What is Made From Recycled Materials?
Recycling is a process of converting waste or used materials into new products. Recycling reduces energy usage, wastage of potentially useful materials, water pollution (from landfilling), air pollution (from incineration), and emission of greenhouse gases. Recycling therefore helps to preserve the environment and increase the quality of life. Manufacturing companies can also reduce their costs when they use recycled stock. There are many products that can be made from recycled materials:
What is Made From It?
1. Paper – The first recycling process of paper involves collecting a large volume of dry, clean (uncontaminated), and well-sorted paper. Recycled paper can range from a 100% true recycled paper to those that contain only 1% re-manufactured paper. Different paper products can be recycled to different products:
- Newspapers can be reprocessed into telephone directories, egg cartons, berry boxes, construction papers, building insulation, new newspapers, and many more.
- Magazines can be recycled into telephone directories, newspapers, or paper boards.
- Paper board (e.g. shoe boxes) and unwanted mail can be reused to new paperboards, paper towel rolls, or paper backing on roofing shingles.
- Cardboards can be recycled into paper bags, new cardboard, paperboards, or cardboard mediums.
2. Metals – Metals are easy to recognize, which simplifies the sorting process. Apart from being easy to recognize, metals are also easy to recycle. During recycling, aluminum cans are cleaned with just enough water to remove odors. They are then melted down using high heat, which also takes care of contamination before being made into new products.
- Metals cans can be recycled into bicycle parts, car parts, appliances, steel beams and new cans.
- Aluminum cans are simply reprocessed to make new aluminum cans.
3. Glass – Clear glass is usually more valuable than colored glass for recycling purposes. Glass is passed through high heat to melt it down and eliminate germs.
- Glass bottles and jars can be recycled into new bottles, new jars, or fiberglass.
4. Plastics – There are different types of plastics in the market, which must not be mixed during the recycling process of making new products.
- Plastic milk and juice bottles can be recycled into new bottles, plastic lumbers, and play sets.
- Plastic detergent bottles can be re-processed into buckets, containers, stadium seats, and Frisbees.
Key Takeaways:
- Large volumes of dry, clean, and well-sorted paper can be recycled into various products such as paper directories.
- Metals are easy to sort and re-process into new metal products.
- Clear glass is more useful for recycling into new glass products than colored glass.
- There are different types of plastics, which must be sorted into their respective groups before recycling.
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