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Recycle
Sleuth
This is the
place to come to for inquiries about all those recycling questions that
require some detective work.
Please note that you can visit our FAQ page to
see more recycling questions and answers.
The Recycle Sleuth
is back! Got recycling questions? Email me.
Email questions and comments
to katiekrc@comcast.net.
October 2007- What is Styrofoam and why can’t we
recycle it?
October 2006- Impact of the Paper Industry on Us Southerners
September 2006- Mother Earth Smiles on Remanufactured
Printer Cartridges
August 2006- How Does Recycling Help Resolve
Global Warming?
July 2006- Does Recycling Paper Really Save Energy,
Trees, and Pollution?
June 2006- Why Isn’t Recycling Free?
May 2006- Why Can’t You Recycle All Types of Plastic?
April 2006- Curbside Recycling: Fake or Legitimate?
March 2006- Does Kroger Really Recycle Those Plastic
Bags?
October 2007- What is
Styrofoam and why can’t we recycle it?
Stryofoam
Styrofoam, the name Dow
Chemical Company has branded blown polystyrene, has been a popular
invention for many years now. It has had it’s fair share of criticism,
but it still pays a role in many of our lives. It is hard to buy a
“fragile” product without Styrofoam packaging. Our houses often have a
few different forms of Styrofoam insulation. And it takes a conscious
effort not to buy polystyrene cups, plates, take-home containers, egg
cartons, and meat or veggie trays.
Why should we avoid these products?
According to the American Chemistry Council, Styrofoam is efficient (in
production and thermally), economic, sturdy, sanitary, and convenient. These are true statements,
which is why it is a popular material, but you have to examine the other
side also, the waste. It is not economical to recycle, reuse is minimal,
burning is potentially hazardous, and even though it’s weight is less
than one percent of landfills, its volume is much more, up to 30%
according to one source.
There are two types of polystyrene
or #6 plastic. There is Styrofoam which is polystyrene that has been
blown with gas and air to give it its light weight and protective
qualities. When discussing recycling Styrofoam it is broken into two
categories, food service packaging and transport/protective packaging.
Polystyrene also comes in the form of non-packaging, non-durable
polystyrene materials, such as audio/video cassettes, CD jewel cases,
insulation board, and more. The latter is recycled more.
Like all other plastics,
polystyrene is made from non-renewable resources (unless there are
recycled contents). One of
the components used in polystyrene production is benzene which is
extracted from coal and oil. It is a sweet smelling liquid. Exposure to
benzene can be in the form of cigarette smoke and car exhaust. It is a
carcinogen. 75% of the benzene extraction goes to polystyrene- it is
added to styrene to make it non-brittle. Styrene, another component, is
extracted from petroleum, which creates a $20 million dollar industry. It
too is a sweet smelling liquid. Low levels of styrene have been found in
many foods. There is controversy over whether or not it is natural or has
been absorbed into the environment from petroleum products, such as from
fertilizers. Styrene is a mutagen, carcinogen, and considered a
neurotoxin. In 12 studies, 75% discovered styrene in breast milk. Both
are toxic chemicals, potentially dangerous to humans at the extracting
and manufacturing levels, and possibly any exposure to benzene can be
harmful according to some scientists.
CFC are no longer used as
the blowing agent to make Styrofoam, now HCFCs and ethylene are combined
as the replacement. CFC or chlorofluorocarbons were found to be depleting
the ozone, in turn, contributing to global warming. Ethylene is a gas
that becomes a liquid at low temperatures. It is found naturally in
plants as a hormone; it helps with plant growth. It is safe at low
concentrations, but high levels can have health effects. Here are some
other facts:
· There are few Styrofoam manufacturing plants
in the US, so products travel far to get to us.
· Styrofoam takes 500+ years to break down (in
the landfill, most items can take this long, too)
· By volume it fills 25-30% of land fill
· The US throws away 25 million Styrofoam cups
a year.
· Burning Styrofoam releases over 90 different
hazardous chemicals.
Others say that there are
not hazardous chemicals released when burning, and there is a significant
amount of energy gained in the form of heat.
Recycling and Alternatives
There has been an increase in
solid waste reduction with polystyrene, but the majority is due to the
efficiency of manufacturing. More polystyrene can be made now with the
amount of energy it took 20 years ago. Also, there’s been an increase in
recycling of non-packaging non-durable polystyrene materials in the past
20 years. A sustainable market for the material was created. Plus, with
no food contamination, no cleaning is required. Products that have
incorporated recycled-content polystyrene include: foam egg cartons,
lunch trays, transport packaging, audio and videocassette cases, office
supplies, and building materials. Loose fill Styrofoam packaging peanuts
are being reused at a rate of up to 50% according to the “Peanut
Hotline”, which is a number to call to find out where to take your
peanuts nationwide (none are listed in our area). Additionally, some
molded Styrofoam packaging is shredded up for use as fill or loose
packaging.
