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Why Should I Recycle Anyway? Making new paper from recycled paper uses 30-50% less energy than making paper from trees and it reduces contributions to air pollution by 95%. The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle will light a 100 watt bulb for 4 hours. Because glass does not decompose, the bottle you throw away today might still be littering the landscape for many, many years. The energy saved from one recycled aluminum can will operate a television set for 3 hours. It takes 95% less energy to make aluminum from scrap than from virgin materials. For every ton of waste paper recycled, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space is used. Every ton of recycled office paper saves 380 gallons of oil. Questions Why buy recycled products? How do I start a buy-recycled program? What resources are available to help develop a corporate policy statement to promote the purchase of recycled-content products? How can I work with vendors to increase awareness of buy-recycled purchasing? How can I educate my employees to increase awareness of buy-recycled purchasing? How do recycled-content products perform? Are recycled products available? Do recycled products cost more? How can I find out about federal government recycled-product procurement guidelines? Can you provide a definition of post-consumer and recovered materials? When is the best time to hold a telephone directory recycling program and how long should a program run? How can partners and sponsors support a recycling program? Can I hold a recycling campaign if I can't locate an end-user for the directories? How many collection sites should I have? When should the publicity of a recycling campaign begin? What kind of products are being made from outdated directories? What has the BellSouth Yellow Pages done to make its directories recyclable? How much landfill space is occupied by outdated telephone directories? Is polystyrene recyclable? Does polystyrene biodegrade in landfills? What percentage of litter is polystyrene packaging? Can polystyrene be burned safely in an incinerator? What are some uses of recycled polystyrene, and can it be used in food service applications? How does the recycling process work? Why buy recycled products? Purchasing recycled products creates markets for the recovered materials used in these products. This action fosters sustainability and conserves natural resources and energy. In addition, purchasing recycled products promotes the continued manufacture of these products, thus completing the recycling loop. How do I start a buy-recycled program? We suggest that your first step be to develop a company policy on buying recycled products. Doing so will make all other steps easier. Next, put together a committee, representing all operations, to develop the program. Including staff from different departments helps purchasers and users understand each other's needs and constraints. Then conduct an assessment of the products that your company buys. This assessment will reveal two things: 1. Products that currently have recycled content. 2. Products that are not currently purchased with recycled content, but could be. Next, examine your specifications to ensure that they do not unnecessarily hinder the purchase of recycled products. Finally, determine the availability of recycled products that meet your specifications in your area. Contact your current suppliers to find out what products are available and inform him/her that you are interested in procuring these types of products. If your current supplier does not supply recycled-content products, consult national directories such as The Official Recycled Products Guide or contact your state or local environmental agency to find out about recycled product distributors in your area. Other sources of information include trade associations, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) documents and the Internet. The EPA's WasteWi$e site can provide you with this information. What resources are available to help develop a corporate policy statement to promote the purchase of recycled-content products? The EPA's WasteWi$e site has sample policy statements available. In addition, other partners can offer advice through the WasteWi$e Peer Exchange. The National Recycling Coalition's Buy Recycled Guidebook, available through the NRC's Buy Recycled Business Alliance site includes suggestions for goal setting and writing corporate policy statements. How can I work with vendors to increase awareness of buy-recycled purchasing? Remind your vendors routinely that your company has committed to buying recycled products. In addition to product suppliers, companies can ask other service contractors, such as printers, janitorial servcie and maintenance contractors, to use recycled products. The Buy Recycled Guidebook provides a sample notice to vendors that encourages them to supply recycled products. How can I educate my employees to increase awareness of buy-recycled purchasing? Promote the program internally through employee newsletters, routine training and/or electronic mail. Employee education is necessary to help your employees understand your WasteWi$e commitments and how they can help ensure that your program is successful. Educated employees can offer suggestions to improve your program and help you purchase quality recycled-content products. The satisfaction of employees who use the products you purchase is key. How do recycled-content products perform? In general, recycled-content products perform as well as their virgin counterparts. In some instances, they perform better. You do not need to compromise on quality to purchase recycled products. In many cases, you will not be able to distinguish recycled-content products from vrigin products. According to the 1996 Annual Buy Recycled Survey conducted by the National Recycling Coalition's Buy Recycled Business Alliance (BRBA), 97 percent of those survey were pleased with the overall performance of recycled products. Are recycled products available? There are more than 4,500 products available with recycled content. While not all of these products may be available in your vicinity, they are accessible in other areas of the country. As more companies demand these products, availability should increase. Some products, such as steel containers or corrugated boxes, are more widely available with recycled content than with virgin content. Do recycled products cost more? The price of products, whether virgin or recycled, is affected by many variables including: • Availability and costs of material feedstocks • Energy costs • Distributor mark-up • Transportation charges • Quantity of the item ordered • Whether the product is a common stock or requires a special order • Geographical location Relative prices of recycled products and their comparable virgin products vary. WasteWi$e encourages you to compare prices between virgin and recycled products and also among the recycled products. Even if one recycled product is more expensive, others may be less expensive. According to a survey of several mills, merchants and retailers conducted by the BRBA Buy Recycled Newsline fo rits Spring 1996 issue, the average quoted price differential between recycled and virgin paper is approximately 5%. Some retailers surveyed indicated the price for recycled paper was as good as, and sometimes better than, virgin paper. The quantity that you order