Major Recycled Materials

Plastic- household cleaning containers, laundry detergent containers, milk containers, plastic juice bottles.....
Glass- soda and beer bottles, jelly jars, tomato sauce jars, pickle jars, unbroken glass is best
Paper- newspaper, magazines, computer paper, books, junk mail, photocopies, cereal and shoe boxes, phone books
Aluminum- can goods, soda and beer cans, scrap metal..........

Recycling Words of Wisdom

Reduce- Source reduction, specifically targeting unecessary packaging
Reuse- using items over and over instead of just once
Recycle- Sorting, materials to be used again, will complete the cycle

Recycling Word List

Biodegradable- Able to be broken down, by bacteria or other living organsims, into basic biological components that can be placed back into the natural enviornment without causing any hazards
Buy-back center- A place where people bring their recyclable and exchange them for payment
Comingle- To mix recyclable with non recyclable
Compost- The end product of the decompostion of organic matter that results from the composting process
Cullet- Cleaned, crushed glass that is used to make glass products
Decomposition- A process in which something breaks down into its basic components or elements
Ferrous- A term describing iron based products, including steel
Incineration- The burning of waste materials
Landfill- A site where solid waste that cannot be recycled is disposed of
Solid waste management- Those activites that concentrate on the systematic collection, source separation, storage, transportation, transfer, processing, treatment, or disposal of solid waste

Myths About Recycling

We can recycle only 25 to 30% of our solid waste.
Recycling is more expensive than trash collection and disposal.
Landfills and incinerators are more cost-effective and environmentally sound than recycling options.
Landfills are significant job generators for rural communities.
The marketplace works best in solving solid waste management problems; no public sector intervention is needed.