Archive for the ‘Recycling’ Category

Are you a person who watches someone throw an aluminum can out of their car window and nearly cause an accident skidding to a stop just to pick it up for proper disposal? Do you cringe when you see plastic piling up in your neighbor’s trash and take late night trips to their bin just to empty it out? If any of this behavior sounds familiar to you, then you might be a recycle junkie. But don’t worry; it’s not a bad thing because in reality there need to be more people like you in the world. And to make you feel even better, you’ll be happy to know there is a home for you. If you an adamant recycler and are always looking for ways to not only get involved more deeply in the process, but always promote getting others involved, then Earth 911 is right up your alley.

Who is Earth 911?

Earth 911 is known as the “nation’s premier environment resource.” It is a division of the cause media company, Global Alerts, and is based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Global Alerts is one the leading cause media companies in the country and is best known for its world-class Mass Notification System, which includes Earth911.com, Pets911.com, and AmberAlert.com. Because of its dedication to alerting the country of the emergencies of our society, we are able to stay abreast of what is most important.

The mission for Earth 911 is to deliver local information on the environment in a way that empowers people and causes them to act upon their community in a positive way, live responsibly, and contribute to sustainability. One of the major ways they accomplish this is by encouraging communities to recycle their goods instead of sending them to a dump as waste. Some of the other ways they help the community is by promoting green shopping, learning how to live green, energy conservation, beach water quality alerting, understanding the dangers of household waste, educating children on how to recycle responsibly and care for the community, composting, and environment education – and all of these services are free to the public.

Why Recycle?

According to Earth 911, recycling is the one of the three R’s (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle). When you recycle you take a product or material when you are finished using it and turn it into a useable raw material, which enables it to be made into another product. The greatest benefit of recycling is that it stops materials from ending up in landfills and incinerators.

Earth 911 explains that recycling has grown considerably in the past years, and now 50 percent of all paper, 34 percent of all plastic bottles, 25 percent of all aluminum beer and soft drink cans, 63 percent of all steel packaging, and 67 percent of all major appliances are recycled. This allows us to stop having to cut down trees and creating new products with newly found resources, while other resources are burning in incinerators, creating a great deal of our world’s population. In other words, recycling creates a win-win situation for the world.

Since 2005, almost 9,000 curbside recycling programs have been existence; there was only one in the mid-80s, so the world is definitely embracing recycling more and more. And now, it is common to not only have a recycling bin found in a central location within an office setting, but many companies also provide smaller recycling bins that sit next to each employee’s trash can in the cubicle and office. The world is finally catching on, and I bet you want to know how you can too!

How Can I Get Involved?

Earth 911 provides a resource right on their website that allows you to enter your city and state or zip code along with the item you wish to recycle, in order to find out information on recycling in your area. Since I have several cell phones that I no longer use, and are no longer able to have refurbished, I decided to enter information for my zip code to find out where I can take them to avoid throwing them away. When I entered the keywords “cell phones” and entered my zip code, I was quickly provided with a comprehensive list of locations in my area, sorted by distance that will accept my cell phones.

While some of the places on my list did not surprise me (i.e. Goodwill), I was surprised by a few. On my list were RadioShack’s Commercial Drop-Off location, AutoZone, Batteries Plus, and Best Buy to name a few. I realized that every company has become involved in recycling and now it is time that all others follow their leads.

If you don’t want to begin your own recycling campaign, it is understandable. People have busy lives with children and work, and often times are busy with their own chosen cause, so developing a program of this nature does not always fit into that criteria. However, you can always contribute where you see it makes sense. Instead of throwing your old, non-functioning computer into the trash can, take the time to call around to see who will dispose of it responsibly. And if you have a family that constantly drinks soft drinks, whether in aluminum cans or plastic bottles, find ways to make your contribution by building those items up in your home then taking them to a recycling center on a Saturday afternoon while you’re already out shopping.

