Buy Recycled
Make a difference Buy Recycled- What is a recycled product?
- Why buy recycled products?
- There are many myths about recycled products
- What you can do as a consumer
- Recycled products
Make a Difference Buy Recycled
Recycling household waste helps the environment by saving natural resources and reducing the amount of waste for disposal. However it would be better if more people made a conscious effort to support recycling activity by purchasing products made from recycled material.
So Buy Recycled and close the recycling loop...
This will help set-up strong markets for materials collected in your local recycling schemes and encourage retail stores to stock more recycled products.
Look out for the Buy Recycled logo.
What is a Recycled Product?
- A Recycled Product - made in whole or in part from materials recovered from waste.
- 100% Post-Consumer Waste Content - made solely from recovered household or commercial waste.
- Pre-Consumer Waste Content - made from waste recovered during processing e.g. mill offcuts.
| Higher post-consumer waste content | = | more desirable product in terms of supporting recycling markets |
Why Buy Recycled Products?
Buying recycled products helps to:
- stimulate markets for reclaimed materials.
- reduce the amount of materials going to landfill.
- conserve resources and energy.
- create jobs.
- demonstrate commitment to good environmental practice.
There are many myths about recycled products.
| Myth: | Recycled products are of poor quality |
| Reality: | False. Aluminium, steel and glass can all be recycled repeatedly without a loss in quality. Paper does suffer quality reduction as paper fibres shorten which limits the number of times it can be recycled. Even so, high quality recycled paper is readily available. |
| Myth: | Recycled products are expensive |
| Reality: | Recycled products shouldn't cost more and are often competitively priced |
| Myth: | Recycled products are hard to find |
| Reality: | Recycled products are increasingly found on the supermarket shelves and in high street stores. |
| Myth: | Recycled products are not attractive to look at. |
| Reality: | False. For some products it is impossible to distinguish between recycled and non-recycled items. |
| Myth: | Recycled products consume more energy and resources than a product made from primary materials. |
| Reality: | False. Many recycled products offer significant savings in terms of energy and water as well as primary raw materials. For example every tonne of recycled paper saves trees, electricity and water resulting in 74% less air pollution and 34% less water pollution than manufacturing a tonne of paper from virgin wood pulp. |
What you can do as a consumer
Be positive. Start with a few changes in what you buy. Don't forget that buying recycled is an important part of overall waste prevention.
Try to REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE your waste at all times. Take a fresh look at what you buy and the possibilities for reducing waste.
- Avoid over-packaging. Do you need to buy items individually wrapped? if so, is the wrapping material made from recycled materials? Could you buy the same product made from recycled materials?
- Look out for items such as recycled toilet paper, kitchen rolls, tissues, refuse sacks, recycled writing paper and envelopes.
- Recycle your rags rather than buying new cloths or paper products, even if they are recycled.
- Use proper cups, plates and cutlery rather than plastic or paper disposable items.
- Choose longer life, energy efficient and rechargeable products.
- Buy refillable or remanufactured printer cartridges for home or workplace computers and return spent cartridges for recycling.
- Keep asking questions at your local store about the availability of recycled products. Congratulate the store manager when new recycled content product ranges are stocked.
- Use your consumer power in the workplace too. For example, nearly every office has a photocopier. Does it use recycled paper? has it ever been tried?
- Help spread the word - tell other people that you buy recycled products in preference to others.
Recycled products
There are lots of products with recycled content in everyday use in our homes and workplaces. Recycled products perform equally well to equivalent items made from raw materials.
Here is a sample of products which can be made from recycled materials:-
| Paper Products | Plastic Products | Other Materials |
| animal bedding | acoustic sound barriers | acoustic ceiling tiles |
| computer paper | bollards | asphalt road coverings |
| corrugated cardboard | carrier bags | carpet |
| egg cartons | clothes such as fleece jackets | construction and building material |
| fax paper | compost units | crumb rubber |
| files | dustbins | floor tiles and mats |
| greetings cards | fencing | garden hoses |
| letter head paper | fire safety equipment | glass containers |
| mailing tubes | pallets | glass ornaments |
| newsprint | park benches | industrial wiping cloths |
| office supplies | pens | landscaping material |
| padded mail bags | picnic tables | outdoor clothing |
| paperboard boxes | plant pots, seed trays | playground and equestrian surfacing |
| photocopier paper | recycling boxes | portland cement (with coal ash) |
| printing papers | refuse sacks | re-refined engine lubricating oils |
| storage boxes | road signs and posts | retreaded tyres |
| tissues | rulers | soil improvers and mulches |
| toilet paper | shopping bags | steel and aluminium drinks cans |
| washing powder boxes | sleeping bag fibre fill | steel 'tin' food cans |
| wrapping paper | video cassettes | thermal insulation |
| watering cans | toner cartridges | |
| water butts | upholstery filling | |
| wall board | ||
| wellington boots |
Last updated 08/05/2007 14:18:17
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