Recycling

When we recycle, used materials are converted into new products, reducing the need to consume natural resources. If used materials are not recycled, new products are made by extracting fresh, raw material from the Earth, through mining and forestry. Recycling helps conserve important raw materials and protects natural habitats for the future.

Interesting Fact: Every day, Americans buy 62 million newspapers and throw out 44 million. That's the equivalent of dumping 500,000 trees into a landfill each and every week.

Interesting Fact: If everyone in the U.S. recycled just 1/10 of their newsprint, we would save the estimated equivalent of about 25 million trees a year.

Using recycled materials in the manufacturing process uses considerably less energy than that required for producing new products from raw materials – even when comparing all associated costs including transport etc.

Plus there are extra energy savings because more energy is required to extract, refine, transport and process raw materials ready for industry compared with providing industry-ready materials.

Recycling reduces the need for extracting (mining, quarrying and logging), refining, and processing raw materials, all of which create substantial air and water pollution.

As recycling saves energy it also reduces greenhouse gas emissions, which helps to tackle climate change. Recycling is estimated to save more than 18 million tons of C02 a year – the equivalent to taking 5 million cars off the road.

• Glass bottles & jars (clear, green, amber, brown, and blue)(please rinse)

• Plastic containers (#1 - #7 on bottom)
• Milk jugs
• Butter/margarine containers
• Pop/water bottles
• Detergent bottles
• Screw-on caps are allowed

• Steel cans
• Aluminum cans
• Clean aluminum foil
• Pie pans (2" or larger)
• Metal jar lids
• Steel bottle caps
• Metal food cans and beverage containers
• Empty aerosol cans

• Office paper (staples okay)
• Computer paper
• Junk mail
• Magazines
• Newspapers (glossy inserts okay)
• Phone books
• Catalogs
• Light-colored paper
• Corrugated cardboard (max. 12" x 24" per piece)
• Cereal/soda boxes
• Paper egg cartons
• Milk cartons
• Juice cartons
• Paper bags
• Greeting cards
• Blueprints
• Dry cleaning bags

• Light bulbs
• Plates
• Vases
• Drinking glasses
• Window glass
• Mirror glass

• 6 pack holders

• Scrap metal
• Foil paper
• Needles or syringes

• Paper ream wrappers
• Microwave trays
• Shredded paper
• Hard-cover books
• Frozen food containers
• Tissues
• Paper towels
• Napkins
• Waxed paper or waxed cardboard
• Stickers or sheets of address labels
• Styrofoam
• Diapers
• Photographs

• Any municipal solid waste
• Any hazardous items
• Yard waste

• Conservation:
  • All man-made products incorporate raw material to create finished products. By doing this they are required to harvest the earth's natural resources (i.e. wood, metal, etc) in order to get the materials needed. Deforestation is a prime example of how harvesting our natural resources is harmful to our environment. This could dramatically reduce if we recycled more products.
• Energy Saving:
  • Recycling reduces the amount of energy needed to create a new, similar product. If we didn't recycle paper, more trees would have to be chopped down, transported, and manufactured into the finished products. Energy conservation is one of the key ingredients for the fight against climate change.
• Reduce Pollution:
  • Along with energy saving, is the reduction of pollution as a result of manufacturing processes becoming more efficient. Any reduction in CO2 or other harmful gases is not only a key ingredient for the fight against climate change, but a key ingredient for cleaning the air we breathe. If we can reduce pollution levels this could have an impact on our health for our whole community.

• The Environment:
  • Offering recycling Services in O'Neill, NE is not just financially important, but it also makes sense to make the best use of our limited natural resources. Simply stated, recycling is good for the environment. Recycling is a success story about our communities and we should all be proud of what we have achieved as a nation and will continue in the future!

• Thinking Ahead:
  • The more we recycle, the more we can help to reduce the burden on local and national landfill sites. As population levels increase, we will need to find more landfill sites, which will harm the surrounding environment and wildlife. This is another important reason why we should recycle more, in order to reduce the impact landfills have on the surrounding environment.