In your lifetime you may have heard that standing by and doing nothing is almost as bad as being a contribution to the problem. You may feel that you have no obligation to make this world a better place because you don’t feel as though you’ve contributed in making it a bad place. However, if you have the opportunity to recycle your goods and you don’t, you are contributing to the problem just as equally as the person who throws his or her can out of the car window. Earth 911 is proactively making a difference in this world by teaching us why we need to recycle. All we have to do is follow their lead by moving forward down the road they’ve already paved. So what road will you choose? Will you contribute to the problem? Or contribute to the solution?

Author: Jeffrey Meier
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty rate

Distillation is the simple process of heating a mixture of ingredients until a solvent or other selected material evaporates-then cooling and condensing that vapor into a pure liquid. Alcohol has been produced this way since time immemorial and today the process is being used by large and small companies to reduce their waste streams and recover reusable products, thus saving significant cost.

The ability to easily recycle solvents in-house has developed over the past 20 odd years with the advent of batch stills. These solvent recycling units ranging in size from 2 gallons per batch up to equipment handling one hundred gallons per batch have made it cost effective for companies to consider replacing expensive service companies. In recent times even larger units have been developed which can work either stand alone or built into a process system to reduce or eliminate the needs for full time personnel to over see the operation.

These solvent recyclers save money in two ways: by recycling used solvents for reuse and eliminating most (and sometimes all) of the expense of disposing of the hazardous waste. Although even the smallest solvent recyclers cost several thousand dollars, they can easily pay for themselves in a year or two. In the case of large scale continuous operation equipment, it may be surprising to learn that the payback can easily be justified in less than one year. In fact in certain process industries the equipment vendors recommend the purchase of a solvent recycler to defray the cost of the exceedingly expensive solvents required in their equipment.

When one examines the amount of waste generated in industry, and the costs associated with its handling, it becomes evident that waste has a major economic impact on the performance of most businesses. If you consider all the waste as product, then what value would that waste have to the average business. Clearly, the best solution to hazardous waste is to NOT make as much of it! Given that a business is a successful entity, that success will create more hazardous waste problems. Just as the quality of your work and throughput affect your businesss’ competitive edge, so too can hazardous waste and its disposition. Thus, in-house solvent recycling must be considered as a relevant solution to the hazardous waste problem.

It also must be said that solvent recyclers are good for the environment: They make it possible to use the same material over and over radically reducing disposal and saving money by eliminating or reducing purchase of new material.

What are the considerations? Do you take on liability with EPA if you recycle? The answer is: yes, but it is the same liability you have with a service company. When a company buys potentially hazardous materials, they acquire cradle to grave liability. This is also acquired when using a service company. That being the case, there is no reason not to look at in-house recycling as an alternative to service company costs.

There are two types of solvent recyclers: continuous and batch.

Continuous solvent recyclers use in-line or auto-fill technology-that is, dirty solvent flows into one end and clean solvent comes out the other. This solution, available in varying volume capabilities, is used in industrial applications by large generators of solvent. By contrast, batch solvent recyclers distill one load of solvent at a time over a period of several hours.

The principal components in any solvent recycler are a tank in which the waste is deposited, a heating system for turning the liquid part of the waste into vapor and a condenser to cool the vapor back into a liquid.

The size of the tank determines the size of the solvent recycler. Methods of heating include steam, direct heat (using an electric heating element or heat plate) and indirect heat (where an oil bath surrounding the tank is heated by direct electric heat). Indirect heat is usually the preferred approach because the heating is more uniform.

The condenser is most often a series of looped copper or stainless steel coils (resembling a car radiator) that are cooled by a built-in fan or surrounded by water or coolant to chill the vapor back into a liquid. Cooling by air is less expensive than cooling by water or coolant and is adequate for small, batch type solvent recyclers. Water cooled condensers may be necessary for applications where the condensing temperature is particularly low or the environment of the facility is unusually hot. The water cooled condenser will then be more efficient.

Solvent recyclers are fairly unique among tools in industry in that they do almost all the work on their own. About the only thing you need to do is fill the tank (either manually for small machines or automatically for large), turn on the machine and remove the solid material that is left after the process. In the case of large automated machines, even the waste is removed without manual intervention.

