One of the easiest ways to have a positive impact on our environment is to recycle everyday items like food packaging, boxes, and plastic bags. Key to the success of any community recycling program is making sure what goes into a recycling bin belongs there - and that is where it can get complex.
At our August meeting, Greener Grove member and Senior ESG Portfolio Manager Amy Glawe shared her expertise about how the recycling process works, what industry is doing to improve recycling (especially in the area of plastics), and specifics about recycling here in Downers Grove.
The Recycling Process and Industry Changes
The recycling process begins with collecting items at curbside or recycling drop-off locations, then processors sort the items by material, manufacturers reprocess materials into new items/inputs which are then delivered to end markets.
We’ll dig into curbside sorting guidelines below but keep in mind that the choices we make as to what to put into the bin has a big impact when those items are processed: For example, if plastic grocery bags or plastic wraps make it onto the recycling conveyor belt and get entangled in the equipment, it can shut a line down for hours and cost thousands of dollars as they work to clean it out.
Innovation is happening along the way, especially as manufacturers set goals aimed at using more recycled content in their products and making their products easier to recycle or reuse. One example Amy shared is how toothpaste tubes used to contain a layer of foil, which made the tubes difficult to recycle. Colgate developed a new tube that eliminates the foil layer. Rather than keeping this to themselves, they shared this innovation with other toothpaste manufacturers so that they could adopt this in their own processes. Check your own toothpaste tubes - as long as they don’t have foil, you can toss used ones into the recycling bin.
Partnerships between the public and private sectors are forming to help identify opportunities for reducing and eliminating waste and educating the public. For example, Circular Great Lakes is bringing many voices to the table to find solutions aimed at eliminating plastics in the Great Lakes. Find out more on the Circular Great Lakes website.
Recycling Guidelines
Below are general guidelines about recycling specific materials. Always consider, too, if you can reuse an item. For example, use an empty jar as a flower vase… if you are composting, add cardboard to your compost pile. (See our composting post from last month’s meeting here.)
Material | Recycling Benefits | Recycling Guidelines |
Plastics |
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Cardboard |
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Paper |
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Glass |
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Source: Amy Glawe, Presentation to Greener Grove.
Take Action - Recycling in Downers Grove
A big takeaway from our August meeting: We can all up our game when it comes to recycling, sharing what we learned with others in our community.
Recycling guidelines change over time, check the Village’s recycling page from time to time. Currently, the Village of Downers Grove website lists the following items that are accepted for recycling by Republic Services:
A caveat about wrapping paper. Many types are not recyclable includes:
Foil: Foil wrapping paper should be thrown away.
Metallic: Metallic wrapping paper should be thrown away.
Heavily laminated: Heavily laminated wrapping paper should be thrown away.
Glitter: Wrapping paper with glitter should be thrown away.
Plastics: Wrapping paper with plastics should be thrown away.
Before recycling wrapping paper, it's best to remove any bows, ribbons, or sticky tape. When in doubt, throw it out!
As mentioned above, but is worth repeating, flexible plastic wrap and plastic bags including plastic shopping bags and ziplock bags CAN NOT GO INTO RECYCLING BINS. Here in the Downers Grove area, Jewel, Fresh Thyme, and Mariano’s all accept these items - much of which is used by NexTrex to make decking and outdoor furniture. You can learn more here - https://nextrex.com/ and https://nextrex.com/view/educate.
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