More businesses, communities and individuals are recycling then ever before. Have you ever wondered what happens to the materials collected for recycling?
Recyclables are picked up and transported from your location to a Material Recycling Facility (MRF) where they are sorted by type. Once sorted, most materials are baled into large brick-like objects for shipping to manufacturing facilities all over the world. Much of the material today goes to Asia, but a good share is sent to Mexico or used in the United States as well.
 Paper and Cardboard
Paper can be recycled up to seven times. Recycled paper and cardboard is cheaper and easier to convert to pulp than wood. Waste paper and cardboard collected for recycling is taken to a paper mill where it is pulped, processed and then converted into paper products such as newspaper and envelopes, and cardboard products such as cereal boxes.
Plastic Bottles
Recycled plastic is used to make many products including items such as yo-yos, kayaks, fleece pullovers, school lunch trays, park benches and railroad ties. Many of these items are made with recycled plastic that is sent to Asia. In the United States, the majority of the recycled plastic is used to make carpet for homes and businesses.
Metal and Cans
There are two types of cans, aluminum and tin. Both aluminum and tin cans are recycled today. When recycling tin cans, first the tin and steel are separated. The steel is then sold to steel mills around the world. The remaining tin is largely used by the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Aluminum cans collected during recycling are first ground or shred into small chips. The small chips are then melted and cast into moulds. The moulds are sent to a manufacturing plant where they are rolled into sheets. New products such as car bodies and drinking cans are shaped from the sheets.
Lightbulbs
 Fluorescent light bulbs are excellent candidates for recycling. Light bulbs are made of glass, aluminum, mercury and calcium phosphate. Glass, aluminum and mercury can be recycled. Because glass doesn’t lose durability and retains its qualities, it is easy to recycle. In fact, the United States government now requires all newly manufactured glass products to contain at least 35% recycled glass. Some companies, such as Sylvania, use recovered mercury in the manufacturing of new light bulbs. This is a step towards protecting the environment and reducing consumption of new mercury. Aluminum recovered from recycled light bulbs is used to make new light bulb end caps and other aluminum products.
If every home in America replaced five lamps with incandescent light bulbs, more than one trillion tons of greenhouse gases would be saved. Plus, the electric bill of each homeowner would be reduced by approximately $150 per year. This one change would be equivalent to eliminating the emissions of more than eight million cars and save homeowners a total of approximately $6 billion in the United States.
Green Waste
 Green waste consists of items such as uncooked fruits and vegetables, branches, brush, twigs, flowers, grass clippings, leaves, weeds and even old Christmas trees.
Today there are three primary uses for recycled green waste.
- The first use is mulch. Large green waste items such as trees, branches and brush can be chipped, bagged and then reused as mulch in homes and businesses.
- The second use of green waste is for alternative daily cover in our community landfills. State laws require all landfills provide a thick layer of ‘cover’ over the working face of the landfill at the end of each day in order to protect the environment.
- Compost is the third use of green waste. During composting green waste is shredded and arranged into long piles or heaps. These heaps are approximately three to four feet high and eight to twelve feet long.
Glass
 Glass has been used and reused for centuries. Egyptians started using glass for everything from jewelry to drinking cups more than 3,000 years ago. Today, glass collected from recycling, is transported to glass processing plants where it is washed and cleaned for impurities. The glass is then crushed into small pieces called cullet. Cullet is mixed with sand, soda ash and limestone and then melted at over 2800 degrees. Once melted, the liquid glass is poured into molds and made into new products such as bottles and jars. Glass is also used today for things such as aggregate for building new roads, cultured marble and even golf course sand.
 E-Waste
E-Waste, short for electronic waste, is any electronic item in use today from computers and televisions to cell phones and radios. Although these products have revolutionized the way we live our daily lives, they also threaten our environment because of their hazardous components. The federal government has made the dumping of E-waste illegal because E-Waste is filled with mercury, lead and arsenic.
Experts currently estimate that only 20% of all E-waste in the United States is recycled. Much of today’s recovered E-waste is updated, re-worked or dissembled and then sold for re-use in developing countries around the world. In the coming decades, E-waste is predicted to become one of the leading recycled materials.
Batteries
 There are four common types of batteries found in the United States today: lead-acid automobile batteries, alkaline and zinc-carbon batteries, rechargeable batteries and button-cell batteries. Each of these types of batteries are potentially harmful to human health and the environment if not properly disposed. However, almost all types of batteries can be recycled.
Lead-alkaline automobile batteries – These batteries contain lead and sulfuric acid. They are generally found in cars, boats, motorcycles and other vehicles. Luckily today, more than 90% of the nation’s batteries are recycled. Lead-alkaline batteries are the most highly recycled product in the nation. To recycle your lead-alkaline battery, simply return it to the auto parts store you bought it from and it will be recycled.
Alkaline and zinc-carbon batteries – Traditional one-time-use batteries power items such as flashlights, remote controls, toys and appliances. Because these batteries are one-time-use batteries, they are not as economical as rechargeable batteries and they are the most difficult to recycle. These batteries must be taken apart for recycling and the individual materials re-captured for re-use.
Rechargeable batteries – Used largely in electronic equipment, rechargeable batteries can be recharged numerous times extending their use and making them an economical alternative to traditional Alkaline and Zinc-Carbon batteries. Rechargeable batteries are easily recyclable. Batteries can be dropped in area businesses battery recycle bins. Contact us if your business or community does not have battery recycle bins. We will help you get started. Link to /contact.html
Button-cell batteries – Items such as watches and hearing aids contain button-cell batteries. The best and easiest way to recycle these batteries is to return them to the retail store from where they were purchased. By law these retail establishments are required to accept button-cell batteries and recycle them at no cost to you.
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