Table Of Contents

• Recycling Education


• All Sorts Of Recycling Things


• Richland Washington Recycling


• Select Recycling Articles


• Recycling Supplies To Buy


• Recycling News & Resources


• Recycling, Parenting & Children


• Celebrity Recycling Sightings


• Recycling Animals Tidbits


• About Us, Lens Feedback

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Recycling Education

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Recycling can be defined as using any waste as material to manufacture a new product. Recycling involves altering the physical form of an object or material and making a new object from the altered material.

Householders and businesses should reduce the waste they generate before resorting to any other option. After all attempts to reduce or eliminate the generation of waste have been exhausted, the next preferred option is to look for opportunities to reuse the items which could become waste. In general, items are not considered waste if they are reused, instead of being recycled or discarded. Materials that are recycled are considered waste.

Though recycling is not waste prevention, recycling generally prevents wastage of potentially useful materials. It cuts down considerably the use of non-renewable raw materials while at the same time reducing energy usage. Recycling thus often prevents the rise of greenhouse gas emissions.

Recycling is not reuse either. Reuse does not alter the physical form an object or material. It is preferred to recycling because reuse utilises less energy and less resources compared to recycling. Recycling on the other hand consumes less energy and resources than creating new items with non-recycled materials.

Recyclable materials or recyclates are sorted and separated at their source namely, the home and industry. They include everyday objects like glass, paper, textiles, plastics etc. Waste, such as food waste or garden waste are biodegradable and can be recycled through composting or anaerobic digestion.

Two common household methods of recycling are prevalent, curbside collection and carry-in system. In curbside collection method, household waste is sorted and the recyclable materials are left in front of their property which is collected on a regular basis by a recycling vehicle. In the "carry-in" or "bring" system, the householder takes the recyclates to specified collection points.

Recycling all your paper, wastes such as empty cereal boxes and empty toilet paper tubes and later buying paper products made from recycled material is a good example of perfect recycling at home. You need to recycle as well as buy, recycled items to complete the recycle "cycle". Recycling can be practiced in your work or business environment too.

The process of recycling is not confined to the modern times. In fact, the history of recycling dates back to the pre-industrial days in Britain when dust from wood and ash from coal fires were used to create base matter for manufacturing bricks. Even in Europe, goods made of bronze and various other metals were gathered and melted so that they could be used over and over again.

Right from the start, the advantages of recycling were pretty obvious, especially considering its cost-effectiveness plus the energy-saving features it exhibited. Recycling allowed slowing down the eating on natural resources and the utilization of used material to its full capacity. Besides, it ensured that waste materials, particularly those generated by heavily populated regions were aptly taken care of.

The earliest record of paper recycling was in 1921 by the Confederation of Paper Industries. Then known as the British Waste Paper Association, the organization promoted waste paper recycling trade. On the whole, the initiative was a major success, pushed by the near expiration of resources as a result of the World Wars and other radical events.

During the World War II, governments of various countries encouraged massive recycling campaigns in different regions of the world, participating in the war. In this campaign, a patriotic call to the citizens of warring countries urged them to contribute metals and conserve fiber. Even after the wars came to end, countries such as Japan, which were low on raw materials, chose to continue with the conservation crusades. 

Years later, nations across the world experienced increasing energy costs, which made it more important to find modern recycling options. This called for larger investments in recycling that was made possible in the 1970s.

Recycling was proving to be a lot more economical than real production. For instance, recycling aluminum required only 5% of the energy that went into actually production of the metal. The recycled feedstock from metals, glass and paper were other energy conservers. The 1977 Clean Water Act and the sudden demand for bleached paper in the United States of America resulted in a boost in office paper's value. Favorably, the product was a pacifier to water pollutants as well.

The first ever curbside collection program was started in 1973, in the city of Berkeley, California. The campaign involved monthly collecting of newspapers from the residences in the city. This program was picked up by different countries and on the basis of it, several new doorstep collection programs were planned and implemented. The recycling industry received a further impetus in the United States of America when Woodbury, New Jersey, for the first time in the country, issued a directive to encourage recycling.

An incident that took place in 1987 led to heated arguments on the subject of recycling and waste disposal. It all happened when the Mobro 4000 barge, hauling garbage from New York to North Carolina, was denied and redirected to Belize. Here, it was denied again and turned back to New York. The garbage was finally incinerated.

Another major incident in the history of recycling occurred in the year 1989. The city of Berkeley banned the use of polystyrene packaging, which was used to keep McDonald's hamburgers warm. Dow Chemical, the world's largest manufacturer of polystyrene, took the ban rather badly. However, the ban also led to the first ever efforts in demonstrating that recycling plastics was possible.

Within a decade, United States saw nothing less than 1677 companies engaged in the post-consumer plastics recycling business. The recycling business had caught on!