Basically recycling
Styrofoam is about the economics. There is not a sustainable market for
the material. Food packaging containers are easily contaminated, the
volume is much greater than the weight, and the recover process is not
cost effective, so it is more economic to use raw materials. The industry
tried to increase recycling of this material 20 years ago, but still
there is not a demand for Styrofoam for recycling. But also note that
disposable paper packaging products for food service is not recycled at a
high rate.
There are alternatives to
Styrofoam. For food use products there are corn-based products, that are
100% biodegradable. They can replace almost all Styrofoam products and
work just as well, but they need to be composted to reduce waste from
landfills. MIT has created a straw insulation product that is much safer
and renewable. Some
Styrofoam products such as packaging molded polystyrene can be broken up
to be used as stuffing.
The best plan is to try
and avoid Styrofoam to begin with, but it can be complicated. If you use
biodegradable products, like just mentioned, they need to be composted.
Other plastics need to be recycled if used, such as #6 plates and cups.
Currently in Knox County and soon to be the city of Knoxville, all
plastics (except Styrofoam) are being accepted for recycling. Using
strong, sturdy, reusable/washable containers for drinking or leftovers is
great, but you have to remember to bring them with you to restaurants,
sit down only, avoid fast food. Buy meat, eggs, and veggies with
packaging that is recyclable or buy local. And try asking when you
purchase a product that comes in a box if it has Styrofoam in it. If buy
it or not make sure to call the company and complain- tell them you want
an alternative that is recyclable (luckily air blown bags are being used
more.) Finally, being creative never hurts- try building something with
your Styrofoam- see what you can create!
Sources:
1.http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_plastics/sec_pfpg.asp?CID=1422&DID=5214
2. Cradle to Grave:
The Life Cycle of StyrofoamŪ
By Andrea Kremer
Race, Poverty
and the Urban Environment
Professor Raquel Pinderhughes
Urban Studies Program
San Francisco State University
Spring 2003
October 2006-
Impact of the Paper Industry on Us Southerners
Did you know that the Southern
U.S. produces the most paper in the world! Here in the South we supply more than 15% of the
world’s paper. The U.S.
Forest Service estimates that about 6 million acres of southern forests
are chopped down for paper production annually. Many paper companies clear cut forests and later
convert these once natural areas of diversity into tree plantations,
which involves the planting of trees in uniform rows. This configuration does not aid
in recreating diversity, and in fact, according to the Green Press
Initiative’s report on this topic, tree plantations result in 90% fewer
species. Also, many
companies utilize chemicals to maintain these tree plantations, but the
use of chemicals disturbs plants, animals, and people in a negative
way. Furthermore, most
Tennesseans should pay attention here because our state has no laws to
create buffer zones to protect our communities from the paper companies
that spray their growing forests aerially with chemicals, which have been
know to drift to unintended targets such as you and me.
Luckily, there are some paper companies that are committing to more
environmentally sound practices.
One of these companies is Bowater, one of our region’s largest
paper producers. This
company has decided to stop turning natural forests into tree plantations
over the next few years.
And, they vow to not buy fiber from places that have been
converted from natural forests to tree plantations starting in 2007.
Consider choosing paper products made with a high-recycled content
value. Encourage paper
companies to support more environmentally friendly practices that will
aid the environment, wildlife, plants, and people.
The information for this story came from the Green Press Initiative’s
report entitled, ‘Can’t See the Forest for the Tree Farms.’ Go to their website and click on
‘Books & Forests’ to view this report.
September 2006- Mother Earth Smiles on Remanufactured Printer
Cartridges
Think about taking or sending your printer cartridge to a store that
remanufactures cartridges the next time you run of ink. Once a cartridge is used and
taken to one of these stores, it undergoes disassembly, replacement of
worn out parts, and proper cleaning, refilling, and reassembly. This process of remanufacturing
cartridges utilizes parts from a used cartridge instead of making a new
cartridge from virgin materials.
In addition, remanufactured cartridges tend to contain more ink
and cost 30%-50% less than new cartridges. You shouldn’t be worried about the quality of these
cartridges given that most reputable companies will refund your money or
provide free repair if your cartridge malfunctions in some way. Furthermore, printer cartridges
can be remanufactured multiple times and some stores will pay you for
bringing in your used printer cartridge. Thinking about smart choices when we purchase products
is part of being an environmentally conscious citizen. Visit the Environmentally
Preferable Purchasing Guide for more info and visit our Cartridges link on our website to see
where you can take your cartridges in our area.
