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Recycling 101 Print E-mail
Written by greeniac04   
Monday, 15 June 2009

Recycling 101

The amount of waste our country produces is outstanding. We are accumulating, on average, 2 to 5 lbs of waste per person per day. Fortunately, recycling is on the rise. Our country recycles 32% of its waste, compared to only 5% in 1970. At this point, our country harbors 9,700 curbside recycling programs and about 12,000 drop-off centers across the country, making recycling inaccessible to only 16% of Americans. By recovering valuable materials from our waste stream – aluminum, steel, plastic, paper, glass, compost, and many more – recycling substantially reduces the carbon emissions associated with raw material extraction and product manufacture, avoids the emissions associated with landfilling or combusting carbon-based wastes, and conserves our natural resources for future generations.

Benefits

A summary of benefits released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) include :

• Recycling protects and expands U.S. manufacturing jobs and increases U.S. competitiveness.

• Recycling reduces the need for landfilling and incineration.

• Recycling prevents pollution caused by the manufacturing of products from virgin materials.

• Recycling saves energy.

• Recycling decreases emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change.

• Recycling conserves natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals.

• Recycling helps sustain the environment for future generations.

Cost: Variable

The cost of recycling varies depending on your local recycling program. On average, though, it has been estimated that a well-run curbside recycling program can cost anywhere from $50 to more than $150 per ton while trash collection and disposal programs can cost anywhere from $70 to more than $200 per ton. Again, it depends on where you live, whether you have curbside programs or drop-off centers, etc. The environmental benefits, however, tend to out weigh the cost factors.

Time and Effort: Moderate

If you currently do not have a recycling system set-up for your household, the initial time and effort will be higher. Once you have a system in place, the time and effort is very minimal! You can see the Greeniacs Guide for setting up your home recycling station for more information: http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsGuides/Set_Up_a_Home_Recycling_Station.

Getting Started

Because recycling programs vary greatly on where you live, you will first need to research your local recycling regulations. Below is a table including U.S. EPA resources, given by the, for identifying where and how to recycle in your area:

EPA Region STATES/LOCATIONS SERVED RECYCLING RESOURCE
Region 1: New England Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, & 10 Tribal Nations http://www.epa.gov/region1/topics/waste/swaste.html
Region 2: Northeast New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and 7 Tribal Nations http://www.epa.gov/region2/r3/
Region 3: Mid-Atlantic Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia http://www.epa.gov/reg3wcmd/solidwasterecycling.htm
Region 4: Southeast Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and 6 Tribes http://www.epa.gov/Region4/recycle/index.htm
Region 5: Midwest (Part I) Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin and 35 Tribes http://www.epa.gov/reg5rcra/wptdiv/solidwaste/recycle/index.htm
Region 6: Southwest Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas and 65 Tribes http://www.epa.gov/region6/6pd/pd-u-sw/inhswm.htm
Region 7: Midwest (Part II) Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and 9 Tribal Nations http://www.epa.gov/region07/waste/solidwaste/recycling_overview.htm
Region 8: Mountains and Plains Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and 27 Tribal Nations http://www.epa.gov/region8/recycling/rcraswaste.html
Region 9: Pacific Southwest Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, the Pacific Islands, and 140 Tribal Nations http://www.epa.gov/region09/
Region 10: Pacific Northwest Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and 270 Native Tribes http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/OWCM.NSF/webpage/homepage?opendocument


If you are still unable to find your local recycling programs, below are some resources for searching by state or zip code:

• Earth 911 allows you to enter exactly WHAT you want to recycle and WHERE to recycle it by zip code. http://earth911.org/recycling/

• The National Recycling Coalition provides an interactive map allowing you to click directly on your state to find recycling resources. http://www.nrc-recycle.org/consumers.aspx

After identifying your local recycling regulations, print them out and post them in a place for reference, your refrigerator is always a good bet! You are now ready to set-up an at-home recycling station! Check out our Greeniacs Guide “Set Up a Home Recycling Station” for all the necessary information to continue your journey! http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsGuides/Set_Up_a_Home_Recycling_Station

Browse all Greeniacs Guides        Browse all Greeniacs Articles
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Ή http://www.nrc-recycle.org/fact-sheet.aspx.
² http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/rrr/recycle.htm.

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Last Updated ( Friday, 12 February 2010 )

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Green Facts

  • If everyone in the U.S. used energy-efficient lighting, we could retire 90 average size power plants

  • Replacing a single incandescent bulb with a CFL will keep a half-ton of CO2 out of the atmosphere over the life of the bulb

  • One-half of our nation's lakes and one-third of our rivers are too polluted to be completely safe for swimming or fishing

  • Turning down your home’s central heating thermostat one degree for an 8-hour period, can cut your fuel consumption by as much as 10% 

  • The average non-agricultural homeowner uses up to 10 times more toxic chemicals per acre than a farmer 

  • There are more roads located within our National Forests than there are within the entire U.S. Interstate Highway system

  • The energy saved from recycling one 8-ounce aluminum can could operate a TV set for 3 hours, which is the equivalent to half a can of gasoline

  • About 80% of what Americans throw away is recyclable, yet our recycling rate is just 28%

  • For every ton of office paper we recycle, 380 gallons of oil are saved