Recycling of Garbage

By : Siddharth S. Chauhan

Paper Recycling Process

Upon arrival at the
recycling facility, papers
are cleaned, baled and
sold to pulping mills

New Life of Recycled Paper

White paper will be

pulped and turned into
more white paper.
Newspaper will be pulped and
turned into a variety of
products ranging from more
newspaper to corrugated
cardboard lining to housing
insulation.

New Life of Recycled Paper

Cardboard boxes will be
pulped and turned into
more cardboard.

Mixed paper will be pulped

and turned into a variety of
products from corrugated
cardboard lining to cereal
boxes to low grade paper.

Why Recycle Paper?

Conserves natural
resources
Every ton of recycled
paper saves 17 trees.

Why Recycle Paper?

Saves energy
Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 4,200 kilowatt
hoursthats enough to power an averagesized home for two years!

Why Recycle Paper?

Protects and
conserves our clean
water supplies
Every ton of recycled paper conserves
7,000 gallons of water

Thats the equivalent of

nearly 2,000 toilet flushes!

Why Recycle Paper?

Saves landfill
space

Every ton of recycled paper saves

3.3 cubic yards of landfill space.

Why Recycle Paper?

Protects and conserves
our clean air
Manufacturing 1 ton of paper from virgin wood pulp
creates an additional 60 pounds of air pollution.

Plastic Recycling Process

Upon arrival at the
recycling facility,
plastics are sorted,
cleaned, baled and
sold to mills

New Life of Recycled Plastics

Plastics can be turned
into clothing, toys,
carpet, park benches,
plastic lumber and
parking blocks.

Why Recycle Plastics?

Americans use 2.5
million plastic bottles
every hour.

Five PET
bottles yield
enough fiber to
make an extra
large T-shirt.
Recycling 1 ton of plastic
milk jugs saves enough
energy to light a home
for approximately 1 year.

It takes 35 two-liter PET

bottles to produce enough
fiberfill for a sleeping bag.

Glass Recycling Process

Upon arrival at
the recycling
facility, glass is
crushed,
cleaned and
sold to mills

New Life of Recycled Glass

Glass containers are

melted and turned into
more glass containers.

Why Recycle Glass?

Glass is the oldest form of
recycled material, produced by
the Egyptians over 3,000 years
ago for jewelry and drinking cups.

Making glass from recycled

materials cuts related air
pollution 20%, water pollution
50%, and mining waste 75%.

Recycling one glass bottle

saves enough energy to light
a 100-watt bulb for 4 hours.

Recycled glass is used for new

glass containers, fiberglass
insulation, road beds
(aggregate), concrete block
and glassphalt (asphalt).

Steel Can Recycling Process

Upon arrival at
the recycling
facility, steel
cans are
cleaned, baled
and sold to mills

New Life of Recycled Steel Cans

Steel cans will be melted and
used to make new steel products
including cars, bridges,
lawnmowers, stoves, and
construction materials.

Why Recycle Steel Cans?

The steel industry
recycles about 600
cans every second.

The steel industry's

annual recycling
saves the equivalent
energy to electrically
power about 18 million
households for a year.

We throw away enough

steel every year to build all
the new cars made in
America.

Recycling steel and tin

cans saves 74% of the
energy used to produce
them from raw materials.

Aluminum Can Recycling Process

Upon arrival at
the recycling
facility, aluminum
cans are cleaned,
baled and sold to
mills

New Life of Aluminum Cans

Aluminum cans are
melted and turned into
more aluminum cans.
An aluminum can placed
in a recycle bin returns to
the grocers shelf as a
new, filled can in less
than 60 days.

Why Recycle Aluminum Cans?

We use over
80,000,000,000
aluminum soda cans
every year.
The average aluminum can
contains about 51% recycled
material.

An average 113,204 aluminum

cans are recycled every minute.

The side of an
aluminum can is the
same thickness as
a human hair.

By recycling a single
aluminum can, we save
enough energy to power a
television for up to 3 hours.

Why Recycle?
Saves Money
Lowered garbage
collection
Payment for recyclable
materials

Why Recycle?
Creates New
Jobs
Gives new life to
materials otherwise
destined for landfill
Creates jobs in
recycling and
remanufacturing

Thank you for recycling!

Contact us for more information:
Erin Novak
Mid America Recycling
2742 East Market St.
Des Moines, IA 50317
Phone: 515-265-1208
Fax: 515-262-2209
midamericarecycling.com