The Pine Bush Area Library is well on its way to collecting a second 500-pound batch of used plastic, a project dedicated to removing the stuff from the environment.

Earlier this week, volunteers were busy stuffing plastic brought to the library by community members and businesses into bags that were starting to pile up in the library’s community room. Library director Doris Callan said the library has already received a free plastic bench thanks to the first batch of collected plastic.

Sandy Damon, event coordinator for the library, explained how the program works. The library keeps track of the weight of the collected plastic, which is then turned over to the local Hannaford supermarket, among the collection points affiliated with the program. The library notifies NexTrex, a program run by Trex Company of Virginia, the world’s largest manufacturer of composite decking and railing. According to its website, the company “was founded on the premise that ingenuity can help extract value from what was once seen as waste.”

Trex then manufactures a bench from recycled plastic and sends it to the library free of charge.

Damon emphasized the importance of keeping plastic, millions of tons of which ends up in the world’s oceans each year, out of the waste stream.

According to data compiled by Condor Ferries, a British transportation company, eight million pieces of plastic end up in oceans each day — more than 10 million tons every year. As a result, one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed by plastic each year, according to Condor.

Callan and Damon thank the community and local companies, Tractor Supply, Beck’s Hardware, Hops Brewhouse, Beer World, Woodard Concrete Products and U.S. post offices in Modena, Wallkill and Pine Bush for their participation in the program.