📘 How does recycling actually work?

What you’ll learn

1. The bin is not the factorySeparate putting something in the bin from EPA's industrial definition of recycling, using the 2018 national numbers.Collection is not recycling. EPA's 32.1 percent is recycling plus composting. Recycling alone is about 24 percent, half of MSW is landfilled, and most recycled tons are paper.
2. Collection is a productTreat single-stream, dual-stream, and deposit-return as collection designs, and treat contamination as a mill problem.The truck is a product. Bags, batteries, and food wreck bales. Your town's list is a list of current buyers.
3. Materials are not equalCompare 2018 EPA rates for batteries, boxes, cans, glass, PET bottles, and all plastics.Lead-acid batteries and cardboard loop. Aluminum cans sit near 50 percent. All plastics sit at 8.7 percent because most plastic is not a bottle.
4. The triangle is a resinRead a resin identification code as a plastic name, not a pickup promise.EPA and ASTM: the number is not recyclability. 2013 swapped arrows for a solid triangle. Bags and many 3-7 items need a different door.
5. A mill has to want itFollow EPA's sequence through a mill sale, National Sword, the hierarchy, and a local-list check tonight.Recycling ends when someone buys the new product. China left as the buyer of last resort in 2018. Reduce sits above recycle. Check the hauler, not the arrows.

Questions this course answers

Grounded in trusted sources

• U.S. EPA, National Overview: Facts and Figures on Materials, Wastes and Recycling — 2018: 292.4 million tons MSW; 69 million recycled; 25 million composted; 32.1 percent recycling-and-composting; 146 million landfilled; paper about two-thirds of recycling tonnage; corrugated boxes 32.1 million tons: https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/national-overview-facts-and-figures-materials
• U.S. EPA, Plastics: Material-Specific Data — 35.7 million tons generated; 8.7 percent recycled; PET bottles and jars 29.1 percent; HDPE natural bottles 29.3 percent (2018): https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/plastics-material-specific-data
• U.S. EPA, Aluminum: Material-Specific Data — aluminum packaging 34.9 percent recycled; beer and soft-drink cans 50.4 percent (0.67 million tons) in 2018: https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/aluminum-material-specific-data
• U.S. EPA, Glass: Material-Specific Data — 12.3 million tons glass generated; glass containers 3.1 million tons recycled, 31.3 percent (2018): https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/glass-material-specific-data
• U.S. EPA, Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: 2018 Fact Sheet — lead-acid batteries 99 percent; corrugated boxes 96.5 percent; steel cans 70.9 percent: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-01/documents/2018_ff_fact_sheet_dec_2020_fnl_508.pdf
• U.S. EPA, How Do I Recycle Common Recyclables — resin number does not necessarily mean your community collects the item; bags not in the household bin; spatula-clean; glass over and over: https://www.epa.gov/recycle/how-do-i-recycle-common-recyclables
• U.S. EPA, Sustainable Materials Management: Non-Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Hierarchy — reduce/reuse, then recycle/compost, then energy recovery, then landfill; recycling as collect, sort, remanufacture, and purchase of recycled-content goods: https://www.epa.gov/smm/sustainable-materials-management-non-hazardous-materials-and-waste-management-hierarchy
• ASTM D7611 via ANSI — Resin Identification Codes are not recycle codes; 2013 solid-triangle mark: https://blog.ansi.org/ansi/resin-identification-codes-rics-astm-d7611/

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

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