Monthly Spotlight: Recycling

Step 1: Collection & Processing

• Businesses and consumers generate recyclables that are then collected by either a private hauler or a government entity.
  • There are several methods for collecting recyclables, including curbside collection, drop-off centers, and deposit or refund programs.
• After collection, recyclables are sent to a recovery facility to be sorted, cleaned, and processed into materials that can be used in manufacturing.
• Recyclables are bought and sold just like raw materials would be, and prices go up and down depending on supply and demand in the United States and around the world.

Step 2: Manufacturing

• After processing, recyclables are made into new products at a recycling plant or similar facility.
  • More and more of today's products are being manufactured with recycled content.
• Recycled materials are also used in new ways such as recovered glass in asphalt to pave roads or recovered plastic in carpeting and park benches.

 Step 3: Purchasing New Products Made from Recycled Materials

You help close the recycling loop by buying new products made from recycled materials. There are thousands of products that contain recycled content. When you go shopping, look for the following:

• Products that can be easily recycled
• Products that contain recycled content

Some common products you can find that are made with recycled content include the following:

• Aluminum cans
• Car bumpers
• Carpeting
• Cereal boxes
• Comic books
• Egg cartons
• Glass containers
• Laundry detergent bottles
• Motor oil
• Nails
• Newspapers
• Paper towels
• Steel products
• Trash bags

Challenges to the Recycling System

• Many people are confused about what items can be recycled, where they can be recycled, and how.
  • This often leads to recyclables going in the trash or trash going in the recycling bin.
• America’s recycling infrastructure has not kept pace with today’s waste stream.
  • Communication between the manufacturers of new materials and products and the recycling industry needs to be improved to prepare for and optimally manage the recycling of new materials.
• Domestic markets for recycled materials need to be strengthened in the United States
  • Changing international policies have limited the export of materials
• We need to better integrate recycled materials and end-of-life management into product and packaging designs.
• More consistent measurement methodologies are necessary to improve recycling system performance.
  • These more standardized metrics can then be used to create effective goals and track progress.

Information gathered from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

• Total Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated by material in 2018: 292.4 million tons
  • Paper and paperboard: 23.1%
  • Food: 21.6%
  • Plastics: 12.2%
  • Yard Trimmings: 12.1%
• Management of MSW
  • 50% Landfilling
  • 23.6% Recycling
  • 11.8% Combustion with Energy Recovery
  • 8.5% Composting
  • 6.1% Other Food Management Pathways
• Iowa: Overall Statewide Waste Composition
  • Organics: 31.6%
  • Paper: 25.5%
  • Plastic: 18.3%
  • Other: 11.4%
  • 6% or lower: construction & demolition, metal, glass, durables, HHM
• Without exception, recycling is the top action society can do to simultaneously improve: the environment, the economy, sustainable manufacturing and to prevent waste from going into oceans.
• Recycling is in a crisis in the U.S. due to public confusion about recycling. 
• U.S. recycling levels are currently 21.4% (recent EPA-funded Yale University Study)
• When U.S. recycling levels reach 75% it will be the environmental and CO2 equivalent of removing 55 million cars from U.S. roads each year.
• When U.S. recycling levels reach 75% it will generate 1.5 million new jobs in the U.S. (net).
• Manufacturers truly want these materials to be reused in their manufacturing, but they aren't able to reuse them if people don't recycle them correctly.
• Recycling is a $200 billion industry in the US
• Recycling conserves fresh water up to 95% in the mining and manufacturing process for many materials
• The U.S. recycling levels have not improved in 20 years despite the billions of dollars spent on recycling competitions, symposiums, awareness campaigns, and new sorting technologies.
• Despite only representing 5% of the world's population, the U.S. generates more waste than any other country in the world.
• Five plastic bottles (PET) recycled provides enough fiber to create one square foot of carpet or enough fiber fill to fill one ski jacket.
• Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour
• Every three months, Americans throw enough aluminum in the landfills to build our nation’s entire commercial air fleet.
• Recycling a single aluminum can save enough energy to power a TV for three hours.
• Americans throw away enough office paper each year to build a 12-foot high wall from Seattle to NY (a new wall every year).
• Making paper from recycled paper reduces the related contribution to air pollution by 95%.
• Making glass from recycled material cuts related water pollution by 50%.
• Recycling cardboard only takes 75% of the energy needed to make new cardboard.
• Recycling 1 ton of cardboard saves 46 gallons of oil.
• Food waste can be used for composting and sold to farmers or it can be provided as a food source for local animal farms that meet federal, state, and local regulations for food scrap usage.
• Almost half of the food in the U.S. goes to waste - approximately 3,000 pounds per second.
• Electronic waste totals approximately 2% of the waste stream in the U.S.
• Several states have now created mandatory collection and recycling programs for electronics.

Information gathered from Recycle Across America and SCS Engineers.