facts and figures Do you have 2 minutes today? According to a recent study by the Environmental Protection Agency two Recycling minutes daily is the average time each household spends recycling. Your effort reduces consumer costs provides environmental benefits that reduces air and water pollution can’t be ignored. diverts from the reduces litter and illegal dumping Be part of converts waste into new, useful products reduces industry’s impact on the environment the conserves valuable energy and natural resources solution Like all businesses, Remember: No markets means no demand is the key recycling. Close the recycling loop. factor to the success of recycling. Because BUY RECYCLED. recycling occurs only when a need for specific recyclable 80% of our trash has the potential to products exists, a be recycled. Adds up to 67 trash cans market is critical. Until recyclables are returned to the marketplace and per person every year. See the back purchased in the form of new products, to learn more about the difference you they haven’t been recycled. To recycle responsibly, buy products can make for Oklahoma. with a high percentage of post-consumer recycled content whenever possible. Contamination Pre-think your purchases nIGHTMARES with PRECYCLING The biggest headache in collecting Precycling is what you do by choosing products carefully before you purchase recyclables is contamination. When it happens to our recycling collection the Select products with minimal wrapping packaged in recycled material. entire load often has to be landfilled, Avoid packages made from several layers of different materials which can’t be because the material has lost its value. separated, like juice boxes. Avoid individually packaged products What is paper or plastic bags. Better yet, carry your own reusable canvas or string contamination? shopping bag. Contamination occurs when recyclables Buy durable products rather than disposable items. are not prepared or disposed of prop- Ask yourself: What will happen to a wrapping or container when I finish? Will erly. Please help control this serious problem by checking proper preparation this add to the problem? How long will this product last? procedures. Buy products that can be recharged or refilled. Information provided by the Canadian County Solid

This publication is issued by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, as authorized by Steven A. Thompson, Executive Director. Copies have been produced at a Waste Disposal Authority cost of $00.2835 each. Copies have been deposited with the Publications Clearinghouse of the Oklahoma Department of Libraries. (recfact.pmd) 11/02 printed on recycled paper Visit our website at: www.deq.state.ok.us Recyclables and One person in The fact is... To prepare for To recycle this Recycled the resources one year throws recycling... material... materials are needed out... used for...

Glass jars and bottles 5 trash cans full of glass If your make a bottle Rinse clean. Sort by The glass is crushed to New containers, Materials needed to jars and bottles. from recycled glass color. Remove lids, make “cullet.” It is run fiberglass, tile, produce one ton: 1330 Americans throw away instead of from scratch, caps, and metal rings. through a device that pavement, reflective lb. sand, 433 lb. soda enough glass bottles you will save enough (No plate glass, mirrors, removes metal rings. A paint for road signs. ash, 151lb. feldspar, and jars every two energy to light a lamp light bulbs, dishes, etc.) vacuum process Glass never wears out-it 15.2 million BTU’s of weeks to fill the 1350 for 4 hours. The removes plastic can be recycled forever! energy. foot tower of the World manufacturer of coatings and labels. Trade Center. recycled glass versus The cullet is mixed with raw materials reduces sand, limestone and related air pollution by soda ash and melted in 20% and water pollution a hot furnace to make by 50%. new glass.

Aluminum beverage 1 trash can full of Recycling one can Should be relatively free Cans are shredded and New aluminum cans. cans aluminum. Approxi- saves the energy of dirt and other decorations are Over half of aluminum Materials needed to mately 25 empty cans equivalent to half a can contaminants. Smash removed. The cans are cans are manufactured produce one ton: 8766 equals one pound of of gas. Energy saved to conserve space. then melted to make a from recycled lb. bauxite ore, 1020 lb. aluminum. We throw from each recycled can sheet of pure aluminum. aluminum. petroleum coke, 966 lb. away enough aluminum will light a 100 watt bulb soda ash, 327 lb. pitch, every three months to for 3.5 hours. Making 238 lb. lime, 197 million rebuild our entire cans from recycled BTU’s of energy. commercial air fleet. aluminum cuts related NOTE: Aluminum foil, pie plates, TV dinner trays, etc. are all air pollution by 95%. reusable and recyclable. Be sure to rinse.

