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YOU can help
make recycling work for everyone by "closing the
loop."
Like
many other Americans, you collect and sort items
that can be recycled. That's
good, because you help your community reduce
the amount of garbage going to the landfill. But
putting items out for collection or dropping them at
the local center is only the first of three steps in
the recycling process. It may surprise you to learn
that what you BUY is just as important as saving the
things your recycling collection center takes.
To
market...to market...
Today, approximately 21% of our trash is recovered
annually for recycling. Where do these millions of
pounds of recyclables go after collection?
Manufacturers use them to make new products -
recycling second step. the
third and final step returns the new products to the
marketplace. This step is one that YOU need to
support if recycling is to remain part of the
solution to the country's garbage issue.
Why
should I buy recycled?
You "close the loop" when you buy items or packaging
made from recycled materials.
they have now come full-circle; from bag or
bin to a manufacturer, to the store shelf, and back
to your home. And after using the item, you can
start the loop again by saving it for the local
recycling program. When you buy recycled, markets
are created and a use is assured for recyclables
being collected in your community and in thousands
of others. Manufacturers will respond by continuing
to use recyclables in their products.
Without informed consumers and a ready market for
products made of recycled materials, local recycling
programs will become more costly and fewer
recyclables may be collected and processed. More
reusable material will end up in landfills, and
communities will need to deal with an increased
amount of garbage.
How do I find them?
Products and packaging made from recycled material
are everywhere - in stores that sell groceries,
office supplies, auto parts, and everything in
between. Recyclables are transformed into an
amazing variety of new products. Plastic milk jugs
return to yards and parks as plastic lumber and
picnic tables. Steel food cans return to the
hardware store as nails and screws. Newspapers
become egg cartons. There's no limit to the things
that can be made from recyclables.
Many
products are identified recycled or partially
recycled on the label or on the product itself.
Others may contain recycled material but may not be
identified. For instance, there's a good chance
that the glass containers, aluminum and steel cans,
paperboard boxes and plastic detergent bottles you
buy are made of some recycled material.
Some
products and packaging also have labels describing
the amount of "pre-consumer" and "post-consumer"
waste that was used. "Pre-consumer" waste is also
known as "manufacturing waste," and includes any
scraps, trimmings, over-runs, etc., from the
manufacturing process. "Post-consumer" waste is a
product or other material that has served its
intended use and has been discarded and then
collected for recycling.
Recycling reduces waste going to the
landfill.
Recycling conserves resources - one ton of
newspaper can save 19 trees
Recycling is part of a new spirit of
actively caring for the environment
Recycling conserves resources by returning
valuable materials which can reused rather than
throwing them away. |
What Will We
Recycle
NEWSPAPERS
Prepare ONLY
unsoiled dry newspapers. We cannot accept:
Magazines, Junk Mail, Books, Paper Bags, or Color
Inserts
ALUMINUM
Prepare ONLY
rinsed aluminum food and beverage containers
including animal food cans.
TIN FOOD AND
BEVERAGE
CONTAINERS
Prepare ONLY
rinsed tin food and beverage containers, including
animal food cans.
GLASS FOOD AND
BEVERAGE
CONTAINERS
Prepare ONLY
rinsed, clear or brown glass bottles without caps,
and jars of any size or shape used to package food
products suitable for human or animal consumption.
PREPARATION
1. Remove and throw
away non-recyclable caps & lids.
2. Rinse. It is
helpful to remove labels from cans, but is not
required. Do NOT break glass.
COLLECTION
"BLUE
CONTAINER"
It's Easy.
A. Place all
prepared recyclables in your "Blue Container."
B. Place "Blue Container" at the curb.
Make Your
Efforts
Count
Certain items can
actually contaminate the recyclables that are
collected and make them unusable for recycling.
Please do NOT
include the following
Ceramics, mirrors,
window glass, china, light bulbs, oven ware, Pyrex,
headlights, fish tanks, drinking glasses, flower
pots.
Bottles or cans full
of food or liquids.
Gas
cans, propane tanks.
Aerosol cans, paint
cans.
Scrap metals,
including pots and pans, coat hangers, lawn
furniture, appliances.
Plastic.
Miscellaneous
household plastics such as toys, laundry baskets, or
furniture.
Books of any kind.
For More
Information Contact
City of
La Grange Sanitation Department
(979) 968-3127 |
