Your Questions About Recycling

The Expert answers:

U can recycle aluminum cans, glass bottles, newspapers, scrap metal, and theres more but i cant think of it rite now. Idk bout any kind of paper; u mite want 2 ask ur local recycling center. U can basically recycle anything that is reusable.

The Expert answers:

You should also keep a seperate box to keep organic wastes in… Put inside banana peels, fruit wastes, vegetable wastes, coffee wastes, old flowers, and any other organic trash you find. Then instead of disposing of it use it as compost for your garden. Your plants and flours will thrive and it will be great for the enviornment. You can also recycle plastic bottles

Here is a list:

Batteries—Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation, Battery Drop-off Locator. Nonrechargeable batteries of sizes AAA, AA, C, D, button cell, 9 Volt, and all other batteries. Http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/WPIE/Batteries/

Beverage Containers—Can be recycled and be back on the shelf in about 90 days. Http://www.bottlesandcans.com/

Demolition Debris—The Construction and Demolition Debris Recyclers Database lists places where you can bring demolition debris, such as when you remodel your house, for recycling.

Electronics—E-waste is a popular, informal name for electronic products nearing the end of their “useful life.” Computers, televisions, VCRs, stereos, copiers, and fax machines are common electronic products. Many of these products can be reused, refurbished, or recycled. Please note that televisions and cathode ray tube (CRT) computer monitors should not be placed in the household trash. Http://www.erecycle.org/

Hazardous Waste—Household hazardous waste that must be recycled or disposed at household hazardous waste collection facilities or other authorized collection facilities include, acids, antifreeze, household batteries, car batteries, brake and transmission fluid, household cleaners, pool chemicals, gasoline and other flammables, mercury thermometers, motor oil, oil-based or latex paint, paint thinners, pesticides and herbicides, barbecue style propane tanks, solvents.

Fluorescent lamps and tubes can be taken to household hazardous waste collection facilities.

Home-generated medical waste, such as pharmaceuticals and syringes might be accepted at your household hazardous waste facility.

Other Hazardous Waste disposal and recycling locations can be found at Earth 911. If this option does not work, ask your local contact for waste prevention and recycling.
Metal

Steel and Aluminum Cans—Beverage cans, food cans, aerosol cans.
Clean Aluminum Food Packaging—Pie plates, dinner trays, foil.
Motor Oil

Paper—Newspaper, magazines, catalogs, phone books, bulk mail, junk mail, office paper, computer paper, envelopes, gift wrapping paper, cardboard, food boxes, shoeboxes, paper towel and toilet paper tubes, paper egg cartons.

Plastic—Plastic that bears the 1 or 2 plastic resin codes, also called SPI codes. SPI stands for Society of the Plastics Industry.

Recycle on Your Own
Food Waste—When we count only the uneaten portions of meals and waste from food preparation, such as trimming produce, Americans throw away 163 pounds of food per person per year.

Compost—To learn how to compost, see the CIWMB home composting page or contact your city or county government. If you prefer to compost in a bin instead of an open pile, or if compost bins are required in you community, see the CIWMB compost bin resource list.

Vermicomposting—Get a worm bin and some worms and practice vermicomposting. Download The Worm Guide to read all you need to know about starting a small worm bin.

Yard Waste—Leaves and grass account for about 8 percent of the waste discarded to landfills in California. But in a landfill they generate significantly more greenhouse gas than they would in compost piles or bins.

Grasscycle—What could be easier? Set your mower to cut a little long, and leave the clippings on the lawn. No bags to empty when you mow, reduce the water needed on your lawn, reduce the need to fertilize and thereby reduce toxic runoff to creeks and lakes via the storm drains. Alternately, compost your grass clippings or use them as mulch directly from the lawn mower bag, and be miserly with your watering and fertilizing.

The Expert answers:

Our Council does not recycle anything. We are happy if they come to collect the garbage. But then this is the land of the unexpected.

Most stuff in my home is recycled including much of what the home is built of.

But I guess 90% of domestic waste in industrialized countries is recyclable, but as to the level of recycling and the ease with which you can achieve it that depends on your initiative, determination and just who is your council.

Level: use again as is, or with just a clean up, as in reusable glass bottles, or furniture.
Use to make same quality product; as in recycling of Polycarbonate drink bottles/aluminium cans.
Use to make inferior product; paper recycled to make cardboard [there is a degradation to continually poorer quality fibers]
used to make alternative product; food scraps to compost.

Some you can do, some you get the council to do, some you take to recycle bins.

The Expert answers:

Yes we can do that.
The plastic bag recycling ordinance requires businesses that provide plastic bags to customers to do the following:

1. Print or display on every plastic carryout bag: (i) “Please Reuse Or Recycle At Participating Store” using letters at least ½ inch in height; or (ii) a similar message encouraging the reuse or recycling of plastic carryout bags that is no less than 1 inch in height and uses letters at least ¼ inch in height;

2. Provide a bin for the collection of plastic bags and other film plastic that is visible and easily accessible to customers;

3. Make reusable bags available at or near where plastic carryout bags are dispensed. Reusable means (1) a bag made of cloth or other machine washable fabric with handles or (2) a durable plastic bag with handles that is at least 1.15 mils thick and specifically designed and manufactured for multiple reuse;

4. Recycle or reuse any plastic bags collected;

5. Submit an annual report to the Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection (BACP) each year providing the weight, location and cost for recycling the plastic bags.
🙂

The Expert answers:

You can recycle just about anything, if its not recycled it can be reused! One mans trash is another mans treasure.

