Recycling
[Also: Recycle, Recycled]
The reprocessing of old materials into new products. There are three steps to the process: (1) Collecting and Processing old and used products, (2) Manufacturing the recyclables into something new and (3) Purchasing the new recycled products.
Common recycled products include newspapers and paper towels; aluminum, plastic, and glass soft drink containers; steel cans; and plastic laundry detergent bottles. Recycled materials also are used in innovative applications such as recovered glass in roadway asphalt (glassphalt) or recovered plastic in carpeting, park benches, and pedestrian bridges.
More Americans recycle today than ever before (preventing more than 64 million tons of material from going into landfills). The United States recycles 32 percent of its waste.
Find a recycling center near you by using http://earth911.org/.
Sources:
-- “Municipal Solid Waste – Recycling,” EPA Web site. Accessed Sept. 5, 2007.
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/recycle.htm
-- “Recycling,” Earth911 Web site. Accessed Sept. 5, 2007.
http://earth911.org/recycling/
