Recycled Products

RECYCLED PRODUCTS

KIT

Y s! o e ur ti g vi u ti id ac e t d o an rec on ycl ati ing t educ hrough experiential

Washington County Department of Public Health & Environment 14949 62nd Street North P.O. Box 6 Stillwater, MN 55082-0006 [email protected] 651-430-6655

Contact: Dan Schoepke RECYCLED PRODUCTS KIT Washington County’s Recycled Products Kit serves as a hands-on, experiential learning tool that brings the recycling process to life.

Designed to help others teach about what becomes of the materials we set out for recycling, the kit also helps fulfill requirements for scout badges, classroom instruction, and other educational needs. The kits are available for you to borrow for up to two weeks and arrangements can be made if you need to use one longer. Please take a moment to fill out an evaluation sheet and return it with the kit so we can find out how you used the kit and what would make it more useful in the future.

You will find the following in the kit:

CEREAL BOX DOOR MAT NOTEBOOK PLAYGROUND SAFETY SURFACE DENIM BLUES PAPER RUG T-SHIRT CARPET RULER TILE PLASTIC LUMBER DENIM INSULATION GLASS BOTTLE COUNTERTOP MATERIAL MADE FROM PAPER STEEL CAN SOME KITS MAY CONTAIN ADDITIONAL ITEMS

PREFORMS These are actual plastic soft drink bottles before they have been expanded to their finished size. The preforms illustrate the plastic soft drink bottle recycling process: from flakes to clothing. Within the preforms are ground up plastic bottles and fleece-like material made from the recycled plastic bottles. Feel free to pass around the materials to get a sense of how they feel! This material is used to make mit- tens, vests, insulation used in winter coats and sleeping bags, and even the t-shirt in the kit!

VIDEOTAPE:Recycling Works for Minnesota Find out what Minnesota industries use our recyclables as raw materials

ALUMINUM CAN BRICK CAUTION: SHARP EDGES! Use gloves provided if you handle the brick! Because aluminum mills are located hundreds of miles from Minnesota, (Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania) cans collected for recycling must be crushed or densified before shipping. The brick can be used as a tool to draw people into the recycled products display. One activity would be to have people guess how many cans are packed into the brick.

Please use the checklist to make sure everything is back in the kit when you return it. RECYCLED PRODUCTS KIT Washington County’s Recycled Products Kit serves as a hands-on, experiential learning tool that brings the recycling process to life.

How the kits have been used:

Fourth Graders at Lake Elmo Elementary School used the kit at their Geography Fair to show people what products were made from commonly recycled materials. Over 300 students and adults visited the exhibit. Students made recycling posters pertaining to items that are recycled in the community and what they’re made into. They had games (ring toss onto plastic and glass bottles) and a 4 foot stack of paper (symbolizing that for every four foot stack of paper that’s recycled, one tree is saved). Handouts were also given to visitors indicating what could be recycled in the community and how recycling benefits the environment and society.

Dia Sorin, Inc. in Stillwater celebrated America Recycles Day (ARD) for a week and set up the recycled products kit in their lunchroom. Included in the exhibit was a contest to see which employee could guess the closest number of aluminum cans packed into the brick. Other ARD activities included a waste-free lunch, recycling bingo, a crossword puzzle and word search (done via e-mail)

Cub Scout Den 6, pack 777 used the kit as a “hands on” recycling lesson for Cub Scouts and their parents. The den leader appreciated the variety of items and thought it was valuable to have the kids handle the recycled products. The kids and parents “were amazed at some items, especially the head band and can cube”.

Summer Stretch Youth (7th - 9th Grade) from Guardian Angels Church (Oakdale) and St. Ambrose Church (Woodbury) used the kits to teach younger students at the Como Zoo Day Camps about recycling and recycled products. After a brief introduction and review of what items could be recycled in their community, the Youth set up three recycling stations at tables around the room. The stations contained the products in the kits and day campers had to match the recycled product with what commonly recycled item it was made from. Youth assisted the campers at the stations and made the program interactive and fun. The last activity was to have campers guess how many cans were in the aluminum brick. The winner was awarded a sport bottle made from 100% recycled milk and water bottles.

Additional ideas and activities to use with the kit: Start with a trash and recycling overview 1. Discuss the garbage problem with your group: We all make waste, about 6 lbs/ person/day at home, school, work, and play. Pass around something like a barbell, rock, or something else that weighs around 6 lbs or collect some trash in a clear plastic bag.

2. Mention that we didn’t take very good care of our trash in the past as most was buried in landfills and now we are having to pay to clean-up the water around many of these old landfill sites. Recycling is one solution to the garbage problem as over 1/2 of what we throw away can be recycled. RECYCLED PRODUCTS KIT Washington County’s Recycled Products Kit serves as a hands-on, experiential learning tool that brings the recycling process to life.

