RECYCLE
Why Recycle?
According to the EPA, the average American produces 4.5 lbs of trash per day, with just 1lb recycled. That means, in a year, you generate 1642.5 lbs of TRASH each year, averaging only 365 lbs recycled. There are roughly 305 million people living in the U.S., that means each year 499 BILLION pounds of trash are produced. That is a lot of WASTE! On average, roughly 70% of all we throw away can actually be RECYCLED. REUSED. So give your old jeans a new life, your recycling bin some use and your trash can a little breathing room.
Recycling an aluminum can saves 95 percent of the energy required to make the same amount of aluminum from virgin materials.
Producing glass from virgin materials requires 30 percent more energy than producing it from crushed, used glass.
- Almost 80 percent of U.S. paper mills rely on recovered recycled paper. In fact it supplies 37 percent of their material.
- Producing recycled paper requires about 60 percent of the energy used to make paper from virgin wood pulp.
- One ton of uncoated virgin (non-recycled) printing and office paper uses 24 trees.
- Producing recycled paper causes 74 percent less air pollution and 35 percent less water pollution than producing virgin paper.
- One ton of paper made from recycled scrap paper saves 7,000 gallons of water.
- Recycled paper production uses 59 percent less water compared to paper production from virgin resources. Typically, older virgin paper mills will use 100 pounds of water to make one pound of paper.
What Can I Recycle?
Virtually everything made of plastic should be marked with a code. Not all types can actually be recycled. Types 1 and 2 are widely accepted in container form, and type 4 is sometimes accepted in bag form. Code 7 is for mixed or layered plastic with little recycling potential. You should place in your bin only those types of plastic listed by your local recycling agency.
Check out this RECYCLING GUIDE for specifics about what you can and can't toss in your recycling bin!(A great flyer to print and keep in a convenient place, like your refrigerator!)
* Type 1 - PETE Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)
Soda & water containers, some waterproof packaging.
* Type 2 - HDPE High-Density Polyethylene
Milk, detergent & oil bottles. Toys and plastic bags.
* Type 3 - V Vinyl/Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
Food wrap, vegetable oil bottles, blister packages.
* Type 4 - LDPE Low-Density Polyethylene
Many plastic bags. Shrink wrap, garment bags.
* Type 5 - PP Polypropylene
Refrigerated containers, some bags, most bottle tops,
some carpets, some food wrap.
* Type 6 - PS Polystyrene
Throwaway utensils, meat packing, protective packing.
* Type 7 - OTHER Usually layered or mixed plastic.
No recycling potential - must be landfilled.
Types 1 and 2 are commonly recycled. Type 4 is less commonly recycled. The other types are generally not recycled, except perhaps in small test programs. Common plastics polycarbonate (PC) and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) do not have recycling numbers.
The code must be molded into the plastic item. The symbol should be easily visible for sorting purposes. The best symbols are large with a different surface finish than the surrounding plastic. If the container has a matte surface (rough), then the symbol should be smooth, a smooth container should have a rough recycling symbol.
*Disclaimer: These guidelines will generally apply to most recycling centers, however, each program may have their own requirements.
Top 5 Recycling Programs in 2009 in Oklahoma
according to the OK Dept of Environmental Quality
- Ada (city drop-off)
- Stan Fullingim (580) 436-8054 adarecycle@msn.com
- Edmond (curbside / drop-off)
- Wesley Dedmon (405) 216-7743 wesley.dedmon@edmondok.com
- Tulsa metro (drop-offs)
- The M.E.T. (918) 584-0584 met@metrecycle.com
- Mustang (volunteer drop-off)
- Brian Figgins (vol chair) (405) 620-5386 cell bfiggins@cox.net
- Norman (curbside / city drop-offs)
- Steve Womack (405) 329-1023 steve.womack@normanok.gov
Curbside Value Program (Keep America Beautiful partner)
CVP offers education about what recycling affects, who it affects and how you can make a change. Through increasing participation in curbside recycling, CVP has improved recycling efforts in areas across the nation and documented the progress in each community. With a "don't tell us, instead show us" approach, CVP partners with existing organizations seeking to illustrate to uninvolved areas the benefits and sustainability of a curbside initiative, encouraging them to adopt the program. Visit Keep America Beautiful's website to find out what shade of green YOU are, and what you can do to make an even bigger positive impact in your community!
Earth 911
When you visit Earth 911 Recycling there is one thing you'll learn: everything can be reused! From your old back door key to the bucket of tennis balls in the garage, everything can be recycled into something new.
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