How to Recycle?

TEXTILE RECYCLING

Jenin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:20:28 GMT

Old clothes are accepted by recycling banks.
Most home recycling bins, provided by your local council, accept old clothes and textiles.
Old clothes could be donated to charity shops. Taking the old textiles to the jumble shops is another option.
Rather than throwing away old textile items, they could be used to make cushion covers, cleaning clothes etc.
Old woolies are shredded and re-spun taking half the energy of new wool. However, the re-spun wool needs to be washed thoroughly.
It is estimated that, of collected textiles:

6% goes to waste

12% goes for fiber reclamation

19% goes for filling materials

21% goes for wiping cloths

38% goes for second hand clothing

4% goes for second hand shoes

The textile recycling association may be contacted for more information regarding textile recycling. You can reach them through their website- www.textile-recycling.org.uk.

Advantages of textile recycling and reuse:

ü Reduces the need for landfill space. Textiles present particular problems in landfill as synthetic (man-made fibers) products will not decompose, while woolen garments do decompose and produce methane, which contributes to global warming.

ü Reduces pressure on virgin resources.

ü Aids the balance of payments as we import fewer materials for our needs.

ü Results in less pollution and energy savings, as fibers do not have to be transported from abroad.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL RECYCLING

Jenin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:19:07 GMT

Buildings are made from many materials, many of which are recyclable such as metal, wood, glass, etc.
Metals used for construction generally include steel, iron etc. The metals could be recycled according to their specifications.
Wood and glass materials used in construction could be recycled with the appropriate recycling methods.
Some construction items could be re-sold to the architectural salvage yards.
Most of the building materials such as wood and bricks could be re-used.
The recycling of bricks can be broken down into several different categories:

Demolition materials - Mixture of materials resulting from demolition of buildings
Salvaged materials - building materials salvaged from the materials remaining after demolition
Reclaimed building materials - The materials that can be generated from the careful demolition of an old building by hand which are suitable for reuse in their original form
Recycled building materials - The materials that can be generated from the careful demolition of an old building which are suitable for re-use as raw materials in the manufacture of new materials

Brick recycling involves the following steps:
1. Crushing- There are lots of commercial brick crushers available today. They are capable of crushing the masonry into fine rubble.
2. Recycling- The crushed rubble are again cleaned and used to create new bricks.

Advantages of brick recycling:

Bricks do not require disposal
Recycling reduces the waste dumped in landfill sites
Brick recycling saves the need to extract new raw materials from the earth
The cleaned bricks are an asset.

AIRPLANE RECYCLING

Jenin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:17:01 GMT

More than 3500 airliners will reach their end-of-life between 2008 and 2025 at a rate of around 200 aircrafts per year.
The aircrafts are the absolute sources of the valuable metal, ‘Aluminum.’
Almost 80 percent of Aircraft parts are recyclable. Most of the fuselage and wings of jets such as Boeing 727 is made of Aluminium which can be sold as scrap.
Once the engines, landing gear, avionics and components are removed from the aircraft, there is still value in the aluminium.
This scrapped Aluminium will be later used to manufacture automobile parts including wheels and transmissions.
Steel, found in the landing gear of planes like Boeing 707, is also relatively easy to recover.
Recycling composite aircraft materials is trickier than working with raw metals.
Composites using lightweight and durable carbon fiber are found more and more in newer aircraft, and make up half of each Boeing 787.
Recycled carbon fiber is being tested for use in tires, paint, industrial injection molds, and sporting goods such as skateboards.

FACTS:

According to Boeing, the largest manufacturer of jet airliners, about 7200 commercial planes including Boeing 737, 747 and Airbus A320, A340 models will be scrapped.
Boeing, in 2006 co-founded the Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association, with an aim to expand the airplane recycling rate to 90 percent from about 60 percent today.
The lifespan of most commercial airliners is said to be around 30 years. Most of the airliners used today were born by 1970s and now there is a jump in the number of planes beyond use. So aircraft recycling will reach its peak through the next decade.

HOW TO RECYCLE WOOD

Jenin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:15:25 GMT

In the first instance, you should contact your local authority to Visit at the wood recycling facilities they offer to the householders.
Wood recycling ensures that the waste does not end up in landfill site where, as it is biodegradable, it produces greenhouse gases.
The wood that cannot be reused as reclaimed timber could be recycled into any one of the following:

Ø Mulch- which prevents soil erosion, enrich soils, help limit water loss and moderate soil temperature change.

