Recycle (v. rē-ˈsī-kəl): To convert waste into reusable material.

Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? Recycling has become a part of our everyday life. To some, recycling has become a habitual routine. In most public spaces, you can find a separate container for recycling bottles, cans, plastics, and paper. Sometimes, you can also find bins for compostable materials as well. But did you know that according to a study done in 2011, only 58% of Americans stated that they recycle regularly. Back in 2007, 30% of those between the ages of 18-30 did not recycle at all! Although sustainable life choices are trending in today’s society, you will be surprised to find how little people actually make the conscientious effort to stay green.

According to the survey, done by the IPSOS [1], Americans provided several different reasons as to not recycle. One of the biggest reasons provided was that recycling was too “time consuming”. But recycling doesn’t have to be a hassle for anyone! In order to promote and encourage people to recycle on a consistent basis, we have created a guide to recycling. Read below to learn more about the different types of recyclable materials and the different types of recycling services provided by your waste haulers.

What You Can Recycle

It’s important to know what you can and cannot recycle. There are several different products you can recycle. Paper, plastics, glass, metals, and electronics can all be recycled.

Papers:

You use paper almost everyday. Whether it is in your office, small business, or at home, paper is a essential part of our everyday lives. That’s why it is particularly important to recycle your paper products consistently. According to studies, up to 35% [2] of the weight of solid waste consist of paper! Not only that creating new paper products has severe negative effects on the environment. Paper manufacturers end up cutting down more trees, and exhausting the woodlands and water sources. It’s important to note that during the recycling process of paper, the paper products must be clean, uncontaminated and dry.

P.S. Don’t forget to purchase recycled paper when purchasing more paper for your office or home!

Plastics:

Plastic recycling is a bit more intricate. There are different types of plastics that the Society of the Plastic Industry developed in 1988 to better categorize and simplify the recycling process [3]:

 Type 1: Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET, PETE) This type of plastic is often used to hold your soda, water, and containers you may find your condiments in.

Type 2: High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) You can find HDPE in your water pipes, different types of liquid bottles and your toiletry bottles.

Type 3: Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) PVC plastic is used for juice bottles, saran wraps, and of course, PVC piping.

Type 4: Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) Your Ziploc bags, squeeze bottles, saran wrap, and the lids for your reusable food containers are all made up of LDPE.

Type 5: Polypropylene (PP) Most kitchenware and reusable microwaveable ware are made up of PP. Your disposable microwaveable take-away containers, cups, plates all contain PP as well. Even your children’s Legos are made up of PP!

Type 6: Polystyrene (PS) Styrofoam products like egg cartons, disposable cups, plates, trays,  and packing peanuts are made up of PS.

  Type 7: Other (Polycarbonate/ABS) The 7th type of category is all the other type of plastic materials. They are usually used for bottles and casing for your electronics.

Fortunately for you, when it comes to the recycling process, you don’t need to worry yourself about all the different types of plastics. Each plastic item is marked with its special symbol. When sent to the recycling facility, the recyclers can sort these plastics to their respective categories through monomer recycling. The process separates the plastics, add respective chemical compounds to each type to break and purify into a reusable state. There is also thermal depolymerization and heat compression recycling, which is not as popular but does not require sorting the plastics into different categories.

Fun Fact: Recently, the number of people recycling plastic has tripled! Let’s keep up the good work! 

Glass:

Recycling glass is much simpler than plastic. There are only three categories of glass. Lucky for you again, you don’t need to worry about categorizing the glass bottles. They are separated at the recycling facility into colorless, green, ad brown bottles. Similarly to plastic, relevant chemical compounds are mixed in to reform the glass to any product. Best part about glass is that it is 100% recyclable. This means no waste byproducts will be thrown out.

Fun Fact #2: For each ton of glass recycled, we prevent an addition 315 lbs of CO2 from polluting the atmosphere! {3]

Metals:

When you think about recycling metal, you may imagine the tiny aluminum cans that hold your soda and other carbonated drinks. But did you know that the most recycled metal material in the world is steel? Steel, iron, and other metals that contain iron are called Ferrous Metals, while aluminum cans and other metals without iron are called Non-Ferrous Metals. Both have different ways of being recycled (at the processing center, of course).

For aluminum cans, there is little to no sorting. The cans are merely shredded and melted down to be reused. For steel and other metals, there are barely any contaminants mixed in with the metal so the product is immediately melted down and sent to be reused.

Electronics:

Electronic waste, otherwise known as e-waste is still a new recycling process that many do not diligently practice, especially compared to the other recyclable items. Many e-waste still end up in the landfills, with only approximately 20% of the waste actually being recycled[3]. The most difficult thing for recyclers is that it e-waste can have many different components to recycle, such as copper, iron, aluminum, plastic, glass, and much more. Recyclers have to break these items down and sort the by their components to be recycled. Items can include computers, phones, TVs, printers, laptops,and other smaller electronics as well.

 Fun Fact #3: In the U.S. alone there was 4.6 billion pounds of e-waste accumulated by 2008!

So How Do I Go About Recycling?

There are two types of recycling methods available. One is dual-stream recycling and the other is single-stream recycling. We’ll go over what each one entails and the pros and cons of both[4]. 

 Dual-Stream Recycling

Dual-Stream recycling is relatively simple. You keep your fibrous materials (papers and cardboards) separate from your other recyclable materials. This means you will require a separate container for paper and cardboards, and a separate dual-stream recycling container for your plastics, glass, and metals. 

Pros:

Lower levels of cross-contamination

 Greater quality in recovered materials

 Lower costs 

Cons: 

More time consuming

 Will require multiple bins (Paper and Cardboard, Dual-Stream Recycling for everything else)

May require multiple service providers

Dual-stream recycling is recommended for bigger businesses where a lot of recyclable good are produced. It is the most efficient and cost-effective way to recycle for big volume businesses.

 Single-Stream Recycling

Single-Stream recycling is exactly what it sounds like. You intermix all your recyclable goods into one container. This means your paper products, glass, metals, plastics can all be combined and hauled away by your service provider. 

Pros:

Easier to recycle which may encourage more waste generators to recycle because it does not require sorting

One container for all your recyclable materials.

Cons:

 Cross-contamination likely

Hard to unsort materials in facilities; may not be recovered at all

Although easier and better than not recycling at all, single stream recycling is less beneficial to the environment. Because of the difficulty that may come with unsorting the materials, more items may not be salvageable. Those who use single-stream recycling are mostly residential homes rather than businesses.

There you have it. The most essential things you need to know to be a recycler! Remember that recycling shouldn’t be a trend. It should be a way of life! Now if your business or home doesn’t have a recycling program, go to Grid Waste and find service providers and price quotes near you. And if you want recycling service and can’t get your haulers to provide you that service, just form a group with your neighbors and we can help you get a hauler who will be able to handle your recyclable waste! Fill out our search tool here! 

Have a comment about this article or want to share how you manage your recyclables? Leave your reply below! 

Sources:  

1. http://homeguides.sfgate.com/three-types-recyclable-goods-79256.html

2. http://www.benefits-of-recycling.com/recyclingpaper/

3. http://www.allgreenrecycling.com/all-about-recycling/