How does recycling affect you? What can you do to help?

We have put together some information and provided some links that will help you answer these questions.

Just click on a link below:

What is Earth Day?

What is Scrap?

Purchasing Hints

Why Recycle Paper?

Scrap Facts

Curbside Specifications


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What Is Earth Day?

Sen. Gaylord Nelson conceived the first Earth Day, held on April 22, 1970, as a national teach-in on environmental issues. Organized by Dennis Hayes, that first Earth Day inspired more than 20 million Americans throughout the nation and on college campuses to become involved in environmental issues. Earth Day events also triggered the largest grassroots mobilization in U.S. history. The initial Earth Day organizing efforts gave rise to what came to be known as the "environmental movement," and they became the impetus for the first U.S. environmental legislation--the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.

When Earth Day marked its 20th anniversary in 1990, the effort involved more than 200 million people in 141 countries. It is now an annual observance, formally proclaimed by the President to occur each year on April 22. Many communities extend the impact of Earth Day by observing it as a weeklong event, or by sponsoring public events on the weekends immediately before and/or after April 22. Earth Day programs might include environmental and/or recycling fairs, teach-ins, tree plantings, beach and waterways cleanups, pledge campaigns to become more environmentally responsible citizens, parades, and displays in parks and shopping malls, to name just a few.

Earth Day general planning information can be obtained from these sources:

Earth Day National Headquarters
Earth Day USA
http://www.earthday.org/

Earth Day Network
http://www.sdearthtimes.com/edn/index.html

Earth Day Online
The EnviroLink Network
http://earthday.envirolink.org/

Environmental Hazards Management Institute (EHMI)
http://www.ehmi.org

National Center for Public Policy Earth Day Information Center
http://www.nationalcenter.org/EarthDay98.html

The Wilderness Society's Earth Day
http://earthday.wilderness.org/    

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The Private Scrap Recycling Industry:
Combining Entrepeneurship With Environmental Responsibility

The private scrap recycling industry has played an essential role in American life for more than a century. Long before Earth Day, curbside recycling, or even solid waste crises, the founders of what would become an important business were already hard at work conserving America's natural resources. Instead of digging ore from the ground of cutting down trees, scrap recyclers find valuable materials in "mines above ground" and in urban forests. In the 19th century, immigrant peddlers took the castoffs of societyold rags, scrap iron, brass fittings, rusted farm implements, the detritus of an expanding industrial age and found value in them in a young nation that relied on ingenuity and entrepreneurship. They were The Original Recyclers®. They began the development of a national recycling infrastructure that the next generation refined and expanded so that recycling became a recognized manufacturing activity that supplied many of the critical raw materials that helped the U.S. achieve victory in World War II. Today, scrap recyclers also play a significant role in international commerce.


return What Is Scrap?

Scrap is not waste, trash, or garbage. Rather, it is old automobiles, farm equipment, ships, refrigerators, stoves, buildings and bridges, batteries, empty beverage cans and bottles, airplanes, bicycles, computers, newspapers, packaging materials, worn-out fabrics, and tires--all these are or contain scrapthe raw material of recycling. Scrap is also the materials that are left over in a factory when new products are manufactured. Scrap can come from a steel mill, a wrecking ball, or your house, favorite restaurant, or neighborhood supermarket. Scrap has value because it is a feedstock in the manufacture of new products. And it is not garbage because it is diverted from the waste stream.

Where Does Scrap Come From?

As the public's participation in recycling increases, it might seem that soft drink cans and bottles, milk jugs, newspapers, and used juice bottles constitute the bulk of products that are recycled.

In fact, the 200+ billion pounds of commodities recycled annually come from every sector of American life, including industry and households.

Commonly Recycled Scrap Products

Scrap Metals

• Aeronautical and aerospace equipment, including airplanes and rockets 
• Aluminum siding, doors, and window frames
• Appliances
• Automobiles
• Bed frames and mattress springs
• Bicycles
• Bridges
• Cast iron sinks and bathtubs
• Computers
• Cooking pots and pans
• Electrical wire
• Elevators
• Eyeglass frames
• Farm equipment
• Food and beverage containers
• Hospital equipment
• Industrial cuttings
• Industrial machinery
• Locks and doorknobs
• Office equipment and furniture
• Park and playground equipment
• Pipe
• Railroad and subway cars
• Roadbed reinforcing bars
• Roofing
• Ships
• Structural steel building frames
• Telephone wire
• Tools
• Toys

Scrap Paper

• Books
• Cardboard (corrugated) boxes
• Computer printouts
• Industrial cuttings
• Newspaper
• Office paper
• Packaging materials
• Surplus wallpaper
• Telephone directories
  

Scrap Plastics

• Bottle carrying crate
• Detergent containers
• Milk and water jug
• Pallets
• Soft drink bottles
• Toiletry containers
  

Scrap Glass, Rubber, and Textiles

• Food, beverage, toiletry, cosmetic, and medicine containers
• Tires and hoses
• Bedding and clothing
  

Sources of Scrap

Scrap recyclers purchase recyclables from a wide variety of collection sources, including:
Airlines and railroad companies
Apartment complexes
Automobile dismantlers
Auto mechanics
Builders, roofers, and other construction sources
Demolition contractors
Factories, mills, foundries, fabricators
Farmers
Federal, state, and municipal government agencies and programs
Hospitals, universities, schools
Machinists and appliance repair shops
Municipal curbside collection programs
Offices, stores, hotels, and restaurants
Plumbers and electricians
The general public
U.S. Armed Forces
Utility companies

You Can Create Markets for Recycled-Content Products
Just change your buying habits and shop for products that you either know contain recycled materials (most metal products), or are labeled to indicate recycled content.

