In a lithium-ion battery, the anode and cathode hold the lithium ions. An electrolyte carries the lithium ions from one area to the other through the part called the separator. The movement between the anode and cathode creates the electrical charge at the positive and negative parts of the battery.As an electric current is used […]

Disposing of recyclables is easy when it’s an item you can put in your recycling container and move out to the curb for pick-up services. What about the items that can’t be recycled curbside? Did you know that those items can put cash in your pocket? Here are the top 10 ways to make money […]

Tucson is one of many cities that have scrapped curbside glass recycling. Starting February 1st, Tucson residents have to drive miles to one of the city’s glass recycling facilities with their boxes or bags of glass bottles and containers. Why are so many cities turning their backs on curbside glass recycling?It comes down to money. […]

According to the non-profit Mattress Recycling Council, every year Americans dispose of more than 1.5 million mattresses. Some of the components in a mattress can be recycled, yet few states actually have laws in place.Take a look back at mattresses over the centuries. People used to sleep on piles of straw, leaves, wool, or hay […]

Containers and packaging make up the bulk of the recyclables your household generates. Between 2000 and 2018, the amounts generated increased from 75.84 million tons to 82.22 million tons. The good news is that the tonnage recycled increased from approximately 38% to 53.8%.There’s still room for improvement. In 2000, 37.86 million tons of packaging and […]

Every waste district in the U.S. has its own policies on what is accepted and what isn’t. Curbside haulers in one town may welcome all plastics while another only takes #1 and #2. Some haulers take away food waste to be composted instead of sent to the landfill, but others want food waste in the […]

Hazardous materials cannot go