by Sally Deneen
Recycling has leap-frogged ahead, meaning if you haven’t checked the recycling scene since the mid-1990s, it’s possible that much of what you thought you knew is wrong. Not only can you recycle more things, but your discards are very much in demand, perhaps more than you realize.
Recycling and reuse businesses now employ about as many people as the auto industry, if not more, according to a 2001 “U.S. Recycling Economic Information Study” commissioned by the U.S. EPA and several states through an agreement with the National Recycling Coalition. At least 1.1 million people now work in the industry, more than triple the jobs in mining. BusinessWeek in February pegged the number of auto factory workers at about 950,000. Demand from industrializing China and India is helping spur the U.S. recycling industry, which now provides a “major source of raw materials,” according to Jerry Powell, editor of Resource Recycling magazine.
“Without recycling, given current virgin raw material supplies, we could not print the daily newspaper, build a car, or ship a product in a cardboard box,” says Powell. “Recycling is not some feel-good activity; it is one of the backbones of global economic development.” To his way of thinking, recovering cast-offs and putting them to good use “are key ingredients to industrial growth and stability.”
Is the Job Getting Done?
And yet, there is a problem. It becomes obvious when peering into a garbage can at a community festival or in the dumpster behind your local shopping mall. Curiously, while recycling has grown to more than 9,000 curbside programs nationwide, a greater percentage of recyclable plastic bottles and aluminum cans are ending up in the regular garbage.
Aluminum can recycling has dropped steadily, from a 1992 high of 65 percent of cans to 45 percent by 2004, according to the Container Recycling Institute. The Aluminum Association puts the latter figure at 51 percent. Plastic bottles fare worse: While nearly 40 percent of PET plastic bottles were recycled in 1995, only about half that many – 21.6 percent – were recycled in 2004, according to the National Association for PET Container Resources. Powell says recycling levels exceed 50 percent for such materials as corrugated cartons and steel.
Paul Gardner got an unanticipated glimpse into why recycling rates are slipping in Minnesota, thanks to a phone survey of 800 Minnesotans that included this single recycling-related question: “Do you think manufacturers need more cans, bottles and paper?” Only 36 percent said “we need more,” and those folks tended to have a high-school education or less and be younger (ages 24 and under).
“The more education you have, the more likely you are to be cynical about recycling,” concluded Gardner, who is executive director of the Recycling Association of Minnesota. “We don’t know [why], to be honest, though the purpose of the survey question was to see how many people in the state still cling to the idea that there is a glut of recyclables, because we need all the material we can get right now and more.” He adds, “We’ve got some work to do, since almost three-quarters of Minnesotans think that we don’t need to recycle more. Twenty-four percent of our garbage is still recyclable paper, so we have more to get.”
Confronting the Naysayers
Gardner also spends time combating impressions sometimes bandied about in the media, most famously in “Recycling Is Garbage,” a 1996 cover story in the New York Times Magazine, in which libertarian writer John Tierney argued that recycling could be “the most wasteful activity in modern America.” Tierney wrote, “Recycling does sometimes make sense for some materials in some places at some times. But the simplest and cheapest option is usually to bury garbage in an environmentally safe landfill.”
“We’ve been fighting negative images ever since then,” says Gardner, who tries to counter attacks from similarly themed articles, including “Why Recycling is Garbage” (Forbes 1997) and “Recycle This!” (Weekly Standard, January 2006). The Weekly Standard argued that there is plenty of sand, trees, petroleum and farm products to produce new glass, paper and plastic, so recycling is a waste of time that robs Seattle households of 16 minutes per week on sorting cast-offs.
Last January, Seattle began mandatory recycling. That means businesses and multi-family residential buildings face up to three warnings, followed by a $50 ticket if their garbage contains at least 10 percent recyclables (as of mid-February, no tickets had been issued).
Mandatory recycling is folly, contends the Weekly Standard. “To say we will someday run out of trees is the same as saying we will someday run out of corn,” the magazine opined, adding that the motivation behind recycling is “we get a warm and fuzzy feeling.”
Gardner and other recyclers shake their heads at such arguments. Recycling proves much more than an alternative to landfills, though high costs of garbage disposal in some areas certainly fuel interest; Seattle saves $4.4 million a year by recycling what otherwise would be trucked a few hours south to an Oregon landfill, says Brett Stav, a spokesperson for Seattle Public Utilities.
Recycling one aluminum can conserves 300 watt-hours, enough to run a 100-watt bulb for three hours. It takes five percent of the energy to make a new aluminum can out of an old can compared to making a new can out of raw materials. “Any time you make new stuff out of old stuff, it takes less energy, less chemicals, less water,” Gardner says.
Here are ways to recycle beyond the curbside:
Aseptic Packages: just a fraction of U.S. households – approximately 12 million – can recycle them through curbside or drop-off programs, according to the Aseptic Packaging Council. It’s a hassle, but you can ship clean, compact aseptic packaging for recycling to:
BRING Recycling,
Reuse Warehouse & Business Office,
86641 Franklin Boulevard,
Eugene, OR 97405
(541)746-3023.
Autos, Trucks, Trailers, Boats, Jet-Skis, Motorcycles, RVs: Even if your vehicle doesn’t run, lots of NGOs want it. Numerous vehicle donation programs will gladly accept most towable vehicles. Pickup is free. Some sell the vehicles directly to raise money; others contract with someone to run the donation program for a fee.
Batteries, Cell Phones, Pagers, PDAs: Across the country, Batteries Plus stores accept all batteries for recycling (800-677-8278, www.batteriesplus.com). RadioShack and Office Depot accept batteries from wireless phones, laptop computers, camcorders, cordless power tools, digital cameras and radio-controlled toys at no charge. These are Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd), Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH), Lithium Ion (Li-ion) and Small Sealed Lead Acid (Pb) batteries weighing less than two pounds. To find other nearby recyclers, try Earth911.org, Rbrc.com or 877-2-RECYCLE.
Drop appliances off at Staples or go to CollectiveGood.com, where you’ll choose a charity to benefit before shipping them to:
CollectiveGood,
4508 Bibb Boulevard, Suite B-10,
Tucker, GA 30084.
Call to Protect: www.DonateaPhone.com: gives phones to domestic viole
nce agencies.
The nonprofit Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corp. recycles phones and gives a portion of proceeds to charity; for drop-off sites near you, go to Call2Recycle.org or call 877-2-RECYCLE. Alternatively, get cash, $2 to $100-plus, for newer-model cell phones from CellForCash.com (800-503-8026). It is now illegal in California to toss cell phones in the trash.
Books: You can sell books to used bookstores or online at such sites as Amazon.com. Or donate them to libraries, thrift stores or the International Book Project (888-999-2665, www.intlbookproject.org). Some curbside recycling programs, including New York City’s, accept soft-cover books.
Car Batteries, Motor Oil, Oil Filters, Antifreeze: Many auto-parts stores and service centers that sell these items will take your old ones for recycling. Go to Earth911.org to find a location near you. Nearly 40 states have laws ensuring consumers can return old car batteries; to view your state’s status, go to BatteryCouncil.org.
Carpet and Padding: Having access to a carpet recycling network is likeliest in California, but it should be easier starting next year. If you’re in the commercial sector, calling your mill rep, who can work with you to get your carpet recycled for a fee. Find potential contacts and locations of carpet reclamers at CarpetRecovery.org.
Eyeglasses: Drop them off at LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, BJ’s Optical, the optical stores at Sears or Target, or your local Lions Club. Refurbished glasses are delivered to developing countries.
Fluorescent Lights: For a list of companies that say they recycle the spent bulbs, go to Lamprecycle.org.
Miscellany (Crayons, Art Supplies, Wine Corks, Fabric): Many states have material exchanges where odd stuff is collected and made available to the public for use. Outdated calendars, office paper that is used on one side, wallpaper, flooring samples, crayons and other stuff is gladly accepted. To see if there’s a materials exchange near you, search Google for “materials exchange”.
Paint: Some nonprofit organizations welcome usable paint; to check locally, go to Earth911.org. Empty dried-out paint cans without lids are accepted as part of the regular curbside recycling pickup program in such places as New York City. Check your program.
Packaging Peanuts: Most UPS Stores accept clean foam peanuts; find nearby stores via 800-789-4623. Alternatively, search LooseFillPackaging.com or call the Peanut Hotline at 800-828-2214.
Printer Cartridges: refill inkjet cartridges a few times through providers as Printpal.com (888-772-1361), CarrotInk.com (877-322-7768), and Walgreens stores. Take exhausted cartridges to OfficeMax or Office Depot, which will trade you certain models for a free ream of recycled paper. Staples trades them for a $3-off store coupon. Freerecycle.com promises to pay up to $3.60 apiece for nearly 80 types of ink cartridges.
Priority Mail (Tyvek) Envelopes: Tyvek-brand envelopes, such as those used by Fed-Ex and for U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail, can be shipped back to Tyvek for recycling. If you have fewer than 25, turn one of them inside out, then stuff it with the rest. Ship to:
Terry Fife,
Tyvek(r) Recycling Specialist,
5401 Jefferson Davis Highway,
Spot 197, Room 231,
Richmond, VA 23234,
(866)338-9835.
Records: Sell your old records to an independent music store or at Gemm.com, the self-described “world’s largest music marketplace,” or donate them to a thrift store.
Smoke Detectors: They last only 10 years and contain radioactive Americium 241, so send dead ones back to the manufacturer. Send First Alert, BRK and Family Guard Smoke Detectors to:
BRK Brands,
25 Spur Drive,
El Paso, TX 79906,
(800)323-9005;
www. firstalert.com.
On the front of the package, write “For Disposal.” Up to five smoke alarms are accepted for free.
Ship American Sensors and Dicon Smoke Detectors by surface mail to:
Dicon Inc.,
20 Steelcase Road West, Unit #3,
Markham, Ontario L3R 1B2,
Canada,
(800) 387-4219.
On the front of the package, write “For Recycling, $0 Value.”
Videotapes, Floppy Disks, Zip Disks, DVDs, CDs, Jewel Cases: Ship them to Missouri via media mail, where disabled employees of the nonprofit Alternative Community Training erase and repackage donated media for resale under the GreenDisk label. Download a donor form from ACTRecycling.org. Send items to:
Alternative Community Training,
2200 Burlington,
Columbia, MO 65202,
(800) 359-4607.
Or you can ship your stuff directly to GreenDisk through its Technotrash Pack-IT service (800-305-DISK, ). For $5.95, you can ship up to 20 pounds.
Wire Hangers: many dry cleaners will be happy for you to return them.
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FROM E Magazine, a SustainableBusiness.com Content Partner
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