|
|
Items most often recycled on collegiate campuses are: high-grade office paper, blended office paper or office mix, corrugated cardboard, magazines, newspaper, books, confidential paper, computer green bar, chip board, plastic, glass and steel cans, aerosol cans, milk/juice cartons and aluminum. See Chapter 3 How to Start a Recycling Program. Also go to Chapter 16 Special Materials, Chemicals and Hazardous Waste to find out what other materials are recyclable.
Aluminum Cans and Tabs Aluminum is the second most abundant metallic element in the Earth's crust after silicon, yet it is a comparatively new industrial metal that has been produced in commercial quantities for just over 100 years. It weighs about one-third as much as steel or copper; is malleable, ductile, and easily machined and cast; and has excellent corrosion resistance and durability. measured either in quantity or value, aluminum's use exceeds that of any other metal except iron, and it is important in virtually all segments of the world economy. Aluminum scrap is ground and shredded into small chips before being melted and cast into ingots. The ingots are sent to manufacturing plants where they are molded or rolled into sheets that can be shaped into various products. Aluminum is recycled on most college campuses because of it's high resale value. Aluminum sales have raised funds for many recycling programs. Unfortunately, plastic bottles are replacing valuable aluminum cans in vending machines.
Aseptic (Drink Box) Packaging, Milk/Juice Cartons Aseptic (drink boxes) packaging is gaining markets across the country. Check with the local markets for plastic and paper to see if this material is collected in the area. Aseptic (drink box) packages are made with three materials. Paper comprises 70 percent of the package, polyethylene 24 percent and aluminum 6 percent. These cartons are recycled using a paper recycling process called hydrapulping. Hydrapulping separates the paper from the plastic and aluminum so that the high-quality paper fiber is recovered for recycling into other paper products. In some cases, the plastic/foil residual can also be recycled into high-end plastic lumber products. When these materials are recycled, a single 1 liter milk carton can be turned into five sheets of high quality office paper.
Glass A mechanical processing system breaks the recycled glass into small pieces called cullet. Magnets, screens and vacuum systems remove metals, labels, bits of plastic, and caps. The cullet is blended with silica sand, soda ash and limestone. The mixture is melted and blow-molded into new glass containers. It's important to know what kind of glass the industry needs. Check with the local market to find out how to sort/prepare glass to be recycled. Glass is commonly collected with plastic and steel cans. If glass has to be separated from other materials to recycle, remember cullet should meet four criteria:
Recycled glass reduces energy consumption, raw materials use, and wear and tear on machinery, ensuring a steady supply of recycled glass, or cullet, has become crucial to the industry's success. Other uses for recycled glass containers include fiberglass and construction uses such as pipe-bedding and trench backfill in place of virgin rock aggregate. Also recycled glass sand in place of conventional filter sand in pool filters. There is even a paint called Eco-glass paint that uses 30% recycled glass. It is a glass-filled system that is formulated to seal, condition, repair and coat concrete.
Papers Paper
is one of the easiest materials to collect and market when starting a recycling
program. See Chapter
6 Marketing Recyclables. Paper can be recycled in many different ways.
Determining markets is very important when starting to consider what types
of paper to recycle and how to recycle it.
Plastic The most commonly recycled plastics types on campuses are #1 PET (
polyethylene terephthalate, which is used for pop bottles and is blow molded) and #2 HDPE (high density polyethylene which is the plastic used to make milk jugs). Plastics need to be sorted by type because many plastic resins are used that are incompatible in the recycling process. Plastic may be shredded, baled, or chipped before it is shipped to the reprocessing plant. Resins are melted and remolded into new products. Less then 1% of all plastics get recycled. PET and HDPE, are the only plastics that have a widespread market and account for most of the plastics that get recycled. There are over 1000 different resin types, which cause an obstacle in identifying plastics for recycling. The Plastics Industry is doing little to establish and stabilize markets for viable plastics recycling. Unfortunately, even when there is a market for plastics, plastics get recycled into end use products that cannot be recycled again, and plastics are not able to be recycled back into original form. This is called "down cycling". This applies for all plastics recycling which includes block Styrofoam, meat trays and Styrofoam cups. Check with area market/broker to find out the specifics on how to process material to be acceptable to recycling markets. Consider working with the campus purchasing department to purchase products that minimize plastic waste. Paper, metal, aluminum, cardboard, glass are stable in terms of consistency in recyclability. There is a perception that plastics are indeed being recycled and therefore a good environmental choice. An increasing amount of consumer goods are made from and being packaged in plastic. Unfortunately, the plastics markets have never been stable. Hopefully this will turn around as our world increases its consumption of plastics. Go to plastic related links...
Plastic, Glass, and Steel Cans The
combination of recyclable commodities is called commingled recycling.
A common commingled collection for college campuses is called PGS
or plastic, glass and steel cans recycling.
Each commodity will be described separately below.
Again, check with the local market before starting to recycle
these items because there are major differences in how brokers want these
materials collected.
Steel Cans, Aerosol Cans Steel
is the most recycled commodity in the world on an industrial scale as well
as in the home. In fact,
steel scrap is a necessary component in the steel making process.
Tin cans are really tin-coated steel cans. Types of steel cans include paint, food, aerosol and coffee cans. Removing
lids from cans and flattening them makes reprocessing easier. The tin coating on steel cans is removed with a caustic de-tinning
solution by electrolysis. The
remaining steel is rinsed and baled and sold to a steel mill.
The tin is a valuable ingredient for many products.
Always check with the market to find out how to prepare the
material for market.
Other/Specials Materials There are many more commodities that can be recycled. The ones listed above are just a few of the most commonly recycling ones on college campuses. Please visit Chapter 16 Specials Materials, Chemicals and Hazardous to find more recyclable commodities. Resources
The Aluminum Association, Inc. Steel Recycling Institute The Consumer Recycling Guide Recycling Today: The American Consumers Viewpoint Don't Can It
The Glass Packaging Institute GRT (Glass Recycling Technologies) 904-98-8767 For Pyrex
How is paper recycled? See Earth Answers: Paper University: Institute of Paper Science and Technology: Paper Calculator
Carolina Recycling Association Bottle Bill Factsheet NAPCOR, The National Association for PET Container Resources The Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. American Plastics Council Plastics News EPA Commodities Page-Plastic
Steel Recycling Institute Below is a short list of College and University web sites that list materials recycled. Brown Colorado
University Emory George Mason University Iowa State University JMU
Recycling Kalamazoo College Medical University of South Carolina Middlebury College University of Massachusetts Amherst University of North Carolina at Charlotte University of Oregon University of Vermont University of Virginia |
 |
 |
 |
