What Can Be Recycled & How?

We all know that recycling is very important for our environment. There are recycling companies that make waste reusable, but for that they need consumers' help. Many things we dispose of can be recycled, and things that can't be can be destroyed in an environmental friendly way. All we need to do is separate our waste.

What Can Be Recycled

Groceries come in different types of packaging such as plastic containers or bags, aluminum or steel, carton or paper, glass and tetra packs, all of which can be recycled. Other recyclables are: batteries (including car batteries), refrigerators, printer cartridges, tires, motor oil and green waste. It also depends on the programs in your area. For other types of waste, there are companies that extract the reusable parts and legally dispose of the rest.

Recycling Paper

Any type of paper and carton waste can be recycled. Recycling companies accept any type of paper, as long as it is clean (they can't recycle paper contaminated with food, waxed, oil soaked, stickers, carbon paper, plastic laminated paper, thermal fax paper and sanitary products or tissue). They recycle newspapers, white office paper, phone books, corrugated cardboard and any other type of paper like envelopes and magazines.

Recycling Plastic

Most plastic waste can be recycled. It takes a bit of work, as there are several types of plastics and they can't be melted together. They are marked with codes (PE, PET, PP, LDPE, HDPE, PS,) that indicate the type. There are some plastic containers that can't be recycled (like yogurt and cottage cheese containers), but the companies will dispose of them legally.

Recycling Glass and Aluminium

Glass and aluminum waste are easy to recognize and sort out. Clear glass is the most valuable since it can be used to make anything. It is washed, melted in furnaces and reshaped. The difference between plastic and glass is transparency. While recycled plastic loses transparency, glass remains the same.
There is no quality difference between recycled and new aluminum. The important difference is that re-melting aluminum is a lot cheaper than creating new aluminum.

How You Can Help

Everybody can help recycling companies. All we need to do is separate our waste and dispose of it into special containers. You can find special containers for plastic, paper, aluminum and other materials in your town (for example near grocery stores) or you can sort them in containers in your home and recycling companies will come pick them up. Each town has different recycling programs, but they all work on the same basis. All you have to do is learn about the program in your area and keep your waste sorted and clean.

References

• Recycle Guide
• Recycling Works

Resources

• SDSU Recycles