• Seasonal Recycling: How Extreme Weather Events Disrupt & Reshape Collection Systems

    August 6, 2025

    Recycling may seem like a modern household practice, but it goes back to the 1800s when people would patch worn clothing or take fabric scraps to make new things. Ragmen went from door to door collecting fabric scraps to use in paper manufacturing. During WWII, families were asked to donate their scrap metal, paper, rags, […]

    • The Role of Reuse Hubs in Reducing Landfill Waste

      July 28, 2025

      The EPA reports that each American generates about 4.9 pounds of municipal solid waste (MSW) each day. In one week, you’ve generated about 35 pounds of trash and recyclables. Consider that amount over a month or a year. It’s so much, and it’s overwhelming the nation’s landfills.The Realities of MSWHere’s a scary fact: recyclables often […]

      • Refillable Household Products: Reducing Single-Use Plastic Reliance

        July 21, 2025

        Have you come across refill stores? Bring your reusable bottles and fill them from the store’s selection of cleaning products, shampoos, conditioners, and other skin care items. While stores aren’t found in every area, refill stores are appearing in more areas.Why use refillable household products? It lowers the amount of single-use plastic you consume. The […]

        • The Rise of Chemical Recycling: What Recyclers Should Know

          July 9, 2025

          During WWII, plastic appeared as a “material with 1,000 uses.” Fast forward to today, when global production of plastic has surpassed 359 million tons. While plastic has been helpful in many areas, it’s also created problems within the environment. Microscopic particles of plastic are in the soil, air, and water. They’re in animals, fish, and […]

          • Recycling Around the World: Lessons From Countries With High Recycling Rates

            June 23, 2025

            Here are the sad facts. Using the EPA’s last statistics for recycling, 292.4 million tons of materials were generated in 2018. That’s almost five pounds of waste per person every day. Of that, only 69 million tons were properly recycled and 25 million tons were composted. That’s only 32.1% that was recycled.There is so much […]

            • The Rise of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Laws in the U.S.

              June 19, 2025

              How many electronic devices (phones, laptops, tablets, etc.) does the average American own? The answer may shock you as it’s increased 63% between 2018 and 2025. People own an average of 13 devicesThat’s just small electronics. You’ll have other harder-to-recycle items like refrigerators, electric fireplaces, massage chairs, microwaves, window AC units, portable heaters, and the […]

              • Recycling Personal Care Items

                June 5, 2025

                If you think about all of the plastic and metal recycling you generate each year, you’re probably overlooking a main contributor to waste streams. Personal care items like razor blades, shaving cream, toothbrushes, hair products, perfume bottles, and deodorants all contain metal, glass, or plastic, but can you recycle them?Personal care items are a challenging […]

                • Battery Recycling for Businesses: How to Implement an Effective Program

                  May 27, 2025

                  Battery recycling is one of the most important things your business can do for the environment. Lithium-ion batteries can cause fires in recycling plants and garbage and recycling trucks. Alkaline batteries contain metals and chemicals that shouldn’t be released into the environment.It’s hard to know exactly how many batteries end up in the landfill. CalRecycle […]

                  • Glass Recycling: Sorting by Color and Other Important Do’s and Don’ts

                    May 21, 2025

                    Recycling is everything in today’s single-use world. While your grandmother or, perhaps, great-grandmother made many things from scratch and reused the same set of canning jars over and over, today’s consumer buys something to use until it’s gone and then recycles it.In 2018, 3.1 million tons of glass containers were recycled. That breaks down to […]

                    • The Challenges and Solutions in Recycling Plastic Bags

                      May 7, 2025

                      What do you do with your plastic bags when they’re no longer needed? Do you put them in the trash? Do you put them in your curbside container and hope for the best? Plastic bags are not easily recycled through conventional means. Yet, they’re not a great item to throw in the trash either. It’s because […]