3. Bring in some examples from your own recycling bin to show your group. ∗ Newspaper ∗ Junk mail, magazines, office paper, phone books ∗ Cereal, cake mix, potato chip, pasta, cracker boxes ∗ Corrugated cardboard ∗ Glass jars and bottles ∗ Plastic bottles with narrow necks (milk, detergent, water, pop bottles, etc.) ∗ Aluminum cans ∗ Tin cans

4. Show the products in the kit made from our recyclables and talk about how each item is recycled using the worksheets.

5. Have your audience do the word search, crossword puzzle, and matching activity sheets, to see how much they learned.

6. Have your group guess how many cans are in the block - whoever guesses the closest receives a prize made from something recycled!

7. Recycling Match Game – take tags off items in the kit and have participants guess what they are made from. A sample matching form for you to copy is in the binder.

8. Recycling Bingo Game – Bingo cards and tokens are available to borrow from Washington County. Call 651-430-6714 to reserve a set.

9. Recycling Relay Have a recycling relay game where you take items we can recycle (and some we can’t) and have groups work in teams to see who can sort them into the recycling bin the fastest. If you have room, have people run down and put the items in a bin and then come back and tag their next team member. Add a bin for “items to donate” or items (in plastic bags) for the compost pile to add a little more variety.

Class Discussion Items for Wrap-up and Review: Do students understand...? ∗ Why it is important to recycle ∗ What can be recycled ∗ How items are recycled ∗ What items can be made from recyclables ∗ That they have the power to make positive and mindful choices for the betterment of our beautiful planet

Thank you for taking the initiative to teach others about the importance of recycling! How is it recycled? Aluminum 2

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Your recyclables They are brought to a recycling center and Upon arrival at the smelter, the are picked sorted and the aluminum is crushed into bales are chopped up, fed into a 1 up curbside 2 large bales to be sent to a smelter 3 furnace, and melted The rolls are sent to The molten aluminum is The ingots are pressed through manufacturers where they are molded into large blocks rollers to form sheets which are shaped into cans, labeled, and 4 called ingots 5 coiled into huge rolls 6 filled with beverages How is it recycled? G L a S S 2

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Your recyclables are Recyclables are brought to a The glass containers are crushed 1 picked up curbside 2 recycling center and sorted 3 into small pieces known as cullet The cullet is heated and melted Glowing bottles emerge after After the new bottles are and the molten glass is formed the gobs have been molded to cooled, they are packaged and into individual pieces called create a bottle sent to bottling companies 4 gobs 5 6 where they are filled How is it recycled? S t e e l 2

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Your recyclables They are brought to a recycling The steel cans, often referred to as “tin,” are picked center and a magnet sorts the steel have a very thin coat of tin that is removed 1 up curbside 2 cans from the aluminum cans 3 before melting the steel cans* A large, glowing hot steel The ingot is pressed into The rolls are sent to manufacturers where ingot emerges after being a flat sheet and then they are shaped into cans, labeled, and 4 cast from melted steel cans 5 coiled into huge rolls 6 filled with food or beverages * The tin coating removed from the steel cans is refined, heated, and cast into ingots, pressed flat, and then coiled into rolls. The tin is then used to coat newly recycled steel cans. How is it recycled? Pa p e r 2

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Your recyclables Paper is brought to a Paper is ground up and mixed are picked recycling center and with water to make a gooey 1 up curbside 2 sorted by type 3 mixture called slurry The mixture is pressed After the newly formed paper is The rolls are sent to through rollers, leaving the heated and dried, it is coiled into companies to form the 4 water behind 5 huge rolls 6 paper to into their products How is it Pop & Water 1 recycled? Bottles PLASTIC PET 2

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Your recyclables They are brought to a recycling The bales are sent to a facility where the are picked center where plastic is sorted plastic is shredded into small pieces and 1 up curbside 2 and baled by color and type 3 cleaned, leaving only pure PET plastic flakes The flakes are fed into a machine Polyester strands are woven The fibers are crimped, cut, and called a spinneret where they are into fibrous material or sent to manufacturers to make melted and spun into fibrous sheets of fabric things such as carpet and 4 polyester strands 5 6 clothing How is it Milk & Detergent 2 recycled? Bottles H PLASTIC DPE 2

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ix m s e 6 k la f d n a s r e iz il b a t s re e h k w tan 5 Pictured is a large

Your recyclables They are brought to a recycling The bales are sent to a facility where the are picked center where plastic is sorted plastic is shredded into small pieces and 1 up curbside 2 and baled by color and type 3 cleaned, leaving only pure HDPE plastic flakes HDPE plastic flakes are melted and mixed The boards are cooled, cut, with stabilizers to prevent sun damage to The hot and soft mixture packaged, and shipped to the finished product; sometimes wood is pressed to form a distributors for building decks, 4 waste is added for texture 5 continuous board 6 retaining walls, and furniture a l u m i n u m

G ! Recycled aluminum reduces pollution by 95% compared ET TS to making aluminum from bauxite ore THE FAC Reynolds Metal Company It only takes between 60 and 90 days for an aluminum can to be recycled and back on the store shelf as a new can

Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours

97% of all beverage cans are made from aluminum. Aluminum cans made their first appearance in America in 1953. The Aluminum Association

The energy saved each year through recycling aluminum beverage cans could light the city of Washington, D.C. for almost 4 years Novelis Aluminum Recycling

what about Washington County?

