RECYCLING BASICS FOR THE HOME
Recycling saves energy, landfill space and natural resources.
Home recycling requires a trivial amount of time, yet offers substantial benefit to the homeowner as well as the environment.
According to the EPA, the national recycling rate is just 30%. Increasing materials recycling in the US to 60% could save the equivalent of 315 million barrels of oil per year. Recycling is a great way individuals can make a difference, both locally and globally.
Paper & Cardboard
- Newspapers should be saved in its own bin, as this material goes directly back into newsprint recycling. Recycling a four-foot stack of newspapers saves the equivalent of one 40-foot fir tree.
- Magazines, glossy printed flyers or newspaper inserts, phone books, envelopes, computer paper, old letters, and paper packaging can be saved together in one bin.
- Corrugated cardboard is a highly valued recyclable. Most curbside collectors ask you to bale the cardboard together and tie it with string. Check to see if there are size and weight limits to how much you are allowed to bale together or it may not get picked up. The most important thing to remember is to keep it dry. Plastic or waxy coated and wet or greasy cardboard, such as pizza boxes, cannot be recycled.
Plastic
Plastic does not break down in landfills, and since it can be recycled to make many diverse products, effort should be made to recycle all plastic waste. Recycling centers vary in the types of plastic they accept. Check with your local recycling center, and take care to buy plastic goods which are recyclable.
- Plastic goods are assigned different numbers to grade them for recycling: #1 and #2 for containers, #4 for bags, #7 for mixed plastics that are not recyclable.
- Plastic bottles are a valuable recyclable material. Among many other items, this plastic can be "spun' into fleece. Tops should be removed before recycling, and put in with your general plastic items.
- Plastic grocery bags are made of high density polyethylene, a Type 2 recyclable plastic. Most grocery stores have bins outside so customers can drop off used plastic bags for recycling.
Glass
- Glass is recycled according to color: clear, green and brown. Recycling centers prefer it when glass is separated this way.
- Paper labels can be left on the glass.
Aluminum, Steel & Copper
- Food cans should be rinsed and have lids and labels removed. It helps if they are flattened, although many new cans are difficult to flatten; they should still be recycled.
- Aluminum cans are very valuable as recyclable items. Many recycling centers request they be not crushed flat. Check locally.
- Aluminum foil and foil packaging are also important to recycle; they are reprocessed into aluminum mechanical components, such as engine parts.
- Paint cans, aerosol cans are recyclable, but are considered hazardous waste and need to be kept separate from other metals. It is important to leave labels on these cans, as recyclers need to know the former contents. Try to return the lids along with empty paint cans.
- Copper is one of the most recycled and recyclable of metals. In fact, copper is 100% recyclable, as are all its alloys, such as bronze and brass. The recycling of copper requires only 15% of the total energy otherwise consumed in mining, milling, smelting and refining.
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