Sunday, January 26, 2014

Beyond Water Bottles: Items That Are Recyclable

By Lenna Stockwell


What most of us know is that soda cans and water bottles are recyclable but what most of us don't know is that many more items are potentially recyclable as well. This should serve as a warning to us to not instantly toss away items into our trash bins because these might be recyclable as well and so we help reduce the things cramming up our local landfill.

One of the things which most Americans perhaps simply toss away in trash bins without the thought of it being recyclable are batteries, which are in fact included in the list of "must recycle items" because of the mercury content present in these products. In fact those manufactured before 1997 absolutely should be recycled due to the very high mercury content compared to the newer manufactured ones. So if you find a really old battery, be sure not to just toss it into the trash. To help you with the task of recycling these items, battery stores - both brick-and-mortar and online-based would gladly accept these batteries being dropped off to them. Even the lithium batteries and the rechargeable ones have places which accept them for recycling.

If you are using printers then you are sure to have ink cartridges which are among the recyclable items around. Don't be surprised if stores offer discounts or upfront payment, even when it is but a small amount in exchange for these cartridges. You see, parts of these items are being used for making other products because of its highly recyclable materials like aluminum and thermoplastic.

Another highly recyclable item that everyone has is "clothing." Of course we all know that gently used clothing can be recycled by means of donating them to charity stores but do you know that clothes which are torn or stained can be recycled as well? They can actually be converted to almost everything - from your cleaning rags up to useful items used for insulation. Some cotton items can be broken down into fibers and reused.

Are you aware of the more common type of light bulb - the compact fluorescent light bulb can be recycled? Be aware that these are items that should be on your watch list for "unfriendly to the environment" due to its high amount of mercury thus not advisable to be thrown into landfills. Actually, these items can be easily recycled and several large stores like IKEA and Home Depot have come up with recycling programs to accommodate them.

Thermoplastic, in general, can be recycled. This includes products made from nylon, acrylic and PVC as well as many other types of plastic. Thermoforming companies use this type of plastic to make many types of products and custom thermoformed packaging and many large metropolitan areas will accept any type of thermoplastic in your recycling bin, which makes the recycling process very easy.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment