What Can Be Recycled Again and Again
How Many Times Can This Be Recycled?
We recently learned about what our recyclable items are made from in "Why Should Nosotros Recycle? Office one and Role 2, only have you ever wondered "How many times does this get recycled?" equally you're putting an item in your Blue Bin? Us besides!
Once yous empty your blueish, in-home recycling bin into your recycling rollcart or dumpster, the items are collected by the Urban center of St. Louis Refuse Division, and then loaded from a Metropolis Transfer Station and transported by large semi-trucks to Commonwealth Services in Hazelwood, MO to exist sorted.
Republic Services is our Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) and collects around 80% of the recycling in the St. Louis Metro surface area. Once items brand their manner to the MRF and are sorted they get baled and sold to outside markets to be made into new items.
Paper & Flattened Cardboard
Nosotros've learned that newspaper comes from trees, but how many times tin can it be recycled? Paper has an "end-of-life" which means eventually it will no longer exist recyclable and must exist sent to the landfill. Copy paper, notebook paper and paper-thin boxes can be recycled 5-7 times earlier being made into toilet paper, tissue or paper towels. Newspaper is made of fibers that, later on they are recycled five-seven times, are too small to brand new products. Paper towels and napkins, facial tissue and toilet paper cannot exist recycled in our Blue Bins because they are at their finish-of-life.
You lot can reduce your paper waste by purchasing products fabricated with recycled content. Typically, this is indicated on the packet what per centum of the item, or packaging itself, is made with recycled content.
Plastic Bottles & Containers
We learned that nigh plastics are made with a mixture of petroleum, otherwise known as oil, other various chemicals and dyes. Petroleum is a non-renewable resources that takes millions of years to form. The procedure of extracting petroleum is very harmful to our environment which is why it'south and then important to reduce, reuse and recycle plastic bottles and containers.
Plastic bottles and containers can be recycled ii-iii times before they reach their end-of-life. Similar to newspaper, the plastic polymers that concur an particular together become too small to be made into new things eventually. Unlike glass and metal, chemicals are added each time to help keep the polymers together.
Some plastic gets recycled into carpet, insulation for jackets and sleeping numberless and even clothing!
Glass Bottles & Jars
Sand is the natural resources that is used to make glass. It is a finite resource. Finite is divers equally "having bounds, or limits; measurable" which means that eventually we will run out of this resources.
But wait, there's skillful news! While the resources used to produce new drinking glass materials are finite, glass bottles and jars can be recycled incessantly without losing their entire chemic makeup! Because they can be recycled over and over, recycling glass bottles and jars means that we don't have to rely on raw materials for new items. And so ever put glass bottles and jars in your Blue Bin one time they're empty and dry out.
It'south important to remember that dinnerware, cooking and baking ware is not accustomed in the Blue Bins. These types of drinking glass have added chemicals that allow them to withstand high temperatures when nosotros cook with them. If you can't donate dinner, cooking or bake ware, they must be placed in the trash.
Metal Food & Beverage Cans
Metal food and beverage cans, just similar glass, tin can exist recycled infinitely! Aluminum, tin and steel cans volition non lose their chemical makeup during the recycling process. Since we accept to mine into the Earth'south surface to go aluminum and can, information technology'southward important to recycle metal nutrient and beverage cans to lower our need for new materials.
Nutrient & Potable Cartons
Once your food and beverage cartons are separated from other recyclables at the MRF, they have two available paths for beingness recycled. The empty cartons, also known as Tetra Paks, tin can exist sent to a paper mill to where they will get paper towels or toilet newspaper products. They tin also exist sent to a facility that will recycle them into building materials. Yous can learn more than virtually the recycling process of food and drinkable cartons here.
Expert, Better, Best
Recycling is important for many reasons but it'southward also important to remember the other two infamous R's. Reducing our overall waste is the best option for u.s. to lower our dependence on natural resources and be more sustainable. Nosotros live in a world of overconsumption, so ask yourself before buying something, "Do I really demand this?"
For the items we do need, we can exercise precycling when we're shopping. Not sure what precycling is? Read our weblog post, "Take Recycling to the Next Level: Precycle!" to acquire why this is so important in reducing waste and increasing recycling.
Nosotros've learned that glass bottles and jars and metal food and beverage cans are infinitely recyclable and so these items or this type of packaging are the best pick for us to choose. Paper, flattened paper-thin, plastic bottles and containers and food and drink cartons all take an end-of-life eventually so these are still good options.
The to the lowest degree desired packaging to choose when shopping is styrofoam and plastic bags and film. Styrofoam is not recyclable and must exist placed in the trash.
Some plastic film is recyclable at your local grocery or retail store. Find out what types of plastic movie you tin recycle Beyond the Blue Bin here.
Last but, not to the lowest degree, avoid items packaged in plastic pouches, too. While plastic, these pouches are non a bottle or container making them not recyclable.
Now that we know all of our materials come from natural resource and how many times they can be recycled, what are some means that yous tin can reduce your waste matter?
Source: https://stlcityrecycles.com/how-many-times-can-this-be-recycled/
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