Any organization using solvents on a continual basis is a potential candidate for a solvent recycler. In addition, any organization using a waste hauling service would be well advised to do a payback analysis on the purchase of a solvent recycler. Here is the way to determine the degree to which you will benefit from owning a solvent recycler:

First, figure what you are paying per year to have your dirty solvent or waste hauled off (generally from $100 to $400 per drum, depending upon the content and where you reside). Add this number to the cost of purchasing replacement solvent for about 80% of the volume of the sludge-or 95% of the volume of the solvent waste you are recycling with a service company. The exact percentages will vary depending on how much of the material is solid waste). Then, weigh this figure against the price of a solvent recycler and determine how long it will take for your savings to pay for it.

As an example, let us say you generate one drum of waste every month; let us say that it costs $300 to have the drum hauled away and that you pay $800 once a month for two new drums of solvent. Let us also estimate that you only have 50% of the solvent to recover after use before recycling.

The following calculation indicates your potential yearly savings: Add $3,600 (the cost of having twelve drums of waste solvent hauled off) to $3,840 (80% of $4,800, which represents the cost of replacing the half of the solvent that remains after use). That works out to a savings of $7,440 in one year, which comes close to the cost of a small recycler. Multiply this by the large volumes generated by industry in manufacturing, painting, printing, etc. The potential for savings is enormous.

If a solvent recycler is of interest to your organization, the next step in the process is finding one that suits your needs. Here are some questions to consider:

1. Is the capacity of the solvent recycler adequate to handle the volume produced? 2. Is the tank heated by steam, hot oil or by a direct electric element? (Hot surround oil is widely regarded as the best option). 3. Is the solvent vapor cooled and condensed by coolant, water or fan? (A fan is generally adequate for small units and is considerably cheaper. For large units the conditions must be considered to determine which solution is sufficient.) 4. Is the supplier capable of supporting maintenance issues if they occur? Are parts readily available? 5. Check references for reliability of the equipment in general and in your industry in specific. What is the vendor’s track record?

Once you determine the features of the equipment that will do the job for your organization, go out and solicit quotations from several venders as with any capital purchase. At this point it will take some intuitive judgement to determine which vender can provide the right solution. More times than not, price should not be the determining factor in the acquisition. Do the homework and you will make the correct choice. Remember, as with all capital purchases, once you purchase a solution you will have to live with it for a long time.

On the good side, the organization who chooses to recycle gains several benefits. The reduction of the waste stream is obvious as is the cost savings. The green image that accrues to the company is valuable to its position as a good neighbor in the community. It is hard to put a value on this aspect, yet its benefit is great.

With society’s increasing concern for protecting the environment, it only makes sense (both for the sake of the environment and for the cost savings) to recycle your used solvents. Regardless of the size of the equipment needed, the decision to recycle in-house almost always shows a positive return on investment. With ever more difficult conditions to earn a profit, more and more organizations are turning to solvent recycling units to reduce cost and save money.

Author: Mike Robbins
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty rates

Recycling is the process of taking used products and reusing them. Most often recycling involves collecting the waste products and processing them into a new product. Recycled items include, paper, plastic, glass and metals. There are many items that can be recycled. Recycling is something that came to the fore front as means of reducing waste and helping to save the environment from the hazards of landfills.

The Start of Recycling

Recycling was first really talked about in the 1970s. However, recycling is a natural thing. Many people recycle and do not even think about it. For example, when you buy something at a garage sale, you are recycling that item. You are taking something someone else would have thrown away and putting it to use. Recycling seemed to catch on all over.

Recycling has also seen a surge in popularity as concern is growing about global warming and environmental concerns. People have been educated about the dangers of dumping trash and they want a better future for their children. Additionally, recycling products, like aluminum cans, has been made simple through the introduction of collection bins in many different public places. There are recycle bins in stores, on the street and in many other public places that encourage you to recycle your trash. Many communities also have recycling services that pick up recyclables just like trash is collected.

