The Lives of Recyclables

February 26, 2019

February 26, 2019


This guest blog is courtesy of RoadRunner Recycling. The post was written by Shelby Bell at RoadRunner Recycling.


Have you ever wondered what happens to your materials after they have been tossed in the recycling bin? After collection, each material is set on its own path to become a new product. Some materials can cycle through the process indefinitely, while others can only be recycled a few times before they lose their quality. Continue reading to learn about the recyclables’ journey from the recycling bin back to the shelf.

Cardboard


Did you know, 1 ton of recycled cardboard saves 46 gallons of oil and over 9 cubic yards of landfill space? Cardboard fibers are strong and can break down many times before they lose their quality. Once cardboard travels from your recycling bin to a recycling facility, the process begins. First, a machine shreds the cardboard down to tiny pieces. During the second step, the pieces mix with water and chemicals to create a pulp which further helps break down the fibers. Then, the pulp blends with raw materials like wood chips to help it solidify. The pulp filters through a machine to remove contamination such as glue, tape, or dyes. Finally, the drying process is the last step before the production of new items. Cardboard is usually recycled to create new cardboard, paperboard, or paper bags.

Aluminum



Remember to recycle your aluminum cans; they are one of the most recyclable materials! Aluminum never loses its quality and only requires 5% of the energy used to make the original material. To begin the recycling process, machines clean, sort, and melt the cans. The melting process removes any traces of paint, coatings, and ink that is on the aluminum. After, the melted aluminum pours into massive molds called ingots. A machine rolls out the ingots to make sheets, which is the last step before the creation of new product. Recycled aluminum can become bicycles, airplane parts, new cans, and more. Aluminum soda cans can go through this whole process and be back on a store shelf in only 60 days!

Paper



From computer paper to newspapers, a variety of paper products are recyclable. The recycling process begins by sorting the paper by grade and type, such as: newspaper, computer paper, and magazines. Next, a machine shreds the paper into small pieces and washes it to remove adhesives and contaminates. No need to worry about the stray sticky note or staple! Next, the paper combines with water and chemicals to separate the fibers and create a pulp. The pulp passes through a machine to remove excess water and is then heated to create rolls of dry, thin paper. The rolls are now ready to create new products like telephone books, newspapers, toilet paper and napkins. Not only does this save trees, the process of recycling old paper into new paper saves energy too! The EPA estimates recycled paper products requires only 60% of the energy used to create products from raw materials.

Glass


The EPA states, “Producing glass from virgin materials requires 30 percent more energy than producing it from crushed, used glass.” Unlike some materials, glass never loses its quality throughout the recycling process. To begin, machines sort the glass by color so it helps the product retain its strength. Once sorted by color, the next step involves crushing the glass into small pieces referred to as cullet. The cullet moves through a screening process to remove any contamination and impurities. The last step merges the cullet with heated silica sand, limestone, and soda ash to form the finished product. Recycled glass can create new glass containers, or even counter tops, flooring, sewer pipes, and more! Glass recycling has a very quick turnaround – they can go from the recycling bin to a store shelf in as little as 30 days!

Plastic


If you have ever wondered what the number inside the recycling symbol on your plastic containers mean, it is to help identify the type of plastic. The recycling process begins by sorting the plastics by their recycling symbol (or resin number). Sorting is important because different plastics create different products. After sorting, a machine shreds and washes the plastic to remove impurities like labels or food residue. The next stop is the furnace, where the plastic melts down and is finally ready to create new plastic goods. Recycled plastics can create beverage containers, detergent bottles, playground equipment, and even clothing! This process only requires two-thirds of the energy needed to manufacture plastic from raw materials.


Understanding the recycling process helps clarify why it is important to recycle smarter. Recycling correctly will retain the quality of the materials, increase their life-cycles, and save a significant amount of energy. All of this starts by sorting your recyclables and taking the necessary steps to keeping them valuable. If you have any questions about the recycling process, contact us!


Sources: www.utahrecycles.orgThe EPA



This original blog can be viewed online.


Disclaimer: Guest blogs represent the opinion of the writers and may not reflect the policy or position of the Northeast Recycling Council, Inc.

