Did you know you can also recycle beverage containers, milk containers, scrap tires, obsolete electronics and even used oil? And that’s not all.

Take the case of Canadian Tom Szaky and his company TerraCycle, which first made a name for itself with liquefied vermicompost plant food sold in recycled pop bottles. It’s considered the only lawn and garden product made and packaged from garbage.

This summer, U.S.-based TerraCycle is introducing more products—from TerraCycle flowerpots crafted out of recycled computer plastic to recycled juice pouches given a new life as tote bags.

TerraCycle has a remarkable story that clearly illustrates how recycled materials can be reused to create products and goods.

“The amazing truth is that, depending on where you live, more than 80 per cent of your waste can be recycled,” writes David Bach in Go Green, Live Rich (Canadian Edition, Doubleday Canada, 2008). “Things that can’t be collected through curbside recycling—such as electronics, paints, and batteries—may still be recyclable at a local drop-in centre.”

One Simple Act
Back in June during Environment Week, Albertans were challenged to do “One Simple Act” to make a big difference for the environment. “Collectively our actions make an enormous positive impact,” says Premier Ed Stelmach.

An Alberta conservation team was established to encourage Albertans to commit One Simple Act—in other words, a simple action towards waste reduction, energy or water conservation. The team will work with community-based organizations, municipalities and corporations to support environmental stewardship activities throughout the year. Team members based in Lethbridge, Calgary, Edmonton and Grand Prairie will visit community events throughout the summer.

“This team represents our future environmental leaders,” says Environment Minister Rob Renner. “They will be working with communities and municipalities to raise awareness of stewardship opportunities.”

Calgary and Edmonton residents can find excellent recycling information on their cities’ websites. Another comprehensive resource is Saving the World Begins at Home: A Personal Guide to Managing House Waste from Alberta Environment.

“Familiarize yourself with the items that are collected in your community’s program and how they should be prepared for recycling,” advises the guide. “Make recycling a habit! If your community doesn’t have a recycling program, help to organize one.”

Purchase products with recycling Mobius loops, the guide recommends, to ensure the material can be recycled or is made from recycled material. “The loop represents the three stages of recycling—collection, processing then purchasing recycled products”.

In the guide’s section on province-wide collection programs, it describes the recycling of different materials. For example batteries, lead-acid (auto/boat) and rechargeable, are responsible for 50 to 70 per cent of heavy metals such as mercury, lead and lithium, found in landfills.

Bring rechargeable batteries back to participating retailers or municipalities found on http://www.call2recycle.org, the guide suggests. Most communities have outlets for lead-acid batteries. Edmonton has a program for non-rechargeable batteries.

Alberta Recycling looks like a million
A major milestone has been achieved by Alberta, which has Canada’s oldest electronics recycling program, says Alberta Recycling Management Authority. In its fourth year of operation, the program has passed the one million mark in electronic products processed.

Electronics Recycling Alberta is managed and operated by Alberta Recycling Management Authority (Alberta Recycling). Since it began in 2004, it has grown from 100 municipal collection sites and three processors handling 9,000 items each month to over 220 collection sites and six processors handling over 41,000 items per month.

By the end of the 2007-08 fiscal year, the program had recycled over 1.13 million electronic components, including 176,000 TVs, 336,000 computers, 427,000 monitors and 198,000 printers.  In all, it diverted  more than 21,000 metric tonnes from Alberta landfills.

“Diverting this much material represents a significant saving in landfill costs as well as reducing the amount of hazardous components being put into landfills,” says Doug Wright, CEO of Alberta Recycling.

“Albertans are accepting and supporting this program in numbers that lead the pack in North America.”

Recycling in Calgary & Edmonton
Calgary: “Our long-term goal is to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills to just 20 per cent, and recycling or recovering 80 per cent of waste materials by the year 2020.”
Edmonton: “Through recycling, reuse and composting programs, the City diverts close to 60 per cent of residential waste from landfill. The goal is to divert 90 per cent by 2012.”
Check out the recycling sections on each city website for details.

The long and sort of it
Let’s face it, recycling at home can be an untidy affair, with overflowing bins and bags. There are interesting new products on the market to sort your recycling routine. Trashy is a freestanding kitchen island with drawers, towel bar and workspace. It’s available through http://www.metrikstudio.com or http://www.gettrashy.com

Ecopod home recycling/compacting system, from Williams-Sonoma, separates and compacts waste, taking less space. It’s available online or catalogue only from Williams-Sonoma (http://www.williams-sonoma.ca)   NL

WEBSITES
www.neuelements.ca
www.terracycle.net
www.finishrich.com
www.onesimpleact.alberta.ca
www.environment.alberta.ca
www.albertarecycling.ca
www.calgary.ca
www.edmonton.ca

Made in Alberta facts and figures
✳ On average, Albertans recycle more than 6,500 TVs and 11,700 computers each month.
✳ Some electronic products contain hazardous substances such as lead and mercury that can create environmental and health risks.
✳ Electronics contain recoverable resources such as metals, glass and plastic that can be recycled into other products.
✳ Recycling 50,000 tonnes of tire material per year instead of burying it saves 384,000 cubic-yards of landfill space.
✳ Albertans have saved well over $230 million by not sending scrap tires to the landfill.
✳ Almost 70 per cent of the rubber material being recycled today is used right here in Alberta.
✳ Albertans purchase over 30 million litres of paint, stain and related products each year. On average, between five and ten per cent of this paint goes unused and ends up in the waste stream. We also purchase more than two million aerosol paints each year, and on average Albertans dispose of over 350,000 aerosols annually.

Source: Alberta Recycling