Increase in Popularity, Increase in Rates

There are many ways that you can recycle for free, but if you have your recyclables collected then you usually have to pay a service fee. With the increase in the number of people recycling and the increase in operating costs, the cost of recycling is going up. Funding from government sources is being cut and that also leads to an increase in recycling rates. Recycling costs are rising and those costs are being passed onto the consumer.

Another Roadblock

Not every product can be easily recycled. This is another roadblock when it comes to recycling. If a recycling center sees an increased demand for recycling a certain product, like batteries, that must be handled specially, then they may decide to start collecting that product. This could lead to higher operating costs.

If a person has to search for a place to recycle, chances are they will just throw it in their trash and forget about it. People want recycling to be hassle free.

The Future

The future of recycling depends on many factors. Some of the things that will effect recycling future include:

- education about recycling
- making recycling more available
- new technological advances
- initiatives and government regulations

There are not a lot of recycling laws on the books. Most people recycle simply because they want to. Many items recycled are those items that would spend years in a landfill. Items like plastic or aluminum can be recycled and used to make new products. This helps to cut down on the amount of raw materials that must be harvested and it keeps these products out of the landfills. Recycling has many benefits, but it is really up to each person to help keep it going strong.

Author: John Kirzno
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Creditcard Currency Conversion Fee

If you have heard about the Plastic Continent — the floating island of plastic twice the size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean — then you understand how crucial it is to recycle plastic. Right now, only 5% of plastics worldwide are recycled. Some of this is ignorance: most of the world still simply doesn’t understand the danger plastics pose to our environment and our food chain.

But plastics themselves are complicated. Even if you want to recycle your plastics, and even if you dutifully separate plastics from the rest of your household waste and put it out on the curb in its blue or green recycle bin, your plastics might still end up in the Plastic Continent. Why is this?

Different Types of Plastic

Look at the underneath side of a plastic bottle or plastic container. Inside the familiar reduce, reuse, recycle triangle (“chasing arrows”) logo is a number between one and seven. This number indicates what kind of plastic that container is made from. Some plastics are easy to recycle, but other plastics are much harder to recycle. As a result, most municipal recycling facilities only recycle the easiest plastics: plastics 1 and 2. What happens to plastics 3 through 7? At some recycling facilities, these are gathered until they have enough to send to a larger recycling facility that does recycle these types of plastics. But at other recycling facilities, the same thing happens to plastics 3 through 7 as what would have happened at your house if you didn’t have that handy recycling bin: it goes to the landfill, or the Pacific’s Plastic Continent.

Plastics #1 and #2

Plastic #1 is polyethelyne terephthalate (PET). This is the most commonly used plastic, and it’s the easiest to recycle. Your plastic soda bottle, salad dressing bottle, and cooking oil bottle are probably all made from PET. More than 2.3 billion pounds of PET are recycled annually.

Plastic #2 is high density polyethelene (HDPE). Most milk jugs, detergent bottles, and many food containers are made from HDPE. Unfortunately, some plastics marked with a #2, such as yogurt cups, are not actually recyclable. This is because other chemicals have been added to the plastic in order to mold it into the desired shape. These additives make recycling some of these #2 items basically impossible.

Plastics #1 and #2 make up 96% of all the plastic bottles produced in the United States. Nevertheless, 80% of plastic bottles still wind up in a landfill, even though 80% of Americans have access to a method for recycling these bottles.

Plastic #3 through #7

The rest of the plastics make up pretty much everything that’s not a plastic bottle. Just think of all the plastics in your home — your toothbrush, cling wrap, plastic bowls, plastic cups, drinking straws, last night’s leftovers, that almost-impossible-to-open package your new iPhone came in, your computer, your DVD cases… plastic is everywhere.

These plastics can all be categorized as the plastics #3 through #7. None of them are particularly easy to recycle, so even though your recycling guy will take it from your curb, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will become tomorrow’s soda bottle. However, by researching recycling facilities in your area, you can find places to recycle these less common plastics.

The Bottom Line When it Comes to Plastic Recycling

Plastic is much harder to recycle than other materials. Because it breaks down during the recycling process, it can only be recycled so many times — this is why many recyclers prefer so-called “virgin plastics”, or plastics that haven’t been recycled before because they make a better product. That means that even if you do the best you can to recycle all your plastics, some of them might still wind up in the dump.