If you want to get rid of old cell phones, computers or LCD monitors you can try this site

http://www.bzzagent.com//p/7710536943/DisneyKrayzie

They even give you a visa gift card for your old stuff if it works, I got $15 for an old Nokia 3590 cell phone it sure beats dropping them off ina recylcle bin for free.

The Expert answers:

After memorizing the plastic code letters & numbers, I noticed a pattern. This became my guide to figure out what kind of plastic something is even without any code markings. They are in order that are easiest to understand. At the end you’ll see why:

1) PE or PETE are transparent, somewhat rigid, but often thin enough to bend & make a crease. Nowadays it’s tricky to tell it’s #1 cause they are often colored, but if you can see right through them & it has a smooth surface it’s probably #1. Think bottled water.

2) HDPE are NOT transparent. They are often hard, but flexible & almost always have outer surfaces that are rough. Think shampoo bottles. Thinner versions may be translucent, like cereal box liners.

4) LDPE are very flexible. They can be clear or most often they are colored. Thin ones include grocery bags while thicker ones include the lids on your Rubbermaid.

5) PP are also hard, but flexible. BUT unlike #2s, they can be transparent though they are often colored. Think Rubbermaid bowls (sometimes the lids) & Tupperware just about everything.

6) PS are rigid & often brittle. In rigid form they are almost always clear & transparent. We call softer versions styrofoam, which are usually white. These are your disposable coffee cups, cooler linings, popcorn or molded packing material. With any #6 plastic they will break or show damage when flexed. You might have guessed that #6 are good insulators. Rigid & clear #6s are often in the form of containers that store food, even if it is hot.

3) PV or PVC are rigid, have smooth surfaces inside & out, & are colored (not transparent). They often have a strange chemical smell that seems to never go away. When they get old they can become very brittle & break. This is accelerated when exposed to the sun. You will usually see them as pipes, but I once received a drink container as a present in the shape of a football that was made of PVC. It was thin, flexible & clear. Though it did have a label, the telltale sign that it was PVC was its smell. You don’t want to drink something from this.

7) PC come in many shapes & forms. They are often labeled as “Other” because there are so many different kinds. I find them most often to be hard, rigid, & resistant to breakage. The surface is usually smooth, though they may sometimes be textured. They may be clear or come in different colors. They are made for several purposes including reusable containers for coffee makers because of their high heat tolerance & durability. Many “microwave safe” containers & trays that are rigid & smooth are made from this. Manufacturers often market them as “unbreakable,” which is why plastic baby bottles are made from #7 plastic.

So why you might ask did I put the list in this order? 1, 2, 4, & 5 are the easiest to recycle & are considered “safer plastics.” The others are not so easily recycled. Though slightly off topic, if you or other readers are concerned about BPA chemical exposure, 2, 4, & 5 are made without BPA. 1, 3, 6, & 7 are. It’s ok to use 1, but it’s not ok to reuse them because over time they will break down & leach BPA into what ever you are drinking. Basically if you smell some kind of chemical coming from your plastic or drink & eat something that tastes like chemical, you should stop using it & recycle it. Even without a label, you can use my guidelines to help you sort them out correctly.

The Expert answers:

Paper:
can auntie anne’s cups be recycled? Probably not

can memo pad paper that’s been wrote on be recycled? Yes

can I throw little bits of paper in my recycling box to be recycled or do they have to be whole? The paper gets shredded by the recyclers so little bits are fine.

Can magazine inserts about subscribing to the mag be recycled?yes and so can the mag in a lot of areas.

Plastic:
can the tops of plastic containers be recycled?Depends on the area some yes some no.

What are some other things that can and cannot be recycled?metal cans

You should check with you local recycling facility. They will have a list of what they take.

The Expert answers:

I don’t think public humiliation is a productive way to encourage recycling. Many people jump on the bandwagon without any research. Each city or municipal dump has it’s own way of handling waste, some are better than others. My city has a huge facility that uses both manual and mechanical methods to recycle, so we are able to divert over 60% of what goes into the garbage cans to recycling with no effort by home owners or business. It’s true that presorting and taking paper in particular to a recycling facility will mean it will have more recycling options, since it won’t be contaminated by food etc. Over all we are recycling more and for those of us who want to do more or are just in the habit we have recycle facilities.

It is always a good idea to contact the facility that will be receiving your recyclable to see what they take and if there are any things that must be done, labels or lids removed etc. If your city doesn’t have a sorting program it’s would be a good idea to participate in whatever program is available, which also means finding out what the program includes. Some cities will throw away a whole truck worth of recycling if there are too many unwanted items in it. Do a little research and post the acceptable items near the bins and try to do your part.

The Expert answers:

There are several things that can be recycled.
Of the 9 types of plastic 8 can be recycled, only number 9 can not.
Paper, glass and metal can also be recycled.
Now if you are attempting to find out what can be recycled in your area.
You would want to contact either recycling centers, waste disposal or your city government.