and your geographic location may affect the price. How can I find out about federal government recycled product procurement guidelines? Go to the EPA's web site to download the Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines which covers paper and paper products, vehicular products, construction products, transportation products, park and recreation products and non-paper office products. The site also provides copies of the Recovered Materials Advisory Notices (RMANs) which contain EPA's purchasing recommendations. Can you provide a definition of post-consumer and recovered materials? Post-consumer material refers to a material or finished product that has served its intended use and has been discarded for disposal or recovery, having completed its life as a consumer item. Post-consumer material is part of a broader category of recovered material. Recovered materials means waste material and byproducts thatr have been recovered or diverted from solid waste, but such term does not include those materials and byproducts generated from, and commonly reused within, an original manufacturing process. When is the best time to hold a telephone directory recycling program and how long should a program run? You should begin the planning of a program three to four months prior to the delivery of the new directory. These programs should run four to six weeks. How can partners and sponsors support a recycling program? Partners and sponsors can provide financial assistance, sites for collection, labor, publicity, collection bins, etc. Can I hold a recycling campaign if I can't locate an end-user for the directories? No. One of the most important steps in forming a directory recycling program for your community is finding an end-user for the directories in advance of starting a program. End-users for telephone directories exist in many locations but may be nonexistent in your immediate area. Your BellSouth Environmental Affairs Manager will work with you to help locate an end-user for the directories you collect in your program. How many collection sites should I have? The number of collection sites depends on the size of the market, how many directories you plan to collection and how many collection bins the waste hauler is willing to provide. You should have enough collection sites to make it convenient for residents and businesses to drop off their directories consistent with these other considerations. When should the publicity of a recycling program begin? News releases promoting the program should begin a few weeks prior to the delivery of the book. If the program runs toward the end of a delivery period, follow-up articles in the newspaper might be needed to remind people of the program dates, collection sites and a telephone number to call for more information. It is a good idea to try and have the local newspaper or TV station participate as a partner. Many times they will donate airtime (PSAs) or news coverage as their contribution to the program. A final news release should be sent to the newspaper upon the program's completion. The release should inform them of how many tons were collected, congratulate citizens who brought in their books and thank the partners for their participation. What kind of products are being made from outdated directories? Many products are being made from outdated directories. They include: paper towels, cellulose insulation, hydroseeding mulch, animal bedding, roofing felt, egg cartons, padded shipping envelopes, sheetrock backing paper and newspaper print. What has the BellSouth Yellow Pages done to make its directories recyclable? All of the BellSouth directories are 100% recyclable. They use inks that are non-toxic and water-soluble glue, and the varnish once used on the covers has been eliminated. In addition, beginning in 1993, BellSouth began publishing all of its directories using paper containing at least 25 to 40% recycled fiber. How much landfill space is occupied by outdated telephone directories? All paper products together occupy approximately 40% of landfill space. Of this, telephone directories comprise less than one percent of the paper going into the landfills. Is polystyrene recyclable? Yes, and is being recycled in many states where collection programs exist. Polystyrene is the most recycled form of disposable food service packaging. Polystyrene is being collected in school and corporate cafeterias, restaurants, grocery stores and/or at curbside in 40 states and sent to reprocessors around the country. Polystyrene recycling is particularly successful in institutional settings. Some school districts, for example, have reduced the amount of garbage from cafeteria operations by more than 50%, thereby easing landfill burdens and also saving money on waste disposal costs. Does polystyrene biodegrade in landfills? No. Nothing really degrades in landfills: not polystyrene, not paper, not even food wastes. A landfill is designed to keep out air, water and light to prevent the degradation process. In fact, the absence of degradation in landfills is a benefit because degradation results in the formation of leachate, which can contaminate groundwater, and of methane gas, a potentially explosive air pollutant. What percentage of litter is polystyrene packaging? A 1988 study by the Institute for Applied Research shows that foam products represent less than 2% of litter. Many people advocate the use of biodegradable packaging so that if littered, a package will eventually disintegrate. Keep America Beautiful, Inc., however, stresses that biodegradability is not the answer to litter. Litter is a behavior problem caused by disrespect for the environment. Unfortunately, even litter tossed away with the thought it is biodegradable (like food wastes), degrades slowly and is unsightly. Can polystyrene be burned safely in an incinerator? Yes. As a hydrocarbon product, polystyrene's high BTU value (more than 17,000 BTU/pound) helps maintain high burning temperatures necessary in an incinerator for proper combustion of both polystyrene and other garbage. Burning polystyrene in a modern incinerator results in end-products of carbon dioxide, water vapor and possibly a trace of ash. What are some uses of recycled polystyrene, and can it be used in food service applications? Products made with recycled polystyrene include insulation and other building materials, audio and video cassettes, cafeteria trays, household products and office and school products. Additionally, technology to enable use of recycled polystyrene in food packaging is advancing. Recycled polystyrene is being used in egg cartons and sandwich containers. How does the recycling process work? The process is simple. Following collection, post-consumer polystyrene products are transported to a recycling facility where they are cut into small pieces called fluff. Fluff is washed, dried and then melted. The molten polystyrene is extruded into solid resin pellets and sold to companies for use in the manufacture of new products. recycle, recycled, recycles, recycling, buy recycled, buyrecycled, sustainability, recycler, loop, closed loop, global warming, recycled-content, recycled content, paradigm, paradigm international, eco, eco-resource, eco resource, recycling centers Online eco-resource management tool for purchasing recycled-content products, finding recycling drop-off centers, environmental job and scholarship links and other concerns such as sustainability and global warming