How Can I Recycle Crayons?

Recycling involves many facets of reuse such as putting used items through conventional recycling processes to make new items, upcycling items to repurpose them, giving them to others to cycle them through new users, and creating new items on your own through several methods.

One way to recycle items is to take small pieces of used items such as soap, candles, and crayons and combine them to make larger, more manageable pieces.

What Hazardous Chemicals Are In Electronic Waste?

Electronic Waste, also referred to as "E-Waste", describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. "Used electronics which are destined for reuse, resale, salvage, recycling or disposal are also considered as e-waste. 

Informal processing of electronic waste in developing countries may cause serious health and pollution problems, as these countries have limited regulatory oversight of e-waste processing."

How Do I Dispose of Aerosol Cans?

Aerosol cans contain substances that are kept in a container under pressure and are released as a fine spray when a button is pressed

“Canisters filled with insecticide and propellants were used to protect U.S. servicemen from insects carrying diseases such as malaria. Shortly after the war, Robert Abplanalp, founder of Precision Valve Corporation (PVC), invented the first mass-produced aerosol valve.

How Do I Dispose Of a Used Propane Tank?

Propane tanks come is all sizes from a small 2lb tank for a small grill or heater to a large 1,000 gallon
tank for commercial or industrial use.

Strangely, a 57 lb tank holds 46 lbs of propane, a 120 lb tank holds 96 lbs of propane, a 500 lb tank holds 400 lbs of propane, and a 1,000 gallon tank holds 800 lbs of propane.

Are Napkins and Paper Towels Recyclable?

As we learned in a previous recycling blog, “the grade of paper is determined by fiber length, which shortens after each trip through the recycling process. After being recycled five to seven times, the fibers become too short to make new paper and will need to be mixed with new, un-recycled fibers.”

Napkins and paper towels are easily made from very small, shorter fibers. In fact, they are one of, if not the last, item made from recycled paper before it can’t be recycled again.

Are Mirrors Recyclable?

Mirrors have been around in some form or another for thousands of years. People started seeing their reflections in ponds and lakes.  They then used polished stone and metal pieces to give a somewhat crude image of themselves.

Mirrors made from these materials were unfortunately very expensive and were only available to the extremely wealthy. Less fortunate people still used the stand-by of looking at themselves in ponds…sometimes even standing in line to do so.

 “In 1835, German chemist Justus von Liebig developed a process for applying a thin layer of metallic silver to one side of a pane of clear glass. This technique was soon adapted and improved upon, allowing for the mass production of mirrors.”

Because these more modern-day mirrors are not made from a single type of material, they are not considered a recyclable item by most processes. Between the chemically treated glass and the adherence of a metallic substance, mirrors are still considered a trash item.

For more information on trash and recycling options visit www.wasteawaygroup.com.

Howstuffworks.com

Mirrorhistory.com

Livescience.com

Are Magazines Recyclable?

What generally makes a magazine a magazine is the shiny and slightly thicker paper it is printed on. Is this type of paper recyclable? Absolutely.

Paper is categorized by factors such as grade and weight. The weight of a particular type of paper is calculated by the weight of a ream (500 sheets). Forty pound paper is a thinner paper than the 70lb variety. “Weight has not only an effect on the feel of the magazine (heavier paper will generally be thicker and less easy to fold) but also shipping/mailing costs of the final magazine.”