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return Purchasing Hints

• Shop at stores that carry recycled-content products.
  
• Ask managers or buyers at your favorite stores to stock recycled-content items.
  
• Find paper towels, lunch bags, facial tissue, and similar items made from recycled paper.
  
• Buy door mats, carpet padding, new carpeting, insulated jackets, and sleeping bags made from recycled plastic beverage bottles.
  
• Give handyman gifts of tools, which are likely to be made from recycled iron or steel, aluminum, stainless steel, and/or zinc. Same with garden tools.
  
• Replace worn garden hoses with hoses made from recycled rubber.
  
• Choose scouring pads for pots and pans made from recycled plastic.
  
• Purchase greeting cards and gift wrap made from recycled paper.
  
• Resurface floors and countertops with recycled glass tiles.
  
• Scrap Recycling Saves Energy
  Using recyclables instead of virgin materials results in the following significant energy savings:
  
  Aluminum.............................95%
  Copper................................85%
  Iron & Steel.........................74%
  Lead...................................65%
  Zinc....................................60%
  Paper..................................64%
  Plastics................................80%
  Glass...................................30%
  
  EPA Cites Benefits of Using Recycled Iron & Steel Over Virgin Ore
  Energy Savings................................................74%
  Savings in Virgin Materials Use............................90%
  Reduction in Air Pollution....................................86%
  Reduction in Water Use.....................................40%
  Reduction in Water Pollution...............................76%
  Reduction in Mining Wastes................................97%
  Reduction in Consumer Wastes Generated...........105%

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return Why Recycle Paper?

Because, compared to producing a ton of paper from virgin wood pulp, recycled paper uses 64% less energy and 50% less water, results in 74% less air pollution and 35% less water pollution, saves 17 trees, and creates 5 times more jobs.

To Ensure That Your Aluminum Cans Are Recycled. . .

• Keep cans clean and dry. Recyclers often offer lower prices or refuse to buy wet or dirty cans.
  
• Make certain all cans are aluminum. Check by placing a magnet on the side of the can; it won't stick to aluminum.
  
• Don't use cans to dispose of paint, solvents, or flammable liquids.
  
• NEVER dispose of needles or syringes in empty cans.

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return Scrap Facts

• In 1997, more than 46 million appliances were recycled in the U.S. That's a recycling rate of 81%. Appliance recycling for that year alone yielded enough steel (more than 2.8 million tons) to build 48 aircraft carriers-including anchors and anchor chains.
  
• In 10 Northeastern U.S. states alone, more than 103,000 people are employed in firms that process or manufacture recycled materials, adding more than $7.2 billion in value to these recovered materials.
  
• For the 10th consecutive year, lead-acid batteries topped the list of recycled products. In a 1996 survey, the latest data available, the 96.5% recycling rate for battery lead and plastics beat aluminum cans (63.5%), glass bottles (37.9%), and newspapers (67.8%). Lead and plastic from recycled batteries are used in new battery manufacture. A new lead-acid battery contains almost 100% recycled materials.
  
• 40% of all copper used, 25% of aluminum, 30% of zinc, 35% of lead, and 20% of nickel come from recycling.
  
• In 1997, more than 5.5 billion steel cans were recycled.

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City of Macon Curbside – Collects Weekly

The city collects the following material curbside:

• Newspaper
• Magazines
• Slick Coated Catalogs and Brochures
• Home Office Mix- Pretty much all office paper, junk mail, envelopes, white paper etc. No brown paper, No cardboard, No cereal Boxes

Bibb County Curbside – Collects Every other week

Bibb County collects the following material curbside through Southland Waste:

• Newspaper
• Magazines
• Slick Coated Catalogs and Brochures
• Home Office Mix- Pretty much all office paper, junk mail, envelopes, white paper etc. No brown paper, No cardboard, No cereal Boxes
• Aluminum Cans
• Steel/Tin plated Cans
• Plastic Containers 1-7 (No #3; No plastic bags)
• Glass Containers

Houston County – Collects Every other week

Houston County collects the following material curbside through Southland Waste:

• Newspaper
• Magazines
• Slick Coated Catalogs and Brochures
• Home Office Mix- Pretty much all office paper, junk mail, envelopes, white paper etc. No brown paper, No cardboard, No cereal Boxes
• Aluminum Cans
• Steel/Tin plated Cans
• Plastic Containers 1-7 (No #3; No plastic bags)

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