August
2006- How Does Recycling Help Resolve Global Warming?
Recycling is just part of the multi-pronged response to the global
warming issue. In basic terms,
global warming refers to the trend of increased global temperatures,
which is causing the Earth to warm up. The majority of climate scientists believe that the
cause of this trend is due to increased greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases trap heat, which
allows life to prosper on Earth.
However, since there has been a steady increase in greenhouse gas
emissions more and more heat is trapped on Earth, causing a warming
trend. One of the main
greenhouse gases is carbon dioxide, which is emitted into the air through
the burning of fossil fuels.
Over the past 100 years, humans have been emitting more and more
carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the air at an alarming
rate. Many scientists
believe that with these increased levels of greenhouse gas emissions will
result in significant consequences such as shifts in climatic patterns,
violent weather conditions, rising of the sea level, and more. These consequences will have
major affects on humans and animals alike.
One way to combat the problem of increased levels of greenhouse gases is
to recycle. The
process of recycling places less of a demand on the burning of fossil
fuels, which, in turn, reduces pollutants and greenhouse gases from
entering the air.
Also, if we can recycle more then that means there is less
material going to the landfill where garbage decomposes and emits
methane, another harmful greenhouse house. Recycling also aids in curbing global warming since
recycling aims at reducing the number of trees cut down for our various
paper needs. A forest that
remains intact will be able to continue functioning as a storage system
for carbon dioxide. When
trees are cut down, the carbon dioxide that they once stored is released
into the air, adding to our global warming woes. For more information about the
link between recycling and global warming visit the
EPA’s website on this topic.
July 2006- Does Recycling Paper Really Save Energy, Trees, and
Pollution?
Many people wonder if recycling paper is
worth their time and efforts.
Will it really help the environment, or are we just fooling
ourselves in this endeavor?
According to a three-year analysis conducted by the Environmental
Defense, recycling undeniably helps the environment by saving trees,
energy, pollution, and more.
This study involved representatives from Duke University, Johnson
& Johnson, McDonald’s, Prudential Insurance, and Time Inc. looking at
environmental and economical impacts of the complete lifecycle of
paper.
Recycling paper
reduces the amount of trees that have to be cut down, allowing more
forests to remain intact.
Choosing to recycle reduces the demand to go into a forest to cut
down more trees. A forest
left untouched will allow wildlife habitats and ecologically sensitive
areas to prosper. Also, if
left intact, a forest can continue storing carbon, which is an important
greenhouse gas that is better left in the forest than in the atmosphere. A forest can store large amounts
of carbon, and if a forest is cut down, then the carbon is released into
the atmosphere.
Producing recycled
paper takes less energy than making paper using virgin sources. Think about it: to create paper
from virgin sources vehicles go out into a forest to cut down live trees,
load them, and haul them back to a paper plant to be processed. This entire process places more
of a need on fossil fuels and emits more pollutants into the air and
water than the process of producing recycled paper. Going out into the forest to cut
down more trees will affect numerous wildlife habitats and the general
integrity of the forest ecosystem.
If you send your paper to the landfill instead of recycling it, your
paper decomposes and emits methane, a very harmful greenhouse gas. This gas is substantially better
at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. Both methane and carbon dioxide are known for contributing
to global climate change.
Therefore, if you choose to recycle your paper, you are reducing
the amount of greenhouse gases entering into our air. Finally, producing paper from
virgin sources requires more water and this water contains more major
water pollutants than the water used in recycled paper production.
From the closing lines
of this study, “recycled paper is better for the environment than
virgin paper.”
Visit the full
analysis for more detailed information on this study.
June 2006- Why Isn’t Recycling Free?
The operation of picking up recyclables from either your curb or a
recycling center requires manual labor, transportation, collection, and
processing of the recyclable items.
All of these components require some financial backing to allow
them to function. For
example, the truck that comes to pick up recyclables from your curb or at
the recycling center runs on gasoline or diesel. As we all know, gasoline
and diesel aren’t free.
Also, there are drivers of these trucks that are paid to pick up
these recyclables. This is
just one facet of recycling, but it gives you an idea of how many
components are involved in the recycling process. Recycling at your city or county
recycling centers is covered through your city or county taxes. This service is not free, just as
trash service isn’t free.
People do not realize that there is a cost associated with garbage
as well as with recycling.
