Recycling Program Benefits: New Products & Environmental Savings Iowa State University February 8, 2007

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

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

Cardboard boxes will be pulped and turned into more cardboard. New Life of Recycled Paper Mixed paper will be pulped and turned into a variety of products from corrugated cardboard lining to cereal boxes to low grade 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 hours…thats enough to power an average- sized 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. Why Recycle Paper?

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

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

Why Recycle Plastics? Five PET bottles yield enough fiber to make an extra large T-shirt. It takes 35 two-liter PET bottles to produce enough fiberfill for a sleeping bag. Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour. Recycling 1 ton of plastic milk jugs saves enough energy to light a home for approximately 1 year.

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

Glass containers are melted and turned into more glass containers. New Life of Recycled Glass

Why Recycle Glass? Recycled glass is used for new glass containers, fiberglass insulation, road beds (aggregate), concrete block and glassphalt (asphalt). Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for 4 hours. Making glass from recycled materials cuts related air pollution 20%, water pollution 50%, and mining waste 75%. Glass is the oldest form of recycled material, produced by the Egyptians over 3,000 years ago for jewelry and drinking cups.

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

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

Why Recycle Steel Cans? 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. The steel industry's annual recycling saves the equivalent energy to electrically power about 18 million households for a year. The steel industry recycles about 600 cans every second.

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

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. New Life of Aluminum Cans

Why Recycle Aluminum Cans? The side of an aluminum can is the same thickness as a human hair. 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. By recycling a single aluminum can, we save enough energy to power a television for up to 3 hours.

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 Why Recycle?

Contact us for more information: Erin Novak Mid America Recycling 2742 East Market St. Des Moines, IA Phone: Fax: midamericarecycling.com Thank you for recycling!