The clear conclusion we must draw is that even the most conscientious recycling is not enough when it comes to plastics: ultimately, we have to reduce our consumption. The process of producing plastics, many plastics themselves, and the aftermath of plastic use can all be described as toxic. Nearly all manufacturing processes for the different types of plastic listed above involve some degree of toxicity, and as these plastics disintegrate in landfills or in the ocean, these toxic chemicals find their ways back into our soils, our water, our food, and our bodies.

So please recycle plastic. But better yet, stop buying plastic wherever possible.

Author: K N Singer
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Make PCB Assembly

An effective recycling decal encourages and reminds people to recycle. Well designed recycling decals can help to run successful recycling programs and increase the utility of the recycling containers by promoting the message of recycling. To achieve the best results, the message imprinted on the recycle decal should be clearly visible and interesting.

These decals should help in differentiating trash-bins, recycling-bins, and specific-purpose recycling bins from one another. There are a large variety of recycling decals available in the market in different shapes and sizes. Some also come with customization option and allow you to add your own message on them. You can also get your company name and logo imprinted on recycle decal for good corporate citizenship brand building. Here are some pointers that will help you use recycling decals effectively.

o Application of the Recycling Decals: The recycling decals should be applied on both sides of recycle bins. One thing that you should take care while pasting the recycle decals is that the surface of the recycle bin should be dry, clean, and free of dirt. The surface of the container should be smooth and adhesive should be of high quality in order to keep decal in place for a longer time.

o Size of the Recycling Decals: It is very important to choose the right sized recycling decal so that the message on the recycling bin is clearly visible. The shape and size of the recycle decal should be in accordance with the size of recycle bin. The printing on decals should be high quality so that they don’t fade away quickly. Waterproof and weather resistant decals are excellent for outdoor recycling bins.

o Message on the Recycling Decal: Choose a decal with motivating and interesting words like “Let’s Recycle”, “Put glass in me”, or “Make my day, put paper in me” to make recycling programs a success. For a successful recycling program in schools, go for recycle decals with pictures to guide students to dispose waste properly in recycling bins. To differentiate recycling bins from trash bins, decals with texts “Recyclables Only” and “Trash Only” are excellent.

o Language on Decals: According to the need, you can also use bi-lingual recycling decals with message written in two different languages. For example, if a place is visited by people who know both English and Spanish or either of the two languages, a bi-lingual recycle decal with text printed in both English and Spanish will increase the reach of the message.

Author: Patrick J Hills
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty rate

Recycling is a process that helps in waste management and also in conservation of natural resources by manufacturing new products from waste material. Deployment of recycle bins and recycle containers in homes, offices, public places, shopping malls and other high traffic areas can help in running successful recycling programs. Recycle containers make collection and handling of waste material easy.

There are a large variety of recycling containers available in market and you can choose one depending on your requirement. Many of them have multiple openings which allow separation of different type of waste material like plastic, paper and glass very easy. You can also paste appropriate recycling decals on the recycle bins to encourage people to dispose waste properly by informing them about the appropriate bin according to the type of waste material.

Recycling Collection Containers for Plastic Waste
Glutton Bottle and Can Recycling Container, Recycling Depot, Plaza Bottle and Can Recycling Containers are some recycle containers available for collecting plastic waste material for recycling. Plastic recycling helps in the conservation of non-renewable fossil fuels as 8% of the world’s oil production is used in manufacturing of plastic.

Recycling Collection Containers for Paper Waste
Effective paper recycling can be done with the help of paper recycling bins. Many of the paper recycle bins have a slot rather than a round hole to help differentiate the type of waste that should be placed in them. Under Desk Recycling Bin-Deskslider, Slim Jim Container, and Duo Recycler are some recycling containers which are perfect for collecting paper waste. They can be further differentiated as “Newspaper Only” or “Office Paper Only” with the help of appropriate recycling decals. Recycling paper helps in saving millions of trees every year. One ton of recycled paper waste saves 17 full grown trees. An action worth taking.