It is true that money is given in exchange for many of the recyclables
that you take to the recycling center or leave at your curb. You may wonder why you have to
pay for recycling if your local government is getting paid for your
recyclables. The money
received from your recyclables is most often used to supplement the
operating costs of the recycling program. In addition, there is extra work involved in finding
appropriate markets for all of the recyclables. Markets for recyclables can fluctuate, making it
difficult to find a home for a mass quantity of recyclable items. Just because an item can be recycled
doesn’t mean the market is available for that particular item. This is where you and I step in
with our help. Markets for
recyclable items will stabilize if we buy and encourage the use of
recycled products. Recycling
doesn’t stop when you drop off your recyclables. We must be aware of what kind of
products we are buying for the office and the home.
May 2006- Why Can’t You Recycle All Types of
Plastic?
First of all, there is a coding system for plastics that companies
use to differentiate between the various types of plastic. With this coding system, plastic
products are stamped with a number ranging from 1 through 7. These numbers show the consumer
that a product with a 3 on the bottom is composed of different plastic
resins than a product with a 6 on the bottom of it. The most commonly recycled
products from this coding system are products with 1 or 2 on the
bottom. It is easier to
recycle these plastics as opposed to some of the other types of
plastics. These 1 and 2
plastics are comprised of things you commonly see such as two-liter
bottles, beverage containers, milk jugs, and bleach and detergent
bottles.
So, why can’t they recycle all these types of plastics? It would be very difficult to
make sure all the different kinds of plastics were neatly separated at
area recycling centers.
There is enough difficulty now for area recycling centers just
collecting 1 and 2 plastics without contamination of other types of
plastics into the containers.
Also, the markets tend to fluctuate for the various types of
plastics. Consider this
scenario: If for a few months there was a good market for all 7 plastics,
which would result in a thorough campaign to educate people at the
recycling centers that all the plastics ranging from 1 through 7 could
now be accepted. What if
after a few months the market fluctuated to the point where it would not
be feasible to accept 3-7 plastics.
A counter-educational initiative would have to be organized to
limit the plastic recycling back to 1 and 2 plastics. You get the idea of how tricky
this situation could be.
Another reason that plastics are tricky to recycle is that the quality of
plastic is diminished when it is recycled. Also, the temperatures at which the plastics melt are
often not hot enough to sanitize the plastics for use as a food or
beverage container. A
secondary use must be found for most plastics. For example, plastic soda bottles can be recycled into
carpeting. However, once
this carpeting is used long enough, it will have to be disposed of. Plastic recycling definitely
creates some challenging hurdles.
One possibility for the future is encouraging the
use of plastics made from alternative components such as corn, which can
be biodegradable and better for the environment.
April 2006- Curbside Recycling: Fake or Legitimate?
Does the curbside recycling service in Knoxville and Knox County actually
recycle the items you put into your bin every other week? Or, do they really just pick the
recyclables up from the curb and trash them in a ploy to appear
environmentally motivated?
The Recycle Sleuth tackled this urban myth head on by contacting Waste
Connections, the company that provides the curbside service to city and
county residents. When faced
with the question of the legitimacy of their program, the manager of the
curbside service calmly responded by pointing out that their company gets
paid for recyclables whereas with trash they have to pay a disposal fee
every time one of their trucks dumps a load at the local landfill. Waste Connections picks up the
recyclables and takes them to SP Recycling Corporation’s Knoxville
facility, where they are processed and sent to manufacturers who utilize
these items in making their various products. It makes little sense that Waste Connections would
throw out these recyclables since SP pays them for these items and that
more items in the trash would require more trips to the landfills and
consequently more disposal fees.
The Recycle Sleuth went a step further and investigated what SP does with
the recyclables from the curbside program. Newspapers are taken to a paper mill in Dublin,
Georgia, where they are turned into more newspapers. Glass is sent to a
facility in Georgia where it is made into several different kinds of
products such as more glass containers, sand, painting strips used on
highways, abrasives used in matchsticks, and fiberglass used in
insulation. Plastics
are sent locally and to a facility in Georgia where they are made back
into beverage containers. Aluminum
cans are shipped locally and are made back into aluminum beverage
cans. Steel cans are
taken to area metal businesses for various uses.
March 2006- Does Kroger Really Recycle Those Plastic
Bags?
Kroger shoppers have seen the bins inside the stores that accept
used plastic bags. The urban
myth is that Kroger doesn’t do anything with these bags other than throw
them in the trash. The
Recycle Sleuth contacted Kroger to discover that the bags are collected
from area Kroger stores and sent to a reclaim center in East Point,
Georgia. According to a representative from this reclaim center in
Georgia, the bags are tightly compacted into bales and sent to a company
in Delray Beach, Florida that recycles the plastic bags to make pallets
and resins.
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