Recycling reduces the inputs (energy and raw materials) in addition to considerably reducing the amount of waste produced for ultimate disposal.

According to a study conducted by the Technical University of Denmark, recycling is the most efficient method to dispose of 80% of household waste. Household wastes such as different items of paper, plastics etc can be safely and economically recycled to manufacture other daily use products.

Recycling paper requires a small percentage of wood fibers. However, recycling plastic saves 70% of the energy used in creating new plastic while, paper recycling saves 40% of the energy required to make a new product. The resources being processed are purer and so less energy is needed to process them.

Some materials like aluminum by far the most efficient material to recycle can be recycled indefinitely. Aluminum recycling saves 95% of the energy cost of processing new aluminum because the melting temperature is reduced to 2/3 rd of the original (900 °C to 600 °C).

Recycling utilizes less energy for processing and for transportation from the place of extraction (e.g. bauxite/aluminum ore mines in Brazil) By suing less energy for processing and transportation the environmental, social, and usually the economic costs of manufacturing are greatly reduced. For example, bauxite mines in Brazil displace indigenous people, create noise pollution from blasting, machinery and transport, and create air pollution in the form of particulates (dust). The habitat loss and visual destruction is negative both to the aesthetic qualities of the areas as well as the local environment.

It is argued, the mines do provide employment and revenue to the local population and economy, promoting development of the country as a whole. However, these resources are exhaustible. So it is more advantageous to the local economy to phase the resource for a longer period. Recycling helps in gradual phasing out.

The most commonly used methods for waste disposal (landfill, pyrolysis, incineration) are environmentally damaging and unsustainable. Every venue to reduce waste disposed in this fashion must be explored. It has been found that the maximum environmental benefit is gained by waste minimization and reusing items in their current form such as use of used soda bottles, yogurt containers etc. for packaging.

Recycling techniques are drawing heat from critics from all sides. The primary of these is that all recycling techniques consume energy for transportation and processing in addition to considerable amounts of water usage. This is despite the well-acknowledged fact that recycling processes seldom are at par with the level of resource consumption associated with raw materials processing.

With ever increasing mass consumption of every imaginable product the quantity of recyclable materials as well have gone sky high. Collection methods associated with recycling have led to increased vehicle movements and the resultant production of carbon dioxide. These are greatly contributing to the greenhouse effect on an environment already choking on greenhouse gases.

It is argued that by ensuring centralized facilities similar to some advanced material recovery facilities and mechanical biological treatment systems for the separation of mixed wastes the adverse impact on increased traffic to transport recyclable waste can be avoided. This could ensure less negative emissions into our atmosphere.

Another major criticism about recycling is the high-cost of recycled items or substances which impose a greater financial burden on consumers. This makes recycled products less attractive to the majority of the population. Admittedly, this is not universal to every recycled product, but it does occur and raises certain concern.

Mercury recycling has probably attracted more flak than most materials. The European Union banned the export of liquid mercury in 2006. It is safe to consider a life-cycle analysis prior to implementing any recycling programs. This may reduce the risk of unintended environmental consequences.

In certain cases, the cost of recycling is higher than landfill disposal. Environmentalists argue that the financial costs of recycling such materials far outweigh the environmental benefits of avoiding a landfill. However, skeptics argue that the environmental benefits of recycling do not compensate for the extra effort required. Considering the amount of extravagant amount of money spend on nuclear armament and other such destructive purposes the cost of recycling against landfill is perhaps irrelevant. If every recyclable material can be kept from ending in landfills, we will be considerably reducing the burden on our overwhelmed planet.

All Sorts Of Recycling Things

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Richland Washington Recycling

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The public is invited to learn more about Richland recycling in Richland Washington, in commemoration of America Recycling Day. A used athletic shoe collection and demonstration, a talk with a local recycling, and a recycling challenge for kids will be held in the Richland Wa Public Library, 955 Northgate. Call for details.

Children are invited to learn about recycling in Richland Washington from CORKIE the Robot, see how old athletic shoes turn into play surfaces and participate in a recycling craft activity. Families are invited to learn about recycling in Richland and speak to a local recycler, see samples of recycled products, watch how a shoe is transformed into a play surface and sign a pledge to win prizes in a national contest. There will are also local Recycling Challenges for kids who complete 5 out of 19 ideas for a better planet.

"America Recycles Day" is celebrated nationally every November to encourage Americans to buy recycled products for recycling. This year's Richland theme, "It all Comes Back to You," highlights how individual shifts in attitudes and actions, multiplied many times, can change the world. For more information on national America Recycles Day, visit their website. For local information, visit the City of Richland, click on "Living," then "Environmental Education."

