The basics of Recycling

Did you know that every year American produce 258 million tons of trash? And over 169 million tons go to a landfill. Fortunately, recycling is something that every person can do to have a positive impact on the environment and reduce our landfills. 

Recycling involves taking used products and processing them into new raw materials to be used for the creation of products and containers.  Recycling is easy and extremely helpful.  Once you understand the basics and create a system for recycling, it takes very little time.  Let's take a look at the basics of recycling.

What is Recycling?

The EPA defines recycling as "the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash and turning them into new products. ".   This process helps eliminate the need to extract new raw materials and helps produce a closed loop system.

What Are The Benefits of Recycling?

Recycling is simple and has many benefits for our societies.  One of the most significant benefits of recycling is that the process helps to conserve natural resources like wood, water, and minerals.  By reusing the materials that have already been extracted, we reduce our impact on our natural resources.  There plenty more benefits as well:

  • Reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators
  • Conserves natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals
  • Increases economic security by tapping a domestic source of materials
  • Prevents pollution by reducing the need to collect new raw materials
  • Saves energy
  • Supports American manufacturing and conserves valuable resources
  • Helps create jobs in the recycling and manufacturing industries in the United States

https://www.epa.gov/recycle/recycling-basics#Benefits

What Does The Recycling Process Look Like?

The recycling process begins with the collection of recyclable goods.  There are many ways to collect recycling including curbside collection, curbside sorted, and self-service drop-off.  Depending on where you reside determines which method will work best for you.  For most, curbside collection is the most straightforward process.   

Once recyclable materials have been collected, they are taken to recycling centers where they are sorted and processed.  Recycling centers will separate different types of plastics and metals and process the same materials together. 

Once the materials have been processed into more raw forms, they are sold to a manufacturing facility to be made into new products.

While the process is relatively simple, there are specific materials that can't be recycled.  This will vary city by city so you will want to check with your local recycling center.

What Can I Recycle:

Plastic

Plastic items are some of the most important to recycle because they take hundreds of years to decompose.  Not all plastics can be recycled though.  Let's look at what plastics can be recycled.

Easily Recycled:  Plastic type #1 and #2 (containers) are accepted in almost all recycling centers, and are very common

Possibly Recycled:  Some centers will accept plastic #4 (bags) and #6 (food trays, egg cartons).  Plastic #5 (Yogurt, margarine containers) is one of the least recyclable plastics however some Whole Foods stores will accept them if they have a Preserve Products center.  Because of the difficulty in finding a place to recycle #5, try to use plastic #2 when possible. 

Never Recycle:  - Plastic #3 and #7 should never be recycled, #7 because it is not efficient enough, #3 because it contains more toxic materials than any of the others.  #3 should be avoided as much as possible for health reasons.  

Courtesy of Chasinggreen.org

Paper

You can recycle white paper, cardboard, milk cartons, and newspapers.  You will want to avoid color paper, lamitated paper, plastic lined paper and any boxes with grease or food residue. 

Glass

Recycling glass is fairly straightforward, all you need to do is separate your glass by color.  Lightbulbs,  sheets of glass, and mirrors are not recyclable at most recycling centers. 

One of the biggest challenges with glass recycling is that there aren't many municipal curbside glass recycling programs.  That means you need to take your glass to the recycling center.  This is true in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Heber City, Utah.

Metal

Metal is one of the most recyclable materials.  Most common metals are easily recycled including aluminum cans, steel cans, copper, bronze, brass, and even aluminum foil.  Food cans must be cleansed before being recycled. 

Batteries

Both single-use and rechargeable batteries are recyclable.  Recycling batteries can help to extend the life of their materials.  Recycling batteries will vary widely depending on where you live.  Most big electronics stores will recycle batteries for you but you can also call your local recycling center to see if they accept them.  

Conclusion

Recycling has many benefits and everybody can do it fairly simply.  While you can't recycle all materials,  there are many recyclable materials. 

 

Randy Jimenez