Based on a Municipal Solid Waste Report in 2010, 54.2 percent of trash makes it to landfills while only 34.1 percent is recycled or composted, and merely 11.7 percent is combusted for energy. Today, more and more products are being manufactured with recycled products. This means that the more you recycle, the more sustainable our environment becomes.
Common household items that are manufactured from recycled materials are: newspapers, paper towels, aluminum, plastic, glass soft drink containers, steel cans, and plastic laundry detergent bottles. There are also new ways to use recycled materials such as using recovered glass in asphalt to pave our roads and recovered plastic in park benches and carpeting.
In addition to recycling more of your trash, you can contribute to environmental sustainability by purchasing products that are made from recycled materials. The next time you go shopping look for products that can be easily recycled and products that are made from recycled materials.
Following are some of the terms to look for in products when making your purchasing decisions:
- Recycled-content product – the product was made with recycled materials that are collected from a recycling program or from waste recovered during the normal manufacturing process.
- Postconsumer content – it’s similar to recycled content, except the material comes from items collected by consumers or businesses through a recycling program.
- Recyclable product – these items can be recycled and manufactured into new products after you’ve used them.
Check with the recycling program in your community to make sure products you purchase can easily be recycled. Other common products you’ll find that are made with recycled materials include:
- Aluminum cans
- Car bumpers
- Cereal boxes
- Comic books
- Egg cartons
- Glass containers
- Laundry detergent bottles
- Motor oil
- Trash bags
- Steel products
Express offers weekly trash services for your Teaneck home. All customers are serviced two times per week. Customers can keep their garbage cans in the back, side, or front of their home. Express will come and service your cans so you don’t have to drag them to the front of the street. Express makes trash service simple and easy!
For businesses that want to contribute to our environment, we provide recycling services for shredded paper, paper, aluminum cans, bottles, plastic bottles, and some e-waste. We also offer shredding services and dumpster rental for those large cleanup projects. Contact our office today to find out about the commercial services our company offers.
Remember with proper planning and organization, recycling is an easy way to help our planet. These are small things you can do to ensure sustainability for our environment.