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Recycling:

Why, What, and How?

Elysa Dombro

Period 5

Honors Biology

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Objective

Students will have learned what items they can and cannot recycle, more about the actual process itself, benefits to recycling, and will be more motivated to recycle in the future.

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Agenda

  • Opening question
  • Lecture and notes
  • Microscope Cardboard Activity
  • “What Can I Recycle” activity
  • Quick Recycling Quiz
  • Ending question and thoughts

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Recycling Overview

  • Recycle definition: to convert waste into something reuseable
  • There is confusion over exact things that can be recycle…
  • Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

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Categories of Recyclables

  • Metals
  • Cardboard and Paper
  • Glass
  • Plastic
  • Batteries and Bulbs
  • Electronics and Other

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Metals

  • Aluminum cans, aluminum foil and bakeware, steel and tin cans5
  • We recycle only half of the aluminum cans we use5
  • Re-melting metal is less costly than mining more3
  • Recycling steel and tin cans saves 74% of the energy used to create them5
  • Locations buy aluminum, so people can get money for used cans3

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Cardboard and Paper

  • Corrugated Cardboard, magazines, office paper, newspaper, paperboard, paper dairy and juice cartons, unsolicited direct mail, phone books 5
  • 70% of cardboard is recycled 5
  • Misconception: Magazines, cartons 5

By recycling just 500 [phonebooks], we could save between 17 and 31 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 463 gallons of oil, 587 pounds of air pollution, 3.06 cubic yards of landfill space and 4,077 kilowatt hours of energy according to the American Forest & Paper Association.5

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Microscope Cardboard Activity

Take a piece of recycled cardboard and a microscope, and complete the following activity.

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Newspaper into Mulch

“Every year natural disasters destroy countless acres of wilderness. The United States Forest Service uses "hydro-mulching," also called "hydro-seeding," to help restore damaged areas. It's a planting process that's been practiced in the United States since the 1950s - and it all starts with newspapers.

Recycled newspapers are made into a fiber mulch and mixed with grass seed, fertilizer, green dye, and water to create a "slurry" that can be pumped over broad areas by pressure sprayers, airplanes or helicopters. This process is called "hydro-mulching." It stabilizes roadside dirt for erosion control and is used to reseed grass over broad areas. Highway departments also use it to beautify roadsides by planting wildflower, tree, and shrub seeds.” 5

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Glass

  • Clear flint glass, brown amber glass, green emerald glass5
  • Flint glass is 61% of glass containers, most commonly jars5
  • 31% of glass containers are amber glass, most commonly as beer bottles. Can only make brown glass.5
  • Emerald glass is 7% of glass containers, mostly wine bottles. Can only make green glass.5

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Do Not Recycle:

Any glass contaminated with stones, dirt, and food waste; ceramics, such as dishware, ovenware, and decorative items; Heat-resistant glass, such as Pyrex; Mixed colors of broken glass; Mirror or window glass; Metal or plastic caps and lids; Crystal; Light bulbs; Cathode-ray tubes (CRTs) found in some televisions and computer monitors. 5

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Plastic

  • There are many types of plastic, if unsure, contact a local facility
  • According to Waste Management, we make enough plastic film in the US to shrink-wrap Texas
  • Has to be clean of food and other waste otherwise it can contaminate other recyclables
  • Brands like Repreve take plastic and turn them into clothing

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Plastic Types and Recyclability

Resin Identification

Code

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Type of Resin

Content

PET

Polyethylene Terephthalate

HDPE

High-density Polyethylene

PVC (V)

Polyvinyl Chloride

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LDPE

Low-density Polyethylene

PP

Polypropylene

PS

Polystyrene

OTHER

Recyclability

Widely Accepted

Widely Accepted

Rarely Accepted

Less Commonly Accepted

Less Commonly Accepted

Rarely Accepted

Rarely Accepted

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Batteries and Bulbs

  • Bulbs, car batteries, household + rechargeable batteries, incandescent and led lightbulbs, compact fluorescent bulbs 5

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  • Mailing programs for hazardous recycling, such as batteries and some light bulbs 5
  • Rechargeable batteries5

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Electronics

  • Parts of computers, office equipment like copiers and fax machines, televisions, VCRs, radios5
  • Very specific guidelines for drop off, different for each place5
  • Often e-waste drives are done - look around in your community

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4 Forms of Recycling

  • Curbside pickup - trucks collect from curbside bins outside homes
  • Drop off centers - central location accepts recyclables
  • Buy back centers - places like auto shops
  • Deposit/refund programs - deposit of cans for money3

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San Jose Local Option

Guadalupe MRF

15999 Guadalupe Mines Road,

San Jose,CA95120

(408) 268-1670

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How it works

  • Transferred to a recycling center
  • Loaded onto hopper (container for bulk material)
  • Hand sorted and separated; waste is taken away
  • Glass sorting rollers pull out and crush glass bottles
  • Rake-like paper sorting machine
  • Fiber sorting lines sort fiber recyclables into piles for the fiber baler
  • Plastic bottles to plastic baler
  • Magnetic cans are sorted
  • Fiber, container, metal, and plastic bales are separated and sent to manufacturers1

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Why We Should Recycle

  • Landfill leachate (chemical soup) is highly polluting (groundwater supplies and air)
  • Recycling uses less natural resources
  • Recycling can use less energy and cost less money (steel is cheaper to recycle, but plastic may not be)
  • Creates jobs for people3

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WE DUMP 100 MILLION TONS OF TRASH INTO LANDFILLS ANNUALLY 3

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Recycling diverts 32% of waste away from landfills 3

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“What Can I Recycle” Activity

Follow instructions to answer questions, aim for the right bin, and maybe win a prize...

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What will YOU recycle?

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References

  1. City of Georgetown - Your Government [Internet] Georgetown (TX): City of Georgetown [Cited April 7 2015] Available from: https://recycle.georgetown.org/georgetown-resource-recovery-and-solid-waste-services/faq/recycling-how-does-it-work/

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