Ø Composting agent- Sawdust and wood shavings can be used as a bulking agent to improve air flow and decomposition.

Ø PET bedding- Untreated wood material could be used foe PET bedding.

Ø Chip board and medium density fiber board- A resin is mixed with the chipped wood and heat/ pressure is applied to the mixture to form a board.

There is little scope for the recycling of domestic wood waste. While companies exist for the collection and reuse/recycling of pallets and crates for example, there are only a few such facilities for household waste.

FACTS

It is estimated that 50 million cubic meters of wood are used in the UK every year. Almost half of these goes into paper making but two thirds of the wood is imported.
Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres per minute.
The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year is enough to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years.
Ten million tonnes of waste wood is produced each year in the UK
Only 1.5 million tonnes of waste wood is recycled in the UK every year. The remaining 85 per cent is sent to landfill
Wood sent to landfill produces methane gasses and contributes to global warming.
The Government has now set targets to reduce the amount sent to landfill

HOW TO RECYCLE ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT

Jenin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:14:04 GMT

Old electrical appliances are quite unlike common urban garbage. These are complex artifacts and many contain toxic chemical substances. Inappropriate disposal methods such as land fill or incineration can pollute air, soil and water.
Most of the electrical equipment could be reused or separated into electrical equipment parts.
Many of the electrical items that we throw away can be repaired or recycled. Recycling items helps to save natural finite resources and also reduces the environmental and health risks associated with sending waste electrical goods to landfill.
You can donate old working electrical equipments to the charity shops rather than just throwing them away.
All new electrical and electronic products sold now carry the 'crossed out wheelie bin" logo to help you identify which products are recyclable.
To avoid environmental and health problems due to hazardous waste substances in electrical and electronic goods, appliances marked with this symbol mustn't be disposed of with unsorted municipal waste, but recovered, reused or recycled using an official recovery system.
To make recycling easier, when you take your waste electrical items to a Household Waste and Recycling Centre, they are now separated into the 5 groups below.

Large household items- washing machines, microwaves
White goods - fridges/ freezers
TV's and monitors
Gas discharge lamps
All other electrical goods

FACTS

Electrical goods are the fastest growing waste stream in the UK, growing by 5% each year

Each year in the UK we go through over 1.2 million tonnes of electrical waste. That is the equivalent of 150 thousand double Decker buses

75% of waste electronics end up in landfill sites

In the lifetime of 1 UK citizen 3.3 tonnes of waste electronics is created

Two million TV sets are discarded every year - most end up in landfill sites

"Over six million electrical items are thrown away every year in the UK. It is estimated that over half of them are still working or could easily be repaired

AUOTOMOBILE RECYCLING

Jenin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:12:25 GMT

More than 80% of the material used in automobiles could be recycled.
Fixing the repairs and using the old vehicles is better than dumping them straight away.
The abandoned vehicles could be reported to your local council. They will remove them and take them to the recycling facilities.
There are hundreds or even thousands of approved vehicle dismantlers and recyclers around the globe.
Engine oil could be recycled at the civic amenity sites.
You can contact your local council for more information regarding automobile recycling.
These automobiles are huge sources of steel and aluminium.
Moreover, almost all the parts of an automobile, from tires to plastic materials used in the automobiles could be recycled.
There are also many automobile recycling programs conducted by several companies who offer a free pick up of the junk cars for recycling.

FACTS

The number of cars recycled in 1997 alone - nearly 13 million - would cause a traffic jam circling the Earth more than one and three quarter times.
Recycling just one car saves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal and 120 pounds of limestone.
Virtually every car taken off the road today is recycled - thanks to the steel and iron content.
It takes about 45 seconds to shred the average automobile into fist-sized pieces of steel for recycling.
The automobile is the most recycled consumer product in the world today.

HOW TO RECYCLE PRINTER CARTRIDGES?

Jenin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:11:03 GMT

Ink cartridges have highly toxic materials. Hence disposal of these cartridges is a major issue.
In addition to environmental benefits, there are also economic benefits to a consumer when they recycle.
Using refill kits usually ends up costing you about only $3 or $4 per cartridge refill.
You can typically refill an inkjet cartridge three times before it fully wears out.
You can have them professionally refilled for you through the mail.
Once the cartridge is worn out and cannot be refilled anymore, you can have it professionally recycled.
You can take them to your local office store, as most should accept them and many even have a promotion where they give you something in exchange for your cartridge.
Look for the instructions in the box of your new inkjet printer.
Ring up the International Cartridge Recycling Association at (202) 857-1154 for more information about recycling printer ink cartridges.
Most of the printer ink cartridge manufactures provide free return envelop for used ink cartridges.
If all else fails, you can contact your local sanitation department to see if they have a special recycling location where products like ink cartridges can be dropped off.

