Recycling 



Old plastic soda bottles can return 

 as clothing and carpet. 

 Aluminum cans and glass bottles 

 reappear anew on the shelves 

 under different brand names. 



Recycling gives trash a new lease on life. Old plastic soda bottles can 

 return as clothing and carpet. Aluminum cans and glass bottles reappear 

 anew on the shelves under different brand names. Yesterday's news, in the 

 pages of old magazines and newspapers, is reincarnated as tomorrow's 

 newsprint. Newspapers are also returned as molded paper egg cartons, attic 

 insulation and mulch. 



The process works to the extent that people feel like they can make a 

 difference and they support recycled markets. The EPA advocates this 

 conservation-minded approach — and composting — after Americans have 

 done their best to precycle. 



Recycling began in earnest in 1988, although the record extends back 

 30 years. Over that period of time, the pace grew twice as fast as landfilling. 

 The amount of waste that we recycle is now about 33 million tons, but it's 

 still only a quarter of the 1 30 million tons of trash we bury. 



In Raleigh, a drive to the office on recycling day tells me that people 

 are willing to sort and store two weeks worth of garbage. The green bins are 

 piled high with plastic milk bottles, newspapers and drink cans. At work, 

 the university reclaims used paper, cans and glass that have been separated 

 and stored. But the drive home on recycling day tells another story. Yards 

 are strewn with throwbacks of unrecyclable plastic — peanut butter jars, 

 vegetable oil bottles, juice and sports drink containers. For lack of a market, 

 only a percentage of plastic we bring into our homes is being used again. 

 Typically, depending on where you live, the containers marked PET 1 and 

 HDPE 2 are most recyclable. These include soda bottles, some salad 

 dressing containers and milk jugs. The rest, labeled 3 through 7, are usually 

 landfilled or incinerated. 



Recycling is most likely to flourish where curbside service offers a 

 conservation-made -easy solution to waste disposal. Yet only about one- 

 third of North Carolina local governments provide it. The rest of the 

 state must carry these recyclables to collection 

 centers. And while it's less convenient, 

 people are doing it anyway. Overall, 475 

 government-run programs (curbside and 

 drop-off collections) gathered 630,137 

 tons of recyclables in 1993-94. The 

 savings can be measured in more than 1 

 million cubic yards of landfill space and 

 $10 million in disposal costs. 

 We go through these paces for a number 

 of reasons. For one, it's illegal in North Carolina to landfill or 

 incinerate certain trash, such as aluminum cans, whole tires, yard waste, 

 lead-acid batteries, antifreeze, large kitchen appliances and motor oil. 

 And no doubt, people are invigorated by the idea that they can make a 

 meaningful nick in the mounting waste problem. 



I tend to be drawn in by the point that recycling protects natural 

 resources — fewer trees are cut, less ore is mined and less oil is used. 

 It also prevents air and water pollution because many manufacturing 

 processes using recycled materials create less air and wastewater 

 discharges than those using virgin materials. 



MARCH/APRIL 1995 