Steel “tin” food cans 5 trash cans full of food Recycling one ton of Rinse, remove both Cans are melted with New cans, cars, Materials needed to cans. Americans use saves one and ends and flatten with iron ore in a blast refrigerators, siding, produce one ton: 1.5 approximately 100 one-half tons of iron ore ends inside can. Labels furnace when new steel tools, stainless steel, tons virgin iron ore, 700 million cans per day. and 3 to 4 barrels of oil. okay. Most Oklahoma is being make. The tin and many other things. lb. coal, 40 lb. We discard enough iron Increasing steel vendors do not accept coating is saved and limestone, 3-4 barrels and steel to continu- recycling 50% would aerosol cans. They used in making car oil. Tin cans are ously supply all the save the energy have been known to parts. At least 70-80% actually 99% steel, with nation’s automakers. equivalent of 7 nuclear explode and injure of the can is saved a thin layer of tin added power plants. Recycling workers. when you recycle it. to prevent rusting. metal consumes This cuts down mining 75% less energy than waste and preserves a virgin ore. valuable resource.

Plastic drink 1 trash can full of one ton saves Important to remove the The bottles are Stuffing material, filters, containers bottles and jugs. the equivalent of over lids and rings. These shredded into flakes. handles, paint brush (#1 and #2) Americans use 2.5 1000 gallons of can contaminate an The flakes are cleaned, bristles, plastic lumber, A basic “batter” called million plastic bottles gasoline. The plastics entire load of plastic. dried, remelted and insulation, carpet, more resin is derived from oil per hour. Each person industry uses 5 of the 6 Rinse, clean, and stomp formed into tiny pellets. drinking bottles, or natural gas. Plastic uses 2.5 per most hazardous bottles. It’s especially The pellets are recycling bins, trash makers buy resin from day. chemicals on EPA’s list. important for milk jugs remanufactured into cans, clothing, etc. chemical companies to to be clean. new plastic products. make plastic products. NOTES: Plastic bags are among the few plastic products that can be recycled in a closed loop - i.e. recycled plastic bags are made into more plastic bags. Check with retail markets and dry cleaners for collection. Polystyrene aka “Styrofoam” is not currently recyclable in Oklahoma.

All paper 25 trash cans full of Printing the Sunday All paper must be clean The ink is removed Newsprint, boxes, Materials needed to paper (35.6% of all solid edition of a large city and dry. Contaminants through a special insulation, wall board, produce one ton of waste. Most can be newspaper on recycled include food, food washing process. The cat litter, egg cartons, paper packaging: 3688 recycled.) Americans paper saves more than residue, plastic, paper is mashed into cardboard trays, tissue, lb. wood, 260 lb. salt use over 60 million tons 10,000 trees every Styrofoam, tissue, paper pulp, mixed with new writing paper, game cake, 24,000 gal. water, per year or 960 million Sunday. One Sunday cups, napkins, and pulp made from logs, boards, puzzles, 216 lb. lime, 76 lb. soda trees. We only recycle edition of the New York paper plates. and used to make cellulose, office ash, 28 million BTU’s of around 30% of it. Times on recycled paper. Paper can be supplies, gift bags. energy. paper saves 75,000 recycled up to 7 times High grade paper is trees. depending on fiber remanufactured into length. high grade paper.

Used motor oil Americans throw away Used motor oil is a Pour into clean, leak- The oil is taken to an oil New motor oil can be It takes 42 gal. of high enough used motor oil hazardous waste. proof container. Do not refinery and refined burned for fuel in quality crude oil to every year to fill 120 Recycling saves the mix with other again. It never wears heaters without the produce 2.5 qts. of supertankers. Do-it- leftover oil and keeps it substances. There are out, but picks up heavy refinement process. motor oil. It takes only yourselfers release out of incinerators and several oil recycling kits metals that have to be Refined motor oil is as one gallon of waste oil more used motor oil landfills. A gallon of on the market. removed. good as new. to produce the same every 2.5 weeks than motor oil can pollute amount. the total amount of the 1,000,000 gallons of Exxon Valdez oil spill. water. Avoid getting it 80% plus of DIY on the ground. It will improperly handle & leak into the groundwa- dispose used oil, ter or wash into rivers pesticides and and streams via storm insecticides. drains.