FACTS

It is estimated that roughly 350 million cartridges end up in landfills every year.
It is estimated that between 80-90% of cartridges are simply thrown in the trash.
The number of cartridges ending up in landfills increases by more than 10% annually.
A brand new laser cartridge requires 3/4 of a gallon of oil to be produced.
Discarded cartridges still have small amounts of ink in them which can leak into the ground.
It is estimated that the engineering grade polymers used to manufacture the printer cartridges takes almost 1000 years to decompose.
You are being kinder to the environment by lessening the amount of cartridges ending up in landfill sites.

METAL RECYLING

Jenin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:09:18 GMT

Metals generally fall under two main categories: Aluminum and steel.
Testing the kind of metal waste you are having is very much simple. Steel which is a magnetic metal can be easily separated fro aluminium, as aluminium is a non-magnetic material.
Beverage cans are usually made of aluminium whereas food cans are mostly made of steel.
It has to be noted whether the drink cans are clean before recycling process is started.
Home recycling bins, provided by the local council, usually accept metal.
Aerosol containers could also be recycled once they are completely empty.
Metallic film wrappers such as chocolate wrappers cannot be recycled.
There are many cash for can schemes that may be operating around you.

FACTS

Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours -- or the equivalent of a half a gallon of gasoline.
Every ton of recycled steel saves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,000 of coal, and 40 pounds of limestone.
There is no limit to the amount of times that aluminum could be recycled.
More aluminum goes into beverage cans than any other product
A 60-watt light bulb can be run for over a day on the amount of energy saved by recycling 1 pound of steel. In one year in the United States, the recycling of steel saves enough energy to heat and light 18,000,000 homes
1.8 billion drinks cans are made of steel
The recycling rate of all steel packaging is 46%; aluminum has a 23.4% packaging recycle rate
All steel cans contain up to 25% recycled steel
Its not just food and drink cans made from steel! - most of your deodorants, hairsprays, polishes, paint cans and other household and DIY products are made out of steel too!

RECYCLING PAINT AND OIL

Jenin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:03:40 GMT

Waste paints, engine oil, oil filters, paint brushes etc contain toxic chemicals that are very harmful to the environment.
Pouring oil and paint down the drain is really a bad idea. It may even damage a total ecosystem that they reach.
Disposal instructions will be mention in the packs of the oils and paints. It is always wise and safe to follow those instructions.
Donate unwanted paints and varnishes, as others can reuse them.
Buy products in bulk whenever possible to reduce packaging waste.
Use eco-friendly alternatives whenever possible.
Seek the help of the paint manufacturer. Most of the paint manufacturing companies have their own recycling programs.
It is possible to recycle the paint container after it has been cleaned and dried.
Look into local paint recycling and exchange programs.
The paint products can also be disposed safely at your local household hazardous waste collection program.
It is very much important to recycle engine oil with atmost care. Because even a small amount of oil, disposed can cause considerable damage to the environment.

FACTS

Although latex paint is less harmful than oil-based paint to the environment and public health, all types of paint should be handled and disposed of properly.
A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000 gallons of fresh water.

HOW TO RECYCLE OLD BATTERIES?

Jenin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:02:29 GMT

Batteries of any kind are capable of producing the hazards like

Polluting the lakes and streams as metal vaporize in air when burned.
Heavy metals used in the batteries have the potential to leach from solid landfills.
These old batteries will expose the environment to harmful lead and acid.
Most of the batteries that are available today include corrosive acids in them.
They may cause burns and even damage our skin and eyes.

Hence it is very much essential to safely dispose the used batteries. Recycling is a better solution for getting rid of the used batteries without harming the environment. The following step could be taken into account while disposing the old used batteries:

· Batteries of any kind will have toxic substances. Recycling the used batteries is an excellent option than there disposal.

· Rechargeable batteries should never be thrown away along with normal household waste as the have some heavily toxic metals. They must be returned to the manufacturer for safe disposal or effectively recycled elsewhere.

