For residents who joined us at our Green Week Seminar on April 20th, we learned about what happens after the truck drives away with our recyclables.

A recycling specialist with Allied Wasted made a presentation on some of the interesting and even surprising things that happen with what we put back into the system.

What Happens to My Recycling?

Aluminum
The average American uses 392 cans per person per year. Over 50% of the aluminum produced gets recycled. Every minute of every day, an average of 113,204 aluminum cans are recycled.

What it gets recycled into:

Aluminum can be recycled over 100 times! It is said that aluminum can be sent to a recycling center and can be back on the shelf as aluminum can within 60 days. Other products such as foil, pie tins and cooking pans can contain recycled aluminum.

Glass
Recycling a jam jar today can produce a juice bottle next month, then a coffee jar, then a milk bottle, a pickle jar, a ketchup bottle etc. Glass may be recycled an infinite number of times, it never loses strength.

What it gets recycled into;

Recycled glass products include glass tiles, road paving additive, marbles, jewelry, fiberglass insulation and material for the sand blasting industry. In some parts of the country they use recycled glass to shore up our beaches and help prevent erosion.

Plastic
Every 1 ton of plastic recycled saves almost 1800 pounds of oil. Five recycled plastic bottles make enough fiberfill to stuff one ski jacket, or to make a Men’s XL t-shirt.

What it gets recycled into;

Half of all polyester carpet manufactured in the US is made from recycled soda bottles.
Recycled plastic is also made into plastic lumber, construction materials, clothing, flower pots, insulation for sleeping bags, ski jackets, car bumpers and much more. A small percent gets made back into drinking bottles.

Paper
About 89 percent of newspaper and 81 percent of corrugated cardboard are recovered each year. The EPA estimates that the average office worker in the US uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year. That’s four million tons of copy paper used annually. Office workers in the US generate approximately two pounds of paper and paperboard products every day.

What it gets recycled into:

Besides easily recognizable paper products (e.g., writing paper or paper towels), more than 5,000 products can be made from recycled paper, including: masking tape, paper money, globes, dust masks, coffee filters, lamp shades, car insulation, animal bedding, planting pots for seedlings and egg cartons.

Tin and steel
Through recycling each year, the steel industry saves enough energy to power 18 million homes – one-fifth of the households in the US. The average American uses 142 steel cans annually.

What it gets recycled into:

Recycled steel is made into steel cans, building materials, tools – in fact, almost everything steel.

Allied Waste has agreed to come back and do another presentation for us in the fall, for America Recycles Day, sometime in November. We will keep you posted.