Recycling Collection Containers for Glass Waste
Recycling containers outfitted with rubber baffles are appropriate for disposing glass waste. Indoor Multi-Sort, Double Entry Warrior, and Woodie Max are some recycling containers that are ideal for collecting glass waste. Glass used in bottles, doors, crockery, windows, etc. is one of the most significant components present in industrial, office, and home. Glass recycling is highly beneficial from an environmental point of view as recycling glass saves about 25% energy as compared to manufacturing new glass from raw materials.

Author: Patrick J Hills
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera News

Recycling decals are the stickers or the recycling logos that are pasted on recycling bins to help people to differentiate between a wastebasket and a recycling container. Some decals with catchy slogans are used to encourage people to dispose waste properly. Decals are easy to read and are used to label recycling bins thus making sorting of recyclable material easier. Recycling decal remind people about recycling and persuade them to reduce waste by putting all recyclable materials in appropriate recycling containers. Recycled decals are available in a variety of sizes, styles and texts. Some popular recycle decals have text, such as “Recycle”, “We Recycle”, and “Recyclables Only” printed on them. Here’s a list of some of the types of decals that are available in the market:

Graphic Recycle Decals: This type of recycled decal has text as well as images printed on them. These decals are good for use in playgrounds, schools and other public places as these give forth the message of recycling of waste material in a simple and effective manner.

Bi-Lingual Recycling Decals: Bi-Lingual recycling decals increase the reach of message on decals as these give the same information in two languages, for example, English and Spanish. Text in two languages makes the recycle decal understandable to a larger number of people and thus promotes recycling effectively.

Custom Recycling Decals: You can also customize your decals by adding logo, slogan, message, etc of your own choice. You can even get your company or institution’s name printed on custom recycle decals. These decals are ideal for use in offices, schools, hospitals or hotels, etc.

Mini Recycling Decals: As the name suggests, these recycle decals are small in size and are used for comparatively small sized recycling bins. The decals can be used on office recycling bins to encourage the employees to recycle. Small recycling bins in homes can also be pasted with these decals to help the family members adopt the habit of recycling.

Author: Patrick J Hills
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Creditcard Currency Conversion Fee

The curbside recycling bin is one of the most recognizable recycling containers there is.

A huge amount of recyclable waste materials is generated in homes and proper recycling of household waste can help in saving energy and natural resources. New products can be created from household waste by the method of recycling and this can lessen the burden on the environment. Some household materials that can be recycled are newspapers, glass bottles, aluminum cans, cardboard boxes, and recyclable plastic materials.

By using recycling bins in your home, you can make a significant contribution towards the environment. An effective recycling program can also help you in utilizing the household waste materials in a constructive way. Here are some tips you can follow to run an effective recycling program in your home:

o Reduce, Reuse and Recycle: Your best tool is your familiar Blue Recycle bin to keep you mindful of the things you can do for our planet right in your own home. By following these three simple rules you can make the recycling program in your house a success. First of all, you should reduce the amount of waste produced, and try to reuse the materials that can be used for some other purpose. If a waste material can not be reused, then you should send it for recycling.

o Use Recycling Bins: You must keep a separate recycle bin in your garage, kitchen, lobby and garden, etc. and encourage family members to throw waste material in the appropriate bin. This can help you in contributing to the environment and also keep your house clean. You can buy Waste Warrior recycling bins, United Receptacle recycling bins, Rubbermaid recycling bins, Ecolad recycling containers and more.

o Find a hauler to pick-up recycling material: If you are not lucky enough to live in a city with a Curbside Recycling program you can contact your local recycling station and arrange a hauler to pick up the recyclable material from your house. You can also take the recyclable waste to the recycling station yourself. You should avoid burying it in the ground as it would not only pollute the soil but also lower the economic impact to its half which could have been gained by recycling the waste material. According to the statistics, nearly 70% of the waste that could be recycled is buried in the ground.

By running effective recycling programs in your home, you can also make your children habitual to disposing waste the right manner. This way we can lead towards a better future. You can log on to www.recyclingsupply.com to buy recycling bins for home and office.

