Web Sites of Interest
by Susan Mason
Can It be Recycled? Well, Yes, But...
In theory, almost anything can be recycled or reused. Some recycling advocates claim that since about half of the trash going into landfill is paper, we could easily reduce the waste stream by 50% "just" by recycling all paper. A similar argument is made for yard wastes, which also occupy a sizable percentage of landfill space. However, if waste stream reduction was this simple, a lot of California county and city recycling coordinators, presently struggling to reach the state-mandated goal of 50% waste reduction, would have achieved this milestone long ago. Recycling is a complicated business. It requires both economic and social incentives to recycle rather than throw away. In rural counties, like Butte, it's even more difficult because we don't consume enough of some products to create a viable recycling market for them. Some people think recycling itself is wasteful.
As you might expect, the Web is full of sites about recycling. Learn what's really recyclable and why. Become more informed about the recycling choices you unconsciously make when you buy products. If nothing else, looking at some of these sites will provide you with enough information to entertain or bore your friends and family for weeks.
Local Links
You might think that the Web would be a great place to find out where to recycle locally. Well, we're not there yet, but at least many of the major players--Butte County Public Works, CSUC, local cities and towns, and the trash haulers--all have their own Web sites where they can post this information, once they gather it. Here's what's available so far:
AS Recycling Program, CSU, Chico
www.aschico.com
The AS Recycling Program website has the most complete list of places in Chico to take commonly recycled items. Note: AS Recycling offers the only plastic 6-pack ring recycling in the county.
NorCal Waste Systems
www.norcalwaste.com
Some of the NorCal locations have posted recycling information. This one hasn't yet, perhaps because it's a fairly recent acquisition of NorCal. NorCal operates the only materials recovery facility in Butte County, which sorts recyclables out of the waste stream instead of collecting them separately curbside. It would be interesting to see some photos of this facility posted on their Web site.
North Valley Waste Management
www.wm.com
For those who have curbside recycling through WM, this site contains an almost complete list of items that can be put into the green bin. There's also an outdated (5/99) list of buyback prices for their drop off recycling facility and the Chico yard waste curbside collection schedule for 2000. Hopefully, this site will be updated soon.
State Links
Much of the state-level recycling information is focused on two laws—AB2020, the state's so-called bottle bill, mandating recycling of some beverage containers, and AB939, the landfill waste diversion mandate. Many counties and cities in the state have included pages about recycling on their Web sites too.
California Integrated Waste Management Board
www.ciwmb.ca.gov
Only one in four cities and counties in California reached the 50 percent waste diversion goal by the end of 1999. This is the place to check out all the statewide programs that are in place to boost this rate, to read about local businesses that have been honored for their recycling efforts, to find out how Butte County compares to other similar counties in its waste diversion efforts, and to learn more about what's going into our landfills. It's also the site for CalMax, a business and educational materials exchange program that is very underutilized by local businesses and teachers.
California Resource Recovery Association
www.crra.com
A somewhat dull site, but useful for the links to other recycling information.
Californians Against Waste
www.cawrecycles.org
This is a nonprofit grassroots organization entirely focused on promoting a recycling economy. CAW has influenced all of California's major recycling legislation. This is one of those sites where you could spend hours following all of the links.
California State Association of Counties
www.csac.counties.org
If you would like to see what other areas in the state are doing about recycling, this site will link you to all of the other counties in California that have official Web sites. Click on "Counties Close-Up", then on "Counties' Websites". Some of the county sites also provide links to the incorporated cities within the county. Many of the larger counties and cities have posted their recycling guides online. Often, you'll find the information under the Public Works Dept. or Environmental Resources heading. Check out some of the more comprehensive sites, for example, Sonoma County's.
Industry Links
If an item or material has any potential for being recycled, you can be sure that there's an industry Web site to discuss recycling it. The text frequently glosses over the difference between being recyclable and actually being recycled, but can provide useful background information. Occasionally, you can even learn where you can recycle an item.
Aluminum Association
www.aluminum.org
Beverage containers aren't the only aluminum that's recycled; in fact, they're less than 20% of the total.
Aseptic Packaging Council
www.aseptic.org
The containers for soy/rice milks and juice boxes are called aseptic packages. If you've ever torn one apart, you know that it consists of layers of several different packaging materials. This web site touts the aseptic package as being "Earth Smart" and maybe it is if only because it's such a small percentage of the waste stream. If you click through the site, you'll learn that it's only economical to recycle these containers in areas that also recycle wax-coated milk cartons. Neither item is recyclable locally.
The Rubber Room
www.rubber.com
Click on "Tire and Rubber Recycling" to see all the different components of tires that can be recycled. You won't learn anything about where to recycle tires locally (for that, try any tire dealer or the landfill), but it should make you realize that worn-out tires are useful for more than burning in cogeneration plants or by accident at tire dumps. With millions of tires being discarded every year, it's something to consider.
Plastics Resource
www.plasticsresource.com
Although this site is definitely a PR piece for the plastics industry, it contains lots of well organized information about the plastics recycling industry, including some uses for recycled plastic. Plastic containers (the ones with the recycle arrows around a number) can be recycled locally, depending on how far you're willing to drive. Presently, only a few large businesses can recycle plastic film (e.g., the plastic cover stretched over the cases of cans you buy at Costco) locally even though there's a manufacturer of this product in Oroville.
Rechargeable batteries
www.rbrc.com
Recycle rechargeable batteries at the stores listed at this site. Call the store first, though, because some of the retailers have dropped the program due to lack of demand from customers.
Styrofoam
www.epspackaging.org
Look at this site to find California's polystyrene foam (blocks of Styrofoam) recycling locations.
Steel
www.recycle-steel.org
America's number 1 recycled material—learn all about it.
And a Few Others
Consumer Recycling Guide
www.obviously.com
Learn where to recycle those more obscure items such as computer floppy disks and CDs.
Palo Alto's Comprehensive Recycling List
www.cityofpaloalto.org
Palo Alto, always in the forefront, has created this site for local residents to find out where to recycle everything. For items you don't think you can recycle in Butte County, this site should give you some new ideas about places to take them.
National Recycling Coalition
www.nrc-recycle.org
Current news stories about recycling and a good source for recycling education programs.
Recycle Congress
www.grrn.org
See how the U.S. Congress stacks up in recycling efforts.
Recycline
www.recycline.com
A directory of recycled products with links to many national recycling information sites.
From the Spring 2001 issue of the Environmental News.