· Sending any type of battery to the landfill or incinerator means the contents of the battery will ultimately end up getting into the soil, air, groundwater, and/or surface water, and thus eventually into the food chain and drinking-water supply.

· Usage of rechargeable batteries should be encouraged as it requires more power to manufacture an ordinary battery.

· Also, most of the local councils offer battery recycling services also.

· For more advice on safe disposal of batteries, one can approach the manufacturer of the same.

To find a company near you where you can drop off your old batteries for recycling, check out the comprehensive database at the Earth911.org website

RECYCLING CLINICAL WASTE

Jenin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:00:29 GMT

Clinical waste is another kind of hazardous waste which needs great attention in disposing.
Special care should be taken while disposing used needles and syringes.
Get instructions from doctors or manufacturers on safe disposal of different kinds of medical waste.
All the medicine containers, once empty could be recycled.
Most local councils offer a free medical waste collection. It is good to contact your local council to get help on safe disposal of clinical waste.
Some companies like Medical Waste Solutions Ltd are dedicated to clinical waste treatment schemes.

Due to the nature of clinical waste the opportunities for reduction, reuse or recycling are limited. However, the environmental impacts of clinical waste could be reduced by following these points:

Ensure effective segregation of all clinical and non clinical waste.
Continually review the collection and disposal method for clinical waste, using the waste hierarchy (e.g. introduction of reusable sharps bins)
Launch waste awareness campaigns
Continue Duty of Care Waste Audits

The removal of syringes and needles require atmost care. Here are some guidelines for safe removal of syringes and needles.

Find a suitable container for disposal. Try to get a ridged plastic container with a screw top lid to place the needle or syringe in.
If you can place something protective over your hand like rubber or thick leather gloves.
If at all possible, do not touch the needle or syringe, Use something like tweezers or tongs to pick it up.
If you have to pick the needle up with your hands, or if you are using something like tweezers, pick them up by the blunt end.
Do not touch the sharp point with your hands.
Do not put the cap back on or re-sheath.
Place the sharp end of the needle into the container first.
You can place more than one needle or syringe into a container, but do not overfill.
Make sure the container is tightly sealed.
Do not place the container in the regular waste, down the toilet or drain. Contact the clinical waste removers like Erewash Borough Council for safe removal.
Wash whatever you have used to handle the items in an antiseptic detergent.

HOW TO SAFEFLY DISPOSE COMPUTER EQUIPMENT?

Jenin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 04:58:54 GMT

Comprising of monitors, printers, hard drives, and circuit boards, the disposed computers are known as e-wastes.
These e-wastes are not supposed to be thrown out along with the common household rubbish, as they contain highly toxic substance.
The disposal of this hazardous waste requires atmost care and caution.
It is estimated that, a single computer will contain approximately 2 kg of lead.
The PCs are made up of a complex mixture of materials. This complex mixture makes these PCs very much difficult to recycle.
You can safely dispose the e-waste by returning it to the manufacturer or donating the computers to a non-profit organization or transporting them to any professional waste disposal facility.
The famous computer manufacturers offer a service to collect and transport the e-waste from your home to the recycling unit at their own cost.
Professional waste disposal is same as the manufacturer’s schemes except the fact that you will have to pay for their service.
A number of non-profit organizations collect electronic equipment including computers and printers, either for reuse or for de-manufacture and recycling. Recipients pay nothing for the equipment or buy it at a heavily discounted rate.

FACTS

1. As of 2005, more than 250 million personal computers have become obsolete in the United States.

2. Nearly two million tons of used electronics, including computers and televisions, are discarded each year.

3. According to the EPA, manufacturing one desktop computer requires fossil fuels and chemicals that amount to at least nine times the weight of the computer.

4. Electronics often contain useful materials such as precious metals, glass, and plastics that should be recovered rather than buried in a landfill.

5. Precious metals are used in computer circuit boards and of course glass and plastics are used for manufacturing computer monitors.

6. Recycling these products reduces the need to mine the earth for raw materials.

WHAT TO DO WITH OLD MOBILE PHONES?

Jenin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 04:56:48 GMT

Most of the mobile phones in use today are recyclable.
Old mobile phones could be donated to friends or family. This is a kind of reuse of mobile phones.
Moreover, the old mobile phones are taken back by the manufacturers, for recycling.
Mobile phone recycling schemes are also setup by some leading mobile phone manufacturers.
Also, some companies like Carbon neutral; Turn on your mobile; Envirofone; Recycling appeal, have set up special scheme for mobile phone recycling.

