Jump to main content.
Bimetal - Typically refers to beverage containers with steel
bodies and aluminum tops. Steel companies do recycle bimetal cans, but
they are handled differently in the recycling stream from aluminum cans.
- Combustion - The controlled burning of
municipal solid waste to reduce volume, and, commonly, to recover energy.
- Composting - The controlled microbial
decomposition of organic matter (such as food scraps and yard trimmings)
in the presence of oxygen into a humus- or soil-like material.
- Curbside collection - A method of collecting
recyclable materials at individual homes or places of business by municipal
or private parties for transfer to a designated collection site or recycling
- Drop-off - A method of collecting recyclable
materials where individuals transport the materials to a designated
- Household hazardous waste - Products
containing hazardous substances that are used and disposed of by individual
rather than industrial consumers. These products include some paints,
solvents and pesticides.
- Integrated waste management - The complementary
use of a variety of practices to handle municipal solid waste safely
and effectively. Integrated waste management techniques include source
reduction, recycling, composting, combustion, and landfilling.
- Landfilling - The disposal of solid waste
at engineered facilities in a series of compacted layers on land and
the frequent daily covering of the waste with soil. Fill areas are carefully
prepared to prevent nuisances or public health hazards, and clay and/or
synthetic liners are used to prevent releases to ground water.
- Municipal solid waste (MSW) - Waste generated
in households, commercial establishments, institutions, and businesses.
MSW includes used paper, discarded cans and bottles, food scraps, yard
trimmings, and other items. Insutrail process wastes, agricultural wastes,
mining waste, and sewage sludges are NOT MSW.
- Pre-consumer materials - Recovered materials
obtained from manufacturers.
- Post-consumer materials - Recovered materials
from a consumer-oriented recycling collection system or drop-off center.
- Recyclable - Products or materials that
can be collected, separated, and processed to be used as raw materials
in the manufacture of new products.
- Recycled content - The portion of a product's
or package's weight that is composed of materials that have been recovered
from waste; this may include pre-consumer or post-consumer materials.
- Recycling - Separating, collecting, processing,
marketing, and ultimately using a material that would have been thrown
- Reuse - The use of a product more than
once in its same form for the same purpose or for different purposes,
such as reusing a soft-drink bottle when it is returned to the bottling
company for refilling, or reusing a coffee can as a container for nuts
- Source reduction - The design, manufacture,
purchase, or use of materials to reduce the amount or toxicity of waste.
Because it is intended to reduce pollution and conserve resources, source
reduction should not increase the net amount of toxicity of wastes generated
throughout the life of the product. Source reduction techniques include
reusing items, minimizing the use of products that contain hazardous
compounds, using only what is needed, extending the useful life of a
product, and reducing unneeded packaging.
- Source separation - Separating materials
(such as paper, metal, and glass) by type at the point of discard so
that they can be recycled.
- Toxic - Ability (or property) of a substance
to produce harmful or lethal effects on humans and/or the environment.
- Virgin materials - Resources extracted
from nature in their raw form, such as timber or metal ore.
- Yard trimmings - The component of solid
waste composed of grass clippings, leaves, twigs, branches, and garden
Top of Page
Jump to main content.