Prepared by:
Sandra A. Zaslow, Extension Housing Specialist
Credit is extended to the Texas Energy Extension Service
Published by: North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
Publication Number: HE-378
Last Electronic Revision: March 1996 (JWM)
Recycling— the process by which materials otherwise destined for disposal are collected, reprocessed, remanufactured, and reused.
- Decision-Maker's Guide to Solid Waste Management.
If all the waste produced in a day in the United States was distributed equally, each person would get about 3.5 pounds. North Carolina, by some estimates, produces almost twice the national average. You could drive from Murphy to Manteo on top of a 6-foot-deep, curb-to-curb highway made from one year's waste!
Most of our waste ends up in landfills. Over half our landfills-will run out of space in the near future. Siting a new landfill is difficult. No one wants a landfill in his backyard. Environmental regulations, land use restrictions, and design requirements make new landfills expensive. Fortunately, recycling can extend the life of existing landfills.
A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study shows that most households can recycle waste in just over an hour a month. You can probably do all the recycling necessary in your home in about two minutes a day. Many communities have special recycling bins or containers that make it even easier.
Recycling saves natural resources and cuts the energy needed to make new products. It can even mean new jobs. Thirty-three jobs are created for every 10,000 tons of materials recycled. That compares to seven jobs if that amount is landfilled.
For all of these reasons, recycling is worth the effort it takes you and your community to get started.
In North Carolina, the Solid Waste Management Act of 1989 (SB-111) requires local governments to separate recyclable materials from the waste stream. Local governments must reduce waste going into landfills by 25% by 1993, through recycling. Several other parts of the act include measures that affect consumers, including disposal of scrap tires, used motor oil, lead-acid batteries, goods like refrigerators and other appliances! construction debris, yard waste, plastics, packaging materials and fast-food containers.
Recycling requires only four basic steps:
Collecting and sorting trash only takes a small amount of space and a few extra minutes a week. A corner of the kitchen, under the kitchen sink, in a closet or part of the garage are possibilities. You can set up your recycling center with cardboard boxes or paper sacks. You will need one for paper, one for aluminum cans and one for glass. If your community has a program for recycling plastic and other materials, you will need boxes or bags for those, too. If you keep your recycling containers near the trash can, sorting will be even easier.
If you have children, get them involved. Make a game of sorting by having a child identify the recycling numbers on plastic containers or call out the colors of glass containers as a adult sorts. Make recycling past of your family's routine chores, and assign certain duties to each family member.
If your community doesn't have a curbside pick-up program, you will need to drop off recyclables once or twice a month at recycling center nearest you. Check with the North Carolina Cooperative > Extension office in your county or the local government to find out where recycling centers are located. You might be able to organize a neighborhood cooperative, where several families get together and take turns hauling the group's recyclables to the center.
If you live in a rural area with no easy access to recycling centers or have other conditions limiting your ability to haul off recyclables, consider in-home recycling. Books and magazines can be donated to public libraries or nursing homes. Packaging materials can be saved and reused. Before you throw something aut, try to think of any other ways you can use it. Take your own string, canvas, paper or plastic bags to the supermarket when you shop. Many supermarkets are now collecting paper and plastic bags for recycling. Check with the supermarket manager.
You also can reduce the amount of waste you generate by purchasing and using products wisely. When possible, buy rechargeable or refillable items. Buy products with the smallest amount of packaging material. Look for products that carry three arrows in a loop and the words "made from recycled materials," or "this product can be recycled."
We should all look for and request recycled products. Recyclers are paying less for some recyclable materials now because more people are recycling than are buying recycled goods. Find out what businesses in your community are doing to stock and use recyclable products or goods made from recycled materials. If you cannot find such products when you shop, ask the manager or owner why they are not available. As consumers come to trust products made from recycled materials, the demand for recycled products will increase. Then the demand and price paid for recyclable products should also go up, giving consumers more incentive than ever to recycle.
Aluminum is the best example of how recycling saves energy. Using scrap aluminum to produce new aluminum requires only 5 percent of the energy needed to make the same product from raw materials.
Although drink cans are the most commonly recycled, many other aluminum products are also recyclable. These include frozen food containers, foil food wraps, residential siding, storm windows and doors, pots and pans and even lawn furniture. Check with your recycling center to see which aluminum products can be recycled in your community.
To determine whether a product is aluminum, put a magnet to it. If it's aluminum, the magnet won't stick. Aluminum cans do not have side seams. To recycle aluminum cans, simply drain their contents, rinse and bag them. They can be flattened or crushed to save space. All aluminum products should be clean and dry before turning in for recycling.
We currently recycle about 8% of the total glass produced each year. To turn your glass waste into recyclables, you need to remove the caps and lids, but not paper or plastic labels. Be sure to rinse glass containers. Some recycling centers accept donations of mixed glass. Most require that you sort by the three main colors: clear, brown and green. Windows, Pyrex dishes and light bulbs have chemical compositions that prevent them from being recyclable with other glass containers.
Recyclable papers include newsprint, corrugated boxes, mixed papers from offices, and computer printout paper.
Recycled newsprint is used for a wide variety of purposes, such as insulation, roofing materials and animal bedding. To recycle newspapers, simply stack or bag them for easy handling. Inserts are usually accepted along with the newspapers.
Higher grade paper, such as that from offices, can be used to make a variety of products, including newsprint, grocery bags, stationery and paper towels. Recycling centers may ask you to sort mixed office paper into categories like computer paper, plain white paper and colored paper. Some communities have office recycling programs and other ways to recycle items like telephone books. Check with your county extension office or local government about such programs.
Corrugated boxes can be made into products like recycled cardboard, paperboard packaging materials and grocery sacks. Corrugated boxes have two layers of flat cardboard with a ribbed layer in between. To recycle, break the boxes down so that they lie flat. Then, bundle them in neat stacks. Cardboard boxes with plastic or wax coatings are usually unacceptable.
Plastic containers are not now being made into new food and beverage containers, but they can be made into items like bathtubs, detergent bottles, park furniture and sleeping bag insulation.
Each of the six primary types of plastics is made with a different type resin and must be treated differently in the recycling process. To encourage more recycling and better identification of plastic type, many container manufacturers have begun stamping the bottoms of their recyclable plastic containers. The stamp or impression is usually a three arrow loop with a number inside. The number indicates the type of plastic. If your community collects or accepts plastics, you may be asked to separate them by number.
The most common plastics are high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and low Density polyethylene (LDPE), which together make up about 70% of all plastics. The most frequently recycled plastic has been polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is the plastic used to make two-liter soft drink bottles. About 72,000 tons (20% of all PET bottles produced) are recycled each year.
Distributed in furtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914. Employment and program opportunities are offered to all people regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and local governments cooperating.
HE-378