Author: Patrick J Hills
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger

The 18-gallon recycling bins are a box shaped recycling bin, which is good for any type of material you want to recycle. You can get them with and without lids, which make them a stackable type of container.

When you are recycling paper, you want a different container for each type of paper. The magazines, glossy printed flyers, newspaper inserts, phone books, envelopes, computer paper, old letters and paper packaging can all go into the same recycling bin. Newspapers however require their own bin just as corrugated cardboard and plastic lined drink boxes both requires separate containers.

Plastic will not decompose in a landfill. Some plastic containers can be recycled into other products. Unlike aluminum cans, which can be recycled into another aluminum can. Recycled drink bottles will not come back as another drink bottle. It may come back as a shower stall, plastic bags, plastic toys, motor oil bottles and the list goes on. There are several different types of plastic, so you will have to check with your recycle center to see what types of plastic they are equipped to take. There are some recycle centers, which are known as “All Plastic Recycling Centers”, which means they will take any type of plastic. Just to give you an idea, plastic goods are assigned a number to grade them for recycling. #1 and #2 are for containers, #4 is for bags, and #7 is for mixed plastics and is not recyclable.

Plastic bottles are a valuable recyclable material. Tops of the bottles should be removed and placed in with the other regular plastic items. Plastic grocery bags can be recycled. Many grocery stores will have a container at the front of the store for customers to place their used grocery store bags into. Polystyrene cups, food trays and egg cartons will not biodegrade. Some plastic recycling centers will not accept the polystyrene items, but some due. Try to reduce your use of this material.

Plastic #5 can be recycled, but it has very little market value when it has been recycled. You are better off reusing them at home. These are the containers you will find cottage cheese, sour cream, butter, yogurt, etc.

Each different type of plastic will go into a different 18-gallon recycling bin. Recycling centers prefer you not lump them all together.

Glass is recycled by the color of the glass container, clear, green and brown and the recycling centers prefer they are separated in those colors. Paper labels can be left on the containers. Glass product such as light bulbs, mirrors, sheet glass, and Pyrex must be placed in a container away from the bottles because they have a different glass composition than the bottles. Compact florescent bulbs can be recycled at your local IKEA store.

Food cans are not made of aluminum but should be recycled. Aluminum cans are a valuable recyclable. Aluminum foil and foil packaging are also just as important to recycle as the cans. They can be used to make small engine parts.

Paint can, aerosol cans can be recycled. These are also considered to be hazardous waste, so they must be separated from other metals. Retain the paper labels because it is necessary for the recycler to know the material, which was in the cans. Try to keep the lid with the can it belongs to.

Copper is one of the most recyclable of all the metals. The alloys used with the copper to make up the copper products are also recyclable. When recycling copper, it only takes less than 15% of the energy it took to mine, mill, smelt and refine the copper in the first place.

As you can see you will have plenty of uses for the 18-gallon recycling container. The number of containers you will need will depend entirely on the number of materials you will be recycling.

Author: Charles Taft
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Duty tariff

Checked into your local recycling centers lately? Chances are you have more ways to go green and reduce your rubbish than you realize. Local recycling practices vary by area, but there are some universal Yes’s and No’s:

Paper: YES

Mail, office and school papers along with envelopes with windows are ok. Newspaper, ad inserts, magazines, catalogs and phone books are also great candidates for a recycling program once they are free from any plastic covers.

Purging your old files and uncluttering? Keep it green! If your items are shredded, your local pickup person AND your neighbors will appreciate the shreds in a paper bag stapled shut.

Cardboard is another big recycling item. You can even put in light weight cardboard such as dry food boxes such as those that hold cereal, cake mix, cracker or pasta. A good rule of thumb, if it’s a box that can go into a dry storage pantry, most likely it can be recycled.

WATCH FOR: Pop or Beverage can cartons, pizza boxes, egg cartons, refrigerated or frozen food boxes. These boxes are normally not handled by your local facility as they carry different printing or materials to contain food and may need to be included in your normal garbage waste. Check with your local provider.

