled materials. According to the company's website, its decking consists of 95% recycled plastic film, together with sawdust sourced from reclaimed wood. 

The company sources its recycled plastic in part through a program called NexTrex. It partners with companies, colleges and communities across the U.S. to create a network of drop off sites for soft plastic. 

Chairman of the Wareham Recycling Committee Jennifer Gady said she heard about the NexTrex program from friends who belonged to partner organizations. 

"We got some interest, so we just sent out a notice and suddenly we were overwhelmed with plastic," said Gady. 

The Wareham Recycling Center signed up with the NexTrex Recycling Challenge Program. By the terms of the challenge, if the recycling center could collect 500 pounds of soft plastic in six months, the Trex Company would give the center a bench made from recycled plastic. 

The program accepts nearly all kinds of soft plastic, everything from Ziploc bags to Saran wrap to the soft plastic film used for packaging cases of water bottles and paper towels, said Gady. 

She added the program does not accept any kind of crinkly plastic, such as candy wrappers.  

The recycling center easily made its quota for the first month's challenge, and thought it would stop there, said Gady. "However, people kept coming with their bags of plastic, and saying, 'Where did the bin go?' So we just started up again."

The recycling center is currently in the middle of its third six-month challenge. With three months to go, it has collected over two hundred and fifty pounds, said Gady. 

The center has received two benches from the program so far. It gave away the first through a drawing, and will give away the second with another drawing at the center's paper shredding day on Saturday, Oct. 28.