Clearing up the confusion as to what you should place in your residential recycle bin in the 21st Century and how well Americans are doing with recycling today
Believe it or not, Americans have been researching the
rewards of residential recycling since the early 1970’s. Yep. It’s a fact. Nixon was (still) president, the first Earth Day was observed, the Environmental Protection Agency was
created, the Public Broadcasting System
started its storied history, and the first recorded mass recycling program – "Ban
The Can" – was conceived and executed by Ruth "Pat" Webb
in Honolulu, Hawaii.
On that date, Webb expertly organized military and civilian
volunteers to collect more than nine tons
of metal cans from the roadways of Oahu that were later recycled into steel
reinforcement bars used in local construction projects. That, my friends, is an
awful lot of Primo beer, a bit of Coca-Cola, and an amassing of Spam (the food, not the email
intrusion). Spam was first introduced to the Hawaiian islands by American
soldiers during World War II when the manufacturer provided cans to American
and Allied troops.
Today, Hawaiians consume the most Spam of any culture in the
world, about four million cans annually to be precise! Its popularity is
certainly due in part to the famed 1970s Monty
Python skit of the same name, currently with more than seven-million views (and
located below for your viewing pleasure)!
Okay, so… sorry for the massive (though
historically-significant and article-relevant) video distraction. Back to the
task at hand: What exactly can be recycled curbside in your bins on a weekly
basis, and what is the rest of America doing to step it up?
Single-Stream Recycling
Fortunately, facilities like TotalRecycle
in Pennsylvania exist in the 21st century to make this entire
process a whole lot easier to wrap your head around (Ms. Webb would most certainly
be pleased indeed)! This groundbreaking, state-of-the-art single-stream recycle
facility contains cutting-edge technology that allows for the precise sorting
and processing of recyclable materials. The 75,000 square foot facility accepts
all items capable of being recycled, including but not limited to: plastics
#1-7, cardboard (OCC), aluminum, newspaper (ONP), clear and colored glass,
steel, tin, e-waste, aseptics, cartons and electronics.
Glass
Clear, green, or brown bottles and jars (food and drink
only) can be collected. Remove all caps and rings. Please rinse before placing
in container. Glass bottles and jars are 100% recyclable and can be recycled
endlessly without any loss in purity or quality. In 2013, 41.3% of beer and
soft drink bottles were recovered for recycling, according to the U.S. EPA.
Another 34.5% of wine and liquor bottles and 15% of food and other glass jars
were recycled. In total, 34% of all glass containers were recycled, equivalent
to taking 210,000 cars off the road each year.
Paper
Materials that are collected include newspaper, magazines,
advertising inserts, catalogs, junk mail, envelopes, waxed paper, paper bags,
phone books, and wrapping paper (remove metallic paper, bows, etc.). Place all
paper in a heavy brown bag or tie together with twine. Do not use wire or
plastic bags. About 67 percent of newspapers / mechanical
papers were recovered in the U.S. in 2013.
Cardboard and Corrugated Paper
Cardboard boxes and items such as cereal boxes, tissue
boxes, and gift boxes can be collected, as well as milk and juice cartons.
Please flatten cardboard. Over 85 percent of all products that are sold in the
United States are packed in cardboard. Approximately 89 percent of
corrugated cardboard was recovered for
recycling in 2013.
Cartons
Milk, juice, soup, flavored drinks and aseptic cartons are
recycled in some areas. Please check
with your municipality. Carton recycling
access has grown a remarkable 177
percent over the last 5 years, starting at just 18 percent in
2009 when the Carton Council was first formed. Today, more than 58.3 million households can recycle
cartons either via curbside programs or drop off facilities in the U.S.
High-grade paper
Manila envelopes, file folders, fax and copy paper, and
computer print outs are collected for recycling. Please place in paper bags or
box (no plastic bags). Paper accounts for about half of all recyclables collected
in the US, by weight. About 43-million
tons of paper and paperboard were recovered in 2013, a recovery rate of
about 63 percent.
Aluminum Cans and Foil
Rinse cans and place in the recycling container. They may be
flattened or left intact. Labels do not need to be removed. Foil must be clean.
The aluminum industry pays out more than 800
million dollars a year for recycled cans. The U.S. industry can recycling
rate is approximately 67 percent.
Steel & Bi-Metallic Cans
Any food container such as coffee cans or soup cans can be
recycled. Steel food cans are the most recycled food package. 600 steel
cans or tin cans are recycled every
second. More than 1,500 food items come in steel cans. Items like, yes: “Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spam, Spam, Spam,
Spam”. But please do rinse thoroughly
before recycling (rinse Spam cans twice)!