Some of the key features of these mobile phone recycling initiatives are listed below:

CARBON NEUTRAL

Ø They can recycle all kinds of mobile phone. All you have to do is to send the mobiles for recycling to

Greener Solutions
(Future Forests Offer)
Freepost LONI7592
PO Box 32343
London
SW17 9ZZ

Ø You can visit their website www.carbonneutral.com for more information.

TURN ON YOUR MOBILE

Ø They offer a free postal service if your mobile phone is worth a very low value.

Ø Special delivery charges refunded if the handset you send is high value.

Ø Courier service for 10 phones or more - good for businesses.

Ø Refund cheque can be made out to a charity of your choice if you prefer.

Ø For more information, Visit at www.recyclemymobile.co.uk

ENVIROFONE

Ø Value can be seem straight away on the site

Ø They pay postage costs

Ø Charity donation by envirofone with every phone

Ø More information about the initiative could be found at www.envirofone.com

HOW TO RECYCLE ASBESTOS?

Jenin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:32:21 GMT

Asbestos is mostly used in UK as a building material. Much of the asbestos from buildings is now being removed. However, tonnes of asbestos still remain to be removed. Asbestos dust is dangerous when inhaled. Hence special care has to be taken while removing asbestos.

Basically there are three types of asbestos that are in use today. White, blue and brown.
The fibers with which the asbestos is made gets disturbed during the removal of asbestos. Moreover, these fibers are very much harmful if inhaled.
Using face masks and hand gloves is advisory while handling asbestos.
Packaging of asbestos should be done carefully before transportation. The asbestos should be kept damp and contained in plastic bags while transporting, to reduce airborne fibers.
Most of the councils readily accept asbestos at their household recycling centers.
You can seek the advice of your local council to get assistance in asbestos recycling.
Few companies provide certain services to remove asbestos safely.
A few precautions has to be taken for safe handling of asbestos:

Ø Wear a dust mask approves for use with asbestos.

Ø A plastic sheet could be spread out to collect the dust.

Ø This dust should be cleaned with a damp cloth, which should be sealed in a plastic bag while still damp.

Ø The asbestos material should be dampened to prevent dust escaping.

Ø Asbestos should be removed in sheets or components. Breaking up of the asbestos products should be avoided.

FACTS

1. About 15,000 metric tons of asbestos was used in the United States in 1999; most was imported from Canada.

2. In the past, asbestos was used in around 3,000 products manufactured worldwide, most commonly in the construction, car manufacturing and textile industries.

HOW TO RECYCLE PLASTIC?

Jenin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:30:12 GMT

There are over 50 different types of plastic that are in use today. However, the mostly used plastics are HDPE, PVC and PET.
It is good to deposit the waste plastic bottles at the local recycling banks.
The plastic bottles should be cleaned initially, before taking them for recycling.
Purchasing those containers that your residential recycling program won’t accept must be avoided.
You can seek the help of your county’s department of public works or other recycling centers to determine what type of plastic to recycle and where to take them for recycling.
Crush the plastic containers to save space in your recycling bin.
The plastic bottles should be deposited in the recycle bins. Throwing away the plastic bottles in the trash should be avoided.
Many of the recyclers do not recycle all kinds of plastics. It is necessary to find out what kind of program your community has, for recycling plastics.
Remember to remove all the labels and caps from the plastic bottles before you send them for recycling.
Follow your community’s instructions on what to do with your plastic bottles. Most often there is a special curbside collection for recycling, but otherwise take them to your local Bottle-Bank.

FACTS

1. Americans use a whooping 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour. And the sad news is that most of those used bottles reach the landfills.

2. Recycling plastic saves twice much energy as burning it in an incinerator.

3. Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year.

4. Americans throw away 25,000,000 plastic beverage bottles every hour.

HOW IS PAPER RECYCLED AT HOME?

Jenin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:21:30 GMT

To recycle paper, several pieces of scrap paper are collected.

