More on Recycling

• Recycling
• Electronic Recycling
• Buy Recycled Initiative
• Household Hazardous Waste Collection
• Recycling Tours
• Mobile Recycling
• Christmas Tree Recycling
• Telephone Book Recycling
• Getting Involved
• Material(s) on Recycling
• Wipe Out Wireless Waste

Buy Recycled Initiative

Today, approximately 28% of our trash is recovered for recycling. But that is only the first step. Once these items are collected and manufactured into new products, consumers must purchase these items for the process to work, thereby "closing the loop" on recycling. The good news is that many of the products you buy are already made of reycled materials, such as your automobile. All the steel produced today includes recycled steel from canned goods and old appliance and car parts. Other items that contain recycled products include insulation, carpeting, newspapers, trash bags, aluminum cans, and packaging such as cereal boxes. Did you know that plastic soft drink bottles can be recycled into such items as T-shirts or backpacks?

• Recycled-content products are made from materials that would otherwise have been discarded. Items in this category are made totally or partially from material destined for disposal or recovered from industrial activities-like aluminum soda cans or newspaper. Recycled-content products also can be items that are rebuilt or remanufactured from used products such as toner cartridges or computers.
• Postconsumer content refers to material from products that were used by consumers or businesses and would otherwise be discarded as waste. If a product is labeled "recycled content," the rest of the product material might have come from excess or damaged items generated during normal manufacturing processes-not collected through a recycling program.
• Recyclable products can be collected and remanufactured into new products after they've been used. These products do not necessarily contain recycled materials and only benefit the environment if people recycle them after use.