If you live in Southeast Washington state and are looking for a recycling center close to you, consider these sources:

Kennewick Recycling | Pasco Recycling | Benton County Recycling | Franklin County Recycling | Spokane Recycling | Benton City Recycling | Prosser Recycling | Yakima Recycling | West Richland Recycling | Tri Cities Washington Recycling

Benton County Solid Waste, Waste Reduction, and Recycling

PO Box 110

Prosser, WA 99350-0110

Phone: (509) 786-5611

FAX: (509) 786-5627

Email: Keith Martin - keith.martin@co.benton.wa.us

Franklin County Public Works

3540 North Avenue #C

Pasco, WA 99301

Phone: (509) 545-3514

FAX: (509) 545-2133

Email: smckenzie@co.franklin.wa.us

A monthly bulletin that highlights local and nationwide environmental issues is being produced and offered to the public by the City of Richland's Environmental Education Office.  This month's short, easy to read bulletin includes information on Benton Conservation District's Weedseeker project, event recycling, donating garden produce to food banks, mosquito control information, bottled water facts and hikes offered by the Intermountain Alpine Club. In addition, it promotes a monthly environmental segment that airs on cable television.

The newsletter is available via email, on the city's website, or as a handout at City Hall and the Richland Public Library. Previously, Richland's Environmental Education Office provided "Environmental Tips" each month to employees and a small number of recipients.  Over the years, the distribution list has increased and was recently reformatted and titled, Environmental Update. For more information, log onto www.ci.richland.wa.us/richland/enviro, link to current news.  To subscribe to the bulletin, send an email to geverett@ci.richland.wa.us or call 942-7730.  

Gail Everett, Environmental Education Coordinator | Public Information Office - City of Richland | www.ci.richland.wa.us/RICHLAND/enviro | P.O. Box 190; Richland WA; 99352 | 509-942-7730

"Live your life through conviction - not convenience"

This month's "Eye on Our Earth" programs will be on Alternative Fuels.  The program discusses the various materials that biofuel can be made from, how biofuel is made and touring a biofuel laboratory.   Program highlights include government studies, energy efficient vehicles and tips on how to reduce pollution and gasoline usage.  The program airs on CityView, Richland cable channel 13, and Kennewick cable channel 12, every Monday at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., Friday at 10 p.m. and Sunday at 10 a.m.

The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) has added a new feature to its Water Resources website that monitors, in real time, stream flow levels in several key watersheds. Water users in five watersheds, or Water Resources Inventory Areas (WRIAs), can take advantage of this new web feature. They are: Snohomish (WRIA 7), Lower Chehalis (WRIA 22), Upper Chehalis (WRIA 23), Wenatchee (WRIA 45), and Little Spokane (WRIA 55). Ecology will add the remaining 21 watersheds in the near future. The new feature provides a reliable way for water users to monitor water availability and voluntarily cut back use when flows are low. For more information, visit the Department of Ecology.

The McMurray Park Earth Day Restore-a-Thon was a huge success. 137 volunteers worked together to clean up the waterway, pull weeds, plant native plants, spread landscape rock, and pick up trash. Many of the volunteers worked from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Participants included volunteers from Battelle, Shalom Church, Oasis School, Eagle Assisted Living, REI, Department of Energy, Starbucks, Tumbleweed Art Studio, McMurray Park Apartments, Tri-City Fever, and Eagle Scouts. Shalom Church provided a free lunch for all participants and Starbucks provided complimentary beverages and goodies. Eagle Assisted Living and American Rock provided landscape rock, and Wildlands Nursery provided native plants. One of the project coordinators, Shannon Hays-Truex, said, "It was an incredible, successful event." "Volunteers had a good time and were very satisfied with the work that was accomplished."

With more than 270,000 boats registered in Washington, a perfect day on the water can turn into an environmental disaster if mechanical failures occur far from shore. A sinking boat can threaten lives and contaminate our waters. As little as a quart of leaking oil can pollute one million gallons of water (www.enviromedia.com/tips.php). A well-maintained boat can ensure a great day on the water and at the same time prevent oil spills caused by cracked fuel lines, poor fittings, failed gaskets, hull leaks, and other mechanical failures.

Boaters can join the ranks of the clean and green boating community by taking the following steps:

• Tune up the boat motor, check for oil and fuel leaks, and fix them before launching the boat.


• Carefully replace the engine's old gear oil and coolant, taking care not to spill any in the water or on the ground.


• Safely recycle or dispose of used oil and filters, batteries, unused paint, solvents, antifreeze and other chemicals at the county hazardous waste collection site.


• Inspect all cockpit drain plugs and make sure the holes are clear.


• If the boat is left in the water, cover it so rain or overspray from other boats can't flood into the bilge area and sink the boat.


• Put a clean, absorbent pad in the bilge-pump area. Do not pump


• contaminated bilge water overboard. Use approved shore-side facilities.


• Do not discharge treated or untreated sewage in the marina basin. Use shore-side sewage dump stations or mobile pumping services if available.


• Do not overfill or top off fuel tanks. Allow for fuel expansion, especially in warmer weather.  Use oil absorbents or other devices to catch drips.

Report all spills immediately by calling 800-OILS-911 and the U.S. Coast Guard (800-424-8802). Act quickly to minimize the environmental damage caused by all oil and chemical products.

"Your Energy, Your Food, and Your Money" is the theme of the ninth annual SolWest Renewable Energy Fair, at the Grant County Fairgrounds in John Day, OR. Admission includes over 50 free workshops on both off-grid and grid-intertied renewable energy (RE) and sustainable living topics. Fifty exhibitors show tools for energy independence and lifestyle self-reliance, including solar, wind and agricultural resources. Keynote speaker Benjamin Gisin of Touch the Soil magazine emphasizes the connections between energy, food, and money. An Electrathon race highlights efficient, lightweight vehicle technology. Cost is $5 per adult per day, with weekend, youth, and senior discounts, volunteers and children under 12 free. Camping is available.  For more information, call 541-575-3633, email info@solwest.org or visit www.solwest.org.

During April's Mid-Columbia Earth Month and Community Clean-up, 1,750 volunteers and 66 teams completed a total of 156 beautification projects. 107 projects in Richland, (71 were storm drains that were stenciled with information regarding the importance of keeping our storm drains clean), 20 in Kennewick, 9 in Connell, 8 in Benton City, 5 in Pasco, 2 in West Richland, 2 in Finley, 1 in Benton County, 1 in Kahlotus and 1 in Prosser. The public was invited to attend 60 earth-related activities, and 421 cell phones were collected at area libraries and given to Domestic Violence Services of Benton and Franklin counties. The winner of Tapteal Greenway's Conservationist of the Year was Andy Plymale. Andy has been a long-time volunteer for Tapteal Greenway and a highly successful fundraiser. Reuse-A-Shoe contest brought in 540 pairs of used athletic shoes from 13 area schools, with Badger Mountain Elementary receiving first place with 155 pairs. The winner of the Aluminum Can Contest was Marcus Whitman Elementary School who collected 400 pounds of cans. A total of 715 pounds of aluminum were recycled during the school contest. In March, Sharefest Organizers completed 121 yard projects, previously done by Earth Month volunteers. A more detailed report is available on www.earthmonthmc.org.

Household Hazardous Waste Products can not be placed in the trash. They must be disposed of properly at the Benton County Moderate Risk Waste Facility

Free Disposal | For Benton County Residents | At the Richland Landfill

3102 Twin Bridges Rd., Richland (off S.R. 240, 3.5 miles west of Richland), 509.942.7387 | Hours of Operation: Mon-Sunday, 8 to 4

Improper storage and disposal of household hazardous waste can be a health hazard to people, pets and the environment. Bring unwanted household hazardous waste to the Benton County Regional Moderate Risk Waste Facility, located at the Richland landfill. Disposal is free to Benton County residents (proof of residency is required).    

What is household hazardous waste?

Household hazardous waste are dangerous chemical products from the home.  Product labels with DANGER, POISON, and WARNING or CAUTION indicate a chemical is hazardous to your health and should be used according to the manufacturer's directions. Many of these products should be disposed of properly. Examples include:

• Paint (oil base and latex)


• Polishes


• Anti-freeze


• Batteries, car and household


• Transmission and brake fluids


• Pesticides


• Adhesives and glues


• Cleaning agents


• Gasoline


• Propane cylinders


• Wood preservative and stain


• Aerosols


• Motor oil

For more information, contact the City of Richland.

Richland's Environmental Education Office is accepting applications for its Green Recognition Program. The yearly recognition program honors business, organizations, groups, schools or individuals in several "green" categories -- Overall Effort, Project, Process Change or Other.  The award brings recognition and acknowledgment to those that live or do business in Richland that are implementing green practices or working to better the environment.  'Green' practices may include in-house recycling, creative ways of reusing items, reducing water, solid, and/or chemical waste, conservation of energy and electricity or reduction of air pollution effluents.  Being "Green" saves money, protects the environment and conserves natural resources. These conservation efforts improve Richland's environmental health and help reduce maintenance costs for municipal utility operations.

For more information, to download an application or see last year's winners, visit Richland's web site, www.ci.richland.wa.us/Richland/enviro, or call 942-7730.  Applications are also available at Richland City Hall and the Richland Public Library.  Gail Everett, Environmental Education Coordinator | Public Information Office - City of Richland | www.ci.richland.wa.us/RICHLAND/enviro

Select Recycling Articles

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