The collected scrap paper is torn into small pieces and is put into large buckets. If you need the recycled paper to be in color, just add small pieces of colored scrap paper in the bucket.
Then one gallon of warm water along with a tablespoon of bleach is poured into the bucket.
Now more water is added to cover the paper pieces completely.
The scrap paper should be allowed to soak for atleast one hour.
Next, place about one cup of soaked paper into the blender. Add two more cups of bleach water into the blender, too. Blend this paper and water mixture on high. If it doesn't blend easily, you need to add more water to the blender. This forms the slurry.
Pour the slurry into another bucket and repeat the process until all of the paper has been blended.
Different paper products like cardboards, newsprints, office papers are made by adding suitable materials to the slurry.
The slurry is spread using large rollers into large thin sheets.
The wet paper is then left to dry, and is rolled up in to sheets, ready to be cut.

FACTS:

To produce each week's Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down.
If all our newspaper was recycled, we could save about 250,000,000 trees each year!
The average American uses seven trees a year in paper, wood, and other products made from trees. This amounts to about 2,000,000,000 trees per year!
Each ton (2000 pounds) of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water. This represents a 64% energy savings, a 58% water savings, and 60 pounds less of air pollution!
The construction costs of a paper mill designed to use waste paper is 50 to 80% less than the cost of a mill using new pulp.
Approximately 1 billion trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the U.S.

HOW IS GLASS RECYCLED?

Jenin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:21:19 GMT

The glass which is disposed in the rubbish bin will reach the landfills along with all other waste.
Glass is recycled in all the glass banks around the globe.
Many supermarkets have glass-recycling banks, enabling you to recycle glass on your weekly shop.
Most home recycle bins, provided by your local council, usually accept glass.
Glass collected at the curbside is usually color separated on the vehicle or is sold as mixed glass for color separation or for use in alternative markets.
Glass from pubs and clubs is usually collected color separated in wheeled bins, but often it is collected in mixed bins due to lack of space.
Glass is usually separated into three colors. Brown, green and clear.
Recycled glass contains contaminants which must be removed before it is used to make new containers. Metal, paper, plastic, organics, ceramic and pyro-ceramic must all be removed. This is done using manual inspection and high-tech equipment utilizing metal detectors, vacuums, crushers, screens, lasers, digital cameras and even x-rays to detect and remove contamination.
Once the recycled glass has been cleaned and prepared it is mixed with raw materials and the whole process of glass product manufacturing begins again.
Recycling glass mainly constitutes of 6 major steps:

Ø Dumping Glass

Ø Glass Collection

Ø Commercial collection

Ø Removing contaminants

Ø Container making

Ø Alternative uses.

FACTS

Currently we landfill around 1,400,000 tonnes of glass each year. This is a real lost opportunity!
100% of recycled glass can be used to make new glass bottles and jars, without any loss in quality.
Green bottles are made with up to 90% recycled glass content.
Can you believe that glass recycling in 2003 saved enough energy to launch 10 space shuttle missions?

HOW ARE ALUMINIUM CANS RECYCLED?

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:21:44 GMT

· The aluminium cans thrown into recycle-bins by the consumer are collected and transported to the treatment plant.

· In the treatment plant, aluminium is sorted, cleaned and made ready for reprocessing.

· They are then turned into molten aluminium through a re-melt process. This is done to remove the unwanted coatings and paintings present in the can.

· After that, the large blocks of aluminium, called the ingots are made. It is estimated that it takes 1.6 million aluminium cans to make an ingot.

· To give aluminium great strength and flexibility, these ingots are taken to the mills and are rolled into sheets.

· These rolled sheets are then used to make aluminium products such as cans, wrappers etc.

· The interesting fact is that it takes mere 6 weeks to complete all these processes and the aluminium cans will be back in the shelves.

FACTS:

Recycling one kilogram of aluminium can save up to 8 kilograms of bauxite, four kilograms of chemical products and 14 kilowatt hours of electricity.
Anything made of aluminium can be recycled repeatedly: not only cans, but aluminium foil, plates and pie molds, window frames, garden furniture and automotive components are melted down and used to make the same products again. Used aluminium cans can be recycled to make new aluminium cans, aluminium windows can be recycled to make new aluminium windows and old aluminium engine blocks to make new ones. The recycling rate for aluminium cans is already above 70% in some countries.
Aluminium beverage cans can be profitably recycled by individuals and groups and most countries have a national can recycling association which offers advice, support, and can put collectors in touch with purchasing organizations.
Aluminium is the only packaging material that more than covers the cost of its own collection and processing at recycling centers.

Aluminium will never loose its properties no matter the number of times it has been recycled. This means that aluminium can be recycled forever.