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Environmental concerns over the last decade have caused many people to change their attitudes about waste disposal. Fortunately, garbage tips are no longer seen as the only way our waste can be disposed of. Recycling our waste as well had evolved and is now widely recognised.
Recycling involves the process of reusing materials and resources to produce new items of the same material. As time passes by, the recycled material would otherwise be a waste in the future or will be a new product again.
Furthermore, there are so many advantages that people get towards recycling. Aside from the reasons that you can save and earn money; environmentally, we are helping as well. However, not all items can be recycled. There are things that must be observed since some materials can cause further damage when recycled. Here’s an ultimate guide for recycling 2020 that you can refer to.
Acceptable Items for Recycling: Toss it in the Yellow Bin!
Acceptable items have low and possible low contamination. This means that any recycling centre can collect, separate or process, and return the form of raw materials or products to the economic mainstream. If you wish to recycle your things, you can check the closest recycling facility at EPA website. Moreover, here are the items that can be considered as recyclables:
Plastic
Plastic is one of the modern-day ‘s popular and useful materials. Its widespread usage is the reason why there is a need for it to be recycled. With 130 kg of plastic per person each year, recycling plastic products as many times will help reduce its effects on the environment.
All forms of plastic can be completely recycled. Like paper, plastic has fibres which are shortened whenever recycled. It is estimated that plastic can be recycled up 7 to 9 times before completely dumping it to landfills.
Furthermore, melting plastic materials takes a lot of electrical power. That is why if you thought of throwing plastic into an incinerator, consider an alternative like sending it to the recycling centre.
However, some plastic is complex, and due to the lack of technology, it made the local Material Recovery Facility (MRF) consider certain forms of plastic. This is the reason why checking the RIC (Resin Identification Code) of the plastic should be done before recycling and disposal.
Paper and Cardboards
In Australia, about 3.5 million tons of paper and cardboard are used per year. These are one of the contributors of pollution when dumped in landfills.
Paper and cardboard are made from tree fibres and make up a huge part of the waste stream. Most cardboard is made from recycled paper, and it can be recycled several times over.
Even if you are at home, cardboard boxes can be recycled to produce printing paper, cardboard boxes, tissue paper and poster board. Paper and cardboard include cardboard boxes, envelopes, magazines and newspapers, office paper and telephone books.
Metal
Almost all kinds of metals can be recycled. From the metal in your old chair, old bikes, cast iron pots and pans, and also in your old junk fridge, it is still recyclable. The most common metals that are repeatedly recycled are steel and aluminium. These metals do not lose their quality when processed.
- Aluminium foil and cans – These are seen commonly at home. These are easily melted down to produce new products of an aluminium can and foil.
- Steel and tin cans – can be recycled from steel and tin cans, such as tuna cans, coffee cans, and aerosol cans.
Glass
Glass can be recycled many times, like aluminium and steel. Just rinse the bottle or wash it out and toss it in your yellow bin. It’s that easy, so if you can, buy items packed in glass.
Some glass products, such as car windshields, cooking plates and light bulbs, are typically not approved by local recycling systems. It is advisable that you check with the waste office of your local government to find out how to recycle these products.
Moreover, the processing of glass at facilities is complicated due to the different colours they have. That is why they should be sorted by their colours. Here are the kinds of glasses that are mostly recyclable:
- Flint glass – This usually refers to containers of transparent glass. They are commonly found in your cabinet in the form of cans, bottles and food packaging.
- Amber glass – This kind of glass is more difficult to recycle because of the amber colour of the glass. The colour can’t be removed, so the solution is to recycle it into other items with amber colour. They can be in the form of beer bottles, pharmaceutical liquid bottles, and other ultraviolet light-sensitive material.
- Emerald glass – Commonly, this is used for liquids which are sensitive to ultraviolet light, much like amber glass. But emerald glass is used for drinks such as Sprite and 7Up, and for bottles of wine.
Unacceptable Items for Recycling
It is very important to know and understand what materials should be recycled to help the environment, but it is also equally necessary to find out what can not be recycled in the recycling program to avoid further damage.
Unacceptable items for recycling vary in certain factors. Reaching out to the local council to clarify which products are not acceptable is important. It will give you better ideas on how to handle it and whether the council imposes fines for businesses and commercial sites for practising inappropriate recycling.
However, there are few recycling centres who accept a few unacceptable items. These are polystyrene, old paints, toxic chemicals, electronic waste, and soft plastic packaging. But there are items that are really unacceptable to any recycling centres. Here’s a list as your guide:
- Take-out food containers
- Plastic bottle caps
- Styrofoam
- Paper coffee cups
- Milk cartons and juice boxes mixed with other non-recyclable materials
- Broken glass can’t be recycled since it is hard to tell what the source of the glass is when it’s broken.
- Plastic grocery bags
- Objects containing radioactive metals – Uranium, Plutonium, Mercury
- Lead-containing products – found in TVs and computer monitors
Conclusion
Recycling is very relevant since waste has an immensely negative effect on the natural environment. Through knowing what to recycle and not, we can reduce the rubbish that is thrown in landfill sites where toxic chemicals and greenhouse gases are emitted from the garbage.
At Aussie Junk Rubbish Removal, the team will help you out on sorting what to recycle and not. With your rubbish being handled responsibly, you can just relax and do other things. There’s no greater feeling than finishing up from a junk removal job with proper procedure and seeing our loyal customer’s faces happy and satisfied.
With affordable prices and quality waste removal performance, your problem with dumping your rubbish will be quick and hassle-free. Call us now at 0435 569 921 or book with us online here.
