Your Questions About Recycling

The Expert answers:

I take my aluminum cans to Orlando Recycling off of East Colonial near the Orlando Speedworld drag strip. I don’t know if they take glass or plastic bottles but I always get my money’s worth for my aluminum cans.

The Expert answers:

Fyi, the first answer above sounds like malaysian to me.

In Indonesian, you can write:
“Alat Daur Ulang. Jangan dikosongkan atau dibuang isinya”

The Expert answers:

Depends on the recycling program and the type of plastic… Most plastic containers have a triangle on the bottom with a number inside it that tells you they type of plastic… The bin you recycle in needs to have that same number/symbol on it in order for you to be able to recycle it.

If it doesn’t then you recycling plant may not be set up to handle that type of plastic.

The Expert answers:

Polypropylene is commonly recycled, and has the number “5” as its resin identification code:
The symbols used in the code consist of arrows that cycle clockwise to form a rounded triangle and enclosing a number, often with an acronym representing the plastic below the triangle. When the number is omitted, the symbol is known as the universal Recycling Symbol, indicating generic recyclable materials. In this case, other text and labels are used to indicate the material(s) used. Previously recycled resins are coded with an “R” prefix (for example, a PETE bottle made of recycled resin could be marked as RPETE using same numbering).

Auto parts, industrial fibers, food containers, and dishware are part of this group.

Alternatively have you thought about what the previous contents of the contaner was, it may have been a substance that made the Polypropylen toxic.

The Expert answers:

Actually it’s quite difficult to recycle wet-food cardboard and wasn’t possible for some time.
In the UK they are accepted in the recycle bin but not all councils actually re-cycle them!

Basically layered material is hard to recycle – wet food cardboard has a thin poly-layer that has to be separated from the cardboard.

Do you remember old toothpaste tubes – made of metal – just like tomato paste tube – recycle-able. Then came – poly-layered metal tubes – not recycle-able. Now the metal has gone and they are recycle-able.

But why tubes – why cartons why not RE-USEABLE jars. They do this on the continent (Europe) They still do it in England for Milk delivered and Juice delivered in bottles by electric milk floats. Wastes way less energy bringing a bottle back – cleaning it and then re-filling it as opposed to melting it down and making another one.

In France you take back empty wine bottles for the seller to fill up from a cask for your table wines.

Bring back the deposit on the pop-bottle thing and roll it out to all Jars and the like. Yea gods we made our pocket money as kids knocking on doors and taking folks Corona Bottles back to the shop – some folk would give them up for nothing – Old-folk would split the deposit with us.

The Expert answers:

Anyone who says that all plastic is recycled is incorrect. The recycling rate for plastics overall, at least in the U.S., is very low–just 7%. That means that 93% of all plastic consumed in the U.S. Ends up as landfill waste, litter or is incinerated.

Their is one group of plastic that has a relatively good recycling rate (28%) and that is the category of beverage bottles marked with a number 1 or 2, indicating the type of plastic. Unfortunately, the bottles you describe (those used in the beauty industry) are not always accepted by collection facilities because they are made with plastics that are harder to find recycling programs for (i.e. Types 3, 4, 5 or 7). If they are marked with a 1 or 2, they may be accepted for recycling, but not always. Some collection facilities only take a type 1 or 2 bottle if it is a BEVERAGE bottle. A strange rule, but one that is practiced in my Washington state community.

To find out what is accepted for recycling in your community, contact your local solid waste department for details.

The Expert answers:

I don’t know of the site, but to truly teach recycling, why don’t you look for containers that you may already have that can be re-purposed. Or materials that can be used to make a recycle bin. This would be a great lesson.

The Expert answers:

Look on the bottom, if it has a triangle with a number in it then most likely. Go to www.earth911.com to see if there is a recycle center that takes that type of plastic.

The Expert answers:

I can’t tell where you live, so the answer about free paper recycling is “it depends.”

Abitibi http://www.paperretriever.com/?id=1 can provide a free paper recycling bin under most circumstances and will even pay for the paper, but you must be in their service area. Here in Oklahoma, you see Abitibi’s “Bowater Bins” everywhere–schools, churches, even at airports.

Another option is to go to http://earth911.com/ and enter your information to search for paper recycling, then contact the appropriate companies.

The ideal paper-recycling setup for your situation would be:

1. Obtain a bin and pickup services (hopefully for free!) for your parking lot.
2. Purchase the small blue bins at home improvement stores (Lowe’s, Home Depot, and even some Target and Wal-Mart stores have them), and place them in the buildings at strategic locations.
3. Designate a person to empty the bins into the larger paper-recycling bin in your parking lot.

You must be careful to avoid putting trash in the paper bins. We have 2 paper bins at my recycling center, and at least once a month someone fills them with household trash, lumber, yard waste, broken glass, dirty clothes, dead animals, or used carpet. Since Abitibi will not pick up bins of trash, my volunteers must go into the bins and clean the trash out. One of our Abitibi bins was even filled with fireworks and burned down. As there are “real” large trash dumpsters near our paper bins, people do this simply for spite.

Bless you for trying to recycle! I hope your proposed plan works.