Not a member yet? Register Forgot Password?
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.

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.

• The National Recycling Coalition provides an interactive map allowing you to click directly on your state to find recycling resources.

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!

Browse all Greeniacs Guides        Browse all Greeniacs Articles
______________________________________________________________________________

¹ http://www.nrc-recycle.org/fact-sheet.aspx.
² http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/rrr/recycle.htm.

$mainframe->appendPathWay('My text'); $mainframe->setPageTitle('My page title');


Comments (3)
RSS comments
1. 24-11-2009 22:07
good its awesome kitchen
Registered
greeniac712712
2. 24-11-2009 00:48
good post you have managed table lamps
Registered
greeniac712712
3. 22-11-2009 20:36
nice post you have managed living room furniture
Registered
greeniac712712

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.

Click here to Register.  Click here to login.
Last Updated ( Friday, 30 July 2010 )

Greeniacs Forum Widget

Add our widget to your favorite websites!
Greeniacs Forum Widget

Polls

If green products were cheaper than other products how motivated would you be to buy them?

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