In America, about 30% of materials that can be recycled are recycled.  From schools, to governments, to  nonprofits like St. Louis Earth Day, the message to recycle is loud and clear. Despite this, the amount of materials actually being recycled is not increasing. By understanding our interdependent recycling system, you can help increase the rate of recycling in YOUR community!

Until recently, convincing people to separate their trash and recycling has been the biggest challenge for the recycling industry. Now that many of us are accustomed to recycling, the challenge has changed – people are putting non-recyclable materials in their single stream bins, causing major problems in the system. As you will see, contamination is costly for everyone! It is imperative that we ONLY toss items that can be recycled in single stream into their bins and dumpsters. If you’re unsure about whether an item is recyclable or not, use this rule of thumb: when in doubt, throw it out. If you are not sure if a material is recyclable, put it in the trash instead of  risking contaminating an entire load of recycling – don’t be a wish-cycler!

Single stream recycling is designed to only accept clean, dry paper, #1-5 and #7 plastics bigger than 2 inches, glass, aluminum, steel and tin cans, tetra packs (like orange juice containers), and cardboard. Our recycling system cannot accept  electronics, clothing, batteries, sports equipment, ammunition, coffee cups,napkins, styrofoam, plastic cutlery, straws, and other difficult materials.

In most cities and towns, we enjoy municipal collection of our recyclable materials, which is often paid for by taxes or monthly fees. This money is necessary to ensure that they can maintain the collection equipment for the community.

Haulers will sometimes offer small rebates to commercial and municipal customers for providing them with commingled single stream recycling material. They earn this rebate money by “tipping” trucks full of materials at the sorting facilities. They are paid for each load based on how pure, or uncontaminated, it looks. The less contamination, the more they are paid.

This is the first part of the system to suffer when their loads contain contaminated materials. It costs them the same to haul the loads,  but they are paid less because of wish-cycling. Repeat contamination offenses can result in raised recycling rates for residents and businesses.

The sorting process is one of the most important stages in the recycling system. Trucks arrive and tip their loads of mixed recyclables onto the warehouse floor of Material Recovery Facilities, or MRFs, all day long. Sorting facilities have to make a judgement call as to how “clean” each load is, crossing their fingers  that there is no contamination buried within the piles.

Materials are then loaded onto the conveyor belts in thick layers to begin the sorting process.  Workers along the conveyor belts do their best to pull contaminants out of the stream, allowing the rest of the material to be sorted by mechanical methods  so the rest of the material can continue along its journey.

Puffs of air are used to sort out the clean, dry paper. When it is wet or damaged, it does not end up in the correct pile. Optical lasers are able to identify aluminum and various plastics  accepted by the facility. Small pieces of plastic like bottle caps, straws, and plastic utensils do not make it through this process, since they are too small. Rubber, PVC, and plastic bags are also sorted out of this process since they are not recycled at the single stream facilities. Unfortunately, plastic bags often sneak past the human and mechanical sorters, creating problems for equipment and causing the lines to shut-down for their removal.

MRFs are financially responsible for disposing of the piles of contamination – aka trash – they sort out everyday, costing them money in manpower, equipment maintenance, and dumping fees for plastic bags and other garbage accidentally thrown in single-stream recycling.

Once the sorting facility assembles a clean load material, they find a buyer on the global market for a fair price The prices for some of these materials has fluctuated dramatically over the last few years. These fluctuations directly impact sorting facilities and their operations. Once a buyer has been found, sorting facilities pay to have their materials shipped to plants that actually recycle the materials – manufacturing new products from old products.

Shipping companies depend on demand to move materials around the world, from one port to another. They also profit from our recycling system, creating jobs along the way.

Manufacturers turn sorted, shipped material into new products, ranging from paper products to swingsets, making money from recycled materials while avoiding the carbon costs associated with using virgin materials.

Many factors impact the cost of producing recycled materials. Sometimes, markets make it more attractive for manufacturers to purchase virgin materials instead of recycled materials with subsidies and cheap prices. When that happens, demand for recycled material drops, and  manufacturers slow production, causing a backup at the MRFs.

When consumer demand for recycled products is not high, then the entire recycling system suffers.

In order for our recycling system to work, industries must be willing to use materials made from recycled products, and consumers must commit to purchasing products made from recycled materials.

The recycling system cannot exist without its end market – YOU,  the recycler and the consumer. Recycling literally begins and ends with you. For more recycling info, including lists of where to send Hard-to-Recycle items like batteries and electronics, visit St.Louis City Recycles’ Beyond Your Blue Bin database.