Annually, Washington County residents recycle over 30 million aluminum cans! g l a s s

Because cullet (crushed glass) melts at a lower temperature G ! than the raw materials used in making new glass, less ET TS energy is required to produce glass from recycled glass THE FAC The Star Tribune Recycling glass generates 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than making glass with raw materials NASA

Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours Environmental Protection Agency

Glass can be reused an infinite number of times; over 41 billion glass containers are made each year Environmental Protection Agency

Each glass container produced in the United States contains about 30% recycled glass Waste Connections Inc.

what about Washington County?

Glass jars and bottles collected in Washington County are taken to the Anchor Glass Company in Shakopee, MN where they are made into new jars and bottles.

Look for this symbol on the bottom rim of your glass bottle to find out if it was made at Anchor Glass Company! s t e e l

Every day, Americans use enough steel and tin cans to make GE S! a steel pipe running from Los Angeles to New York and back T THE FACT Steel Recycling Institute The steel found in just six cars, when recycled, is enough to build a brand new house, using steel framing Steel Recycling Institute

Each new steel product is made in part from post-consumer recycled steel -- so each time you buy a steel product, you're closing the recycling loop by buying recycled Steel Recycling Institute

The average family in the United States uses 90 pounds of steel cans a year. Recycling that steel would save: 144 kilowatts of electricity, 63 pounds of coal, 112 pounds of iron, 5.4 pounds of limestone! National Energy Education Development Project Using recycled steel to make new steel saves energy. In fact, the steel industry saves enough energy in one year to electrically power 18 million homes for one year! Steel Recycling Institute

what about Washington County?

Washington County’s steel, along with the rest of the world’s, can be recycled again and again. It does not lose any of its strength or quality in the recycling process! p a p e r

For every ton of paper that is recycled, 17 trees and 7000 GE S! gallons of water are saved compared to making one ton of T THE FACT paper from wood pulp Environmental Protection Agency Every year, Americans throw away enough office and writing paper to build a wall 12 feet high, stretching from Los Angeles to New York City Browning-Ferris Industries

In the United States, more than one third of the fiber used to make new paper products comes from recycled paper American Forest & Paper Association

One pound of newspaper can be recycled to make six cereal boxes, six egg cartons, or 200 sheets of writing paper

One family's yearly supply of daily newspapers can be recycled into almost enough insulation for one house

what about Washington County? In 2006, Washington County residents recycled over 19,000 tons of paper, saving over 300,000 tree from being cut!

The amount of paper Washington County residents recycle each year would fill about 750 semi trailers! p l a s t i c

Fourteen 20 ounce plastic pop or water bottles G S! yield enough fiberfill for a ski jacket ET T National Association for PET Container Resources THE FAC (NAPCOR) One square foot of recycled plastic lumber contains about 30 one gallon milk bottles

Half of all polyester carpet manufactured in the United States is made from recycled soda bottles

It takes five plastic pop bottles to make one square foot of polyester carpet or an extra large t-shirt The Aluminum Association

Recycling a ton of plastic pop or water containers saves 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space NAPCOR

what about Washington County?

Each year, Washington County residents recycle enough plastic bottles to make over 500 miles of lawn edging #  # # # # # YOUR #Numbers# # # # What’s the number and name? What does it make? Can it be recycled?#

YES polyethylene Pop Bottles recycle! 1 terephthalate Water Bottles Only if the PET container has a neck.

YES Milk Bottles recycle! high density Laundry Detergent Bottles 2 Only if the polyethylene Household Cleaner Containers PET container has a neck.

Pipe NO 3 vinyl Shrink Wrap do not Deli & Meat Wrap recycle V

Check at your local Grocery Bags grocery store for recycling low density 4 Container Lids of grocery bags polyethylene  NO Squeezable Bottles LDPE do not recycle

Yogurt Containers NO 5 polypropylene Syrup Bottles do not Bottle Caps and Closures recycle PP

Food Service Items: Cups, NO Plates, Bowls, and Cutlery do not 6 polystyrene Styrofoam Blocks recycle PS Compact Discs

dependent on Reusable Water Bottles NO 7 combination 5 Gallon Pails do not of resins OTHER Oven-Baking Bags recycle SORT it OUT aluminum Test your knowledge of the recycling Process!