Bottles, Jars, Cans: YES

Many bottles, jars or cans can be recycled, but this is where you really need to know your numbers. Just because the symbol is on the bottom of the container, doesn’t mean it can actually be recycled. It does signal what the items is made from and can identify if your items can go in the local recycling bin. As with all items, some may not be handled by your facility depending upon the type. Check with your local collector for more information.

WATCH FOR – Plastic: Plastics are forever, and currently most recyclers only collect plastic with numbers one (#1) and two (#2). Those plastics are things like water bottles, milk and juice jugs and even your laundry detergent containers. Most plastic items that have a handle, twist-top or you can pour with is recyclable.

• #1 – PET or PETE – SAFE – RECYCLABLE (Polyethylene terephthalate)
• #2 – HDPE – SAFE – RECYCLABLE (high-density polyethylene)

Plastics with numbers three (#3) – six (#6) right now are ending up in landfills for most areas. Why? Most recycled products currently only use the first two types, #1 and #2. With very few end markets, most of those plastics have no destination currently. Plastics three through six would be things like plastic food wrap, grocery bags, plastic food containers with lids and yogurt containers. In most areas, these items should be in your regular garbage waste. Containers that held hazardous substances like motor oil for example, should be disposed of at your local hazardous waste collection site.

• #3 – VINYL or PVC – AVOID BUYING, NOT RECYCLABLE in most areas (polyvinyl chloride)
• #4 – LDPE – SAFE – RECYCLABLE: Accepted at plastic bag recycling centers and drop stations (low-density polyethylene)
• #5 – PP – SAFE – RECYCLABLE: Check with your local recycling program (low-density polyethylene)
• #6 – PS – AVOID BUYING, NOT RECYCLABLE in most areas: Check with your local recycling program (polystyrene)

Plastic number seven (#7) is also in the market place and can be tricky to understand because it can be used with two different types of materials. Most are a composite plastic that is used to make those reusable hard plastic water bottles, baby bottles and sip cups. This item is not recycled primarily because of a health concern when heating the item. Apparently the chemical Bisphenol A, a low-level estrogen, can be exposed when the item is scratched or heated and can contaminate our food or drink. The biggest concern is exposure for women who are pregnant and children in their first few years which are unfortunate due the high use of the durable hard product in those markets. If using these items, glass or stainless steel may be an alternative worth looking at.

• #7 – PC – AVOID BUYING, NOT RECYCLABLE & QUESTIONABLE: Hard composite plastic. (Miscellaneous)
• #7 – PLA – SAFE, NOT RECYCLABLE but can be composted (polyactide, made from renewable plant resources)

GLASS Jars & Bottles: YES

Nearly ALL glass jars and bottles are accepted at recycling centers in the US. Broken glass, light bulbs or window panes are the only concerns for area recyclers for obvious safety reasons. Simply remove all lids and caps and rinse well so that the recycling centers can easily process them through their systems without a mess and machine damage.

Metal Cans & Aluminum Foil: YES

We all have those cans of soup, beans, or pop that sit around and remind us to recycle. What holds us back? Rinsing them out most likely or having just a single can to in your bin. Let me tell you now – one DOES make a difference and when you are actively recycling other items, one doesn’t seem like a lonely number.

WATCH OUT: Aerosol cans are not included in recycled materials.

Batteries: YES- In some areas.

Batteries can be recycled, but some areas do not have local pick up that includes those items. This is where your local stores that sell electronics come into play. Did you know that they usually have recycling centers for batteries, cell phones and other small items right inside their store doors? Check it out next time you are there. Until then, here are some steps to follow:

• Lithium ion batteries should have their ends taped to prevent fire and placed in a bag.
• Alkaline batteries should be in a clear plastic bag just in case they are leaking.
• Rechargeable batteries from small to large cordless tool sizes get old too with time. They need to be recycled as well.

WATCH OUT: Auto Batteries cannot be recycled through regular local drop-offs. These items need to be recycled where you would buy new ones like auto parts, hardware or department stores.

Author: Carrie Barclay
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera Information