Recycling 101

Luke Charbonneau
 Recycling
!  The process of collecting & processin
materials which would normally be
thrown away & repurposing them into
new products
!  Recycling Steps:
!  Collecting & Processing
!  Manufacturing
!  Purchasing Products Made from Recyc
Materials
 Reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills & incinerators

Recycling Conserves natural resources

enefits Your Increases economic security

Community Prevents pollution

& the Saves energy

nvironment Fights global warming

Creates jobs
So What’s the
Hold Up?
 Too expensive Inadequate
Lack of Lack of services
for some
knowledge education
communities •  Inconvenience

Lack of Loss of Minimal

Startup costs
support quality incentives

Downsides & Challenges Facing

Recycling
 The Numbers
Percent of World’s Population in U.S.

•  Actual: 4.4%

Percent of Global Waste from U.S.

•  Actual: 30%
Pounds of Waste Thrown Out Per Person Per Day

•  Actual: ~6 lbs per day

 Francisco diverts Vermont banned Germany diverts 87% Many more stories
% of waste from recyclables & organics of waste & has no recycling/composti
dfills & from landfills by 2020 active landfills success in business
nerators
nks to their “Zero On track!
te by 2020” program

But Wait, There’s Hope! (kind of)

0%+ is Doable Nationwide!

!  Food Waste & Yard Trimmings (28.4%)

!  Compostable!
!  Paper & Cardboard (25.9%)
!  Some compostable, the rest recyclable!
!  Plastics, Metals, & Glass (26.6%)
!  Recyclable!
!  Rubber, wood, leather, & textiles (15.5%)
!  Also can be repurposed!
!  Other (3.6%)
!  ???
tal Waste Generation by
aterial, 2015
Local Challenges !  Boulder’s recycling rate: 52%
!  CU’s rate: 51%

!  Recycling Operations Center

!  Failure to properly recycle:
!  Inaccessible, time, forgetful, ambiguous
How Can We Improve & How Do You Contribute?

How can we reduce landfill waste?

Require completion of an
•  At CU?
Your ideas!
•  In our home / hometowns?
•  At the national level?
online recycling module for all
incoming CU students, faculty,
and staff
 Recycling by the Numbers
544,000: Trees saved if every U.S. household replaced one roll (70 sheets) of new paper towe
with a recycled ones.
20 million: Tons of electronic waste thrown away each year. One ton of scrap contains more
gold than can be produced from 17 tons of gold ore.
$160 billion: Value of the global recycling industry that employs over 1.5 million people

5%: Fraction of the energy it takes to recycle aluminum verses mining & refining new aluminu

3 hours: Time a TV can run for given the energy saved by recycling of one can

300,000: Tons of landfill waste created by annually from 1 billion plastic bags

One third: Amount of average dump comprised of packaging material

Quick Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle Tips:
Home:
Ask to be removed from paper
mailing lists
Don’t throw away anything that
can be reused or repaired
Print on both sides of paper
Compost your food scraps
Recycle your electronics
!  Rechargeable batteries
In Stores:
!  Shop for products made with
recycled materials
!  Buy items with less packaging
!  Buy refillable, reusable containers
!  Buy only what you need or what
you know you will use (food &
otherwise)
eferences
https://uspirgedfund.org/reports/usf/trash-america
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-07/documents/
2015_smm_msw_factsheet_07242018_fnl_508_002.pdf
https://www.colorado.edu/ecenter/zero-waste/recycling/recycling-center
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2019-03/documents/
infographic_full-060513_v4.pdf
https://www.treehugger.com/htgg/how-to-go-green-recycling.html
https://www.byui.edu/university-operations/facilities-management/recycling-
and-sustainability/recycling-statistics
https://www.epa.gov/recycle/recycling-basics
https://www.renewableresourcescoalition.org/recycling-advantages-
disadvantages/
https://nems.nih.gov/environmental-programs/Pages/Benefits-of-Recycling.aspx
https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/
advancing-sustainable-materials-management
https://copirg.org/reports/cop/state-recycling-colorado-2018
https://recyclenation.com/2015/04/8-of-biggest-recycling-challenges-facing-
american-communities/