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August 29, 2025
Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) Publishes 25 th Report Marking Six Years of Quarterly Data
By Recycled Materials Association July 29, 2025
The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) has opened the 2025 Emerging Professionals (EP) Program . Now, in its third year, the program provides professionals who are new to the field of recycling, sustainability, and environmental stewardship with discounted access to NERC’s Conference and Foundations Course, sponsored by their employer organization. EPs gain valuable connections with seasoned industry professionals and peers while engaging in discussions on current trends, challenges, and innovations shaping the industry. This program is designed for those with three or fewer years of experience. “This year, EPs also receive a discount to our Foundations of Sustainable Materials Management course (a live, instructor-led training) developed to provide the key building blocks for understanding the industry,” said Mariane Medeiros, Senior Project Manager at NERC. “It’s a great way to close the loop: gaining both a strong technical foundation and real-world connections in one experience.” Read and Learn More.
By Chaz Miller June 30, 2025
Recycling coordinators know that some people and locations are stubbornly indifferent to recycling. COVID has ruptured civic values and behavior. Creating a recycling culture is harder than ever. Producers know how to sell their products. Now they need to learn how to sell recycling. On July 1, Oregon’s packaging and paper extended producer responsibility (EPR) program begins operating. This will be a first in our country. “Producers”, instead of local governments or private citizens, will be paying to recycle packages and paper products. Colorado’s program begins operating early in 2026. For years we have heard the theory of how packaging EPR will work. At last, we will get results. Five other states also have laws. Their programs should all be operating by 2030. None of the state laws have identical requirements. The Circular Action Alliance, the “producer responsibility organization” responsible for managing the program in most of those states, knows it has a lot on its plate. EPR laws are not new to the U.S. Thirty-two states already have laws that cover a wide variety of products such as electronics, paint, mattresses, batteries, etc. Those laws are relatively simple. Most cover one product. The producer group is a small number of companies. Goals and programs are focused and narrow. They are a mixed bag of success and failure. Packaging EPR is far more complex. The number of covered products is way higher. Thousands of companies are paying for these programs. Goals are challenging. Some are impossible to meet. In addition, local governments treat recycling as a normal service. Their residents will still call them if their recyclables aren’t picked up. It probably hasn’t helped that advocates tout EPR as the solution for recycling’s problems. We are told we will have more collection and better processing with higher recycling rates. Markets will improve and even stabilize. Some of this will happen, but not all. Collection and processing should go smoothly in Oregon. The state has high expectations for recycling. I have no doubt recycling will increase. Collection programs will blanket the state, giving more households the opportunity to recycle. I’m not sure, though, how much of an increase we will see. Recycling coordinators know that some people and locations are stubbornly indifferent to recycling. COVID has ruptured civic values and behavior. Creating a recycling culture is harder than ever. Producers know how to sell their products. Now they need to learn how to sell recycling. Another challenge is the “responsible end market” requirements. You’ve probably seen pictures of overseas dumps created by unscrupulous or just naïve plastics “recyclers”. In response, Oregon and the other states are requiring sellers and end markets to prove they are “responsible”. They must provide information about who and where they are, how they operate, how much was actually recycled, and more. Recycling end markets pushed back. Paper and metals recyclers argue they shouldn’t be covered. They don’t cause those problems. As for plastics, the general manager of one of America’s largest plastics recycling companies said his company now spends time and money gathering data and filling out forms to prove they’re “responsible”. His virgin resin competitors don’t have to. Ironically, we now import more plastics for recycling than we export. Maybe those countries should impose similar requirements on their plastics recyclers. Colorado faces unique problems. The mountain state is large. Its population is concentrated on the I-25 corridor running north and south through Denver with low population density elsewhere. Recycling collection and processing is limited as are end markets. To make matters worse, slightly more than half of its households use “subscription” services for waste and recycling collection. Those services are funded by the households, not by taxpayers. EPR doesn’t have this experience in other countries. Colorado gets to blaze this trail. The second state to go live poses substantive challenges for producers. The good news for both states? Local governments that pay for recycling collection and processing will see most of those costs go away. Consumers are unlikely to see prices rise, for now. National companies will simply spread their costs among all 50 states. Local and regional producers, unfortunately, don’t have that advantage. As for improved markets, remember that recyclables are and always will be commodities subject to the ups and downs of the economy. I don’t see substantive changes in recycling markets unless the producer group’s members try to manipulate markets to their own advantage. 2025 saw new laws and changes to existing laws. Maryland and Washington became the sixth and seventh packaging EPR states. At the same time, California is rewriting its regulations and Maine significantly revised its law. Some of these changes narrowed EPR’s scope to the dismay of advocates. I’m a member of Maryland’s EPR Advisory Council. We’ve been meeting for a year, discussing the Needs Assessment and now our new law. We have our own unique set of challenges. We also have a big advantage. We can learn from Oregon’s and Colorado’s experiences. Tune in next year to learn how we are progressing. Read on Waste360.