Your Questions About Recycling

The Expert answers:

If you have a waste to energy plant nearby you can take them their.

The Expert answers:

Try Using Ebay

The Expert answers:

The price for recyclable materials has tanked. Things that were worth $200 a ton are now worth less than $20. Recyclers around the nation are having to stock pile items so they aren’t willing to take anything right now. Who knows how long this will last, as long as consumers aren’t buying, then no one is making things so there is no value to the materials needed to make them. I hate to say it, but you will likely have to store it for a year or longer or bring it to a landfill.

The Expert answers:

It depends on several things such as the space you have, how handy you are, how much money you want to spend and what your community says needs to be separated for pickup or drop off. If you are only recycling one or two items or can mix your recyclable materials then a pull-out recycling bin system that fits into a kitchen base cabinet may be ideal. These units are available at home centers and stores like The Container Store. A simple and less expensive way to handle only a few items is to use stackable plastic bins that you can place near the kitchen trash can or in some other convenient place like a pantry or the garage. For keeping several types of items separated for recycling it may be best to put several different colored cans near the outside trash cans or in a garage and have one or two bins in the kitchen area that you empty frequently, separating the items into the other cans.

The Expert answers:

You could take them to the nearest post and see if you can still ‘dx’ them. They can probably take them for you and they will dispose of them properly.

The Expert answers:

Donate your used cell phones to your local police department or victim advocate’s office. They use them for domestic violence cases in case someone needs to diall 911. Schools and colleges may take your used computer parts.

The Expert answers:

Try washing them with vinegar.
Can you donate them to the humane society? They probably have solutions that can get the smell out, plus they are always looking for old towels and things.

The Expert answers:

Credit card numbers are not stored on the machines. But, ifyou are still worried about it, contact your merchant service provider (credit card processor) and have them delete the program(s) on the terminal. If you no longer have a merchant service provider, contact any local provider and ask them if they will buy it from you to reprogram for re-sale. A reputable provider wouldn’t do anything with credit card numbers because they would be too concerned about losing their VISA/MasterCard certification.

The Expert answers:

Recycling plastics is easy. First, you should learn what types of plastics can be recycled and only give your collector those types of plastics. Plastics have different formulations and should be sorted before they are recycled to make new products. Mixed plastics can be recycled, but they are not as valuable as sorted plastics because the recycled plastic’s physical properties, such as strength, may vary with each batch.

It’s also important to rinse the container and squash it, you may leave the paper labels on the container, but always throw away the plastic caps. Plastic caps are usually made from a different type of plastic than the container and cannot be easily recycled.

A recycling plant uses seven steps to turn plastic trash into recycled plastic:

1. Inspection
Workers inspect the plastic trash for contaminants like rock and glass, and for plastics that the plant cannot recycle.

2. Chopping and Washing
The plastic is washed and chopped into flakes.

3. Flotation Tank
If mixed plastics are being recycled, they are sorted in a flotation tank, where some types of plastic sink and others float.

4. Drying
The plastic flakes are dried in a tumble dryer.

5. Melting
The dried flakes are fed into an extruder, where heat and pressure melt the plastic. Different types of plastics melt at different temperatures.

6. Filtering
The molten plastic is forced through a fine screen to remove any contaminants that slipped through the washing process. The molten plastic is then formed into strands.

7. Pelletizing
The strands are cooled in water, then chopped into uniform pellets. Manufacturing companies buy the plastic pellets from recyclers to make new products. Recycled plastics also can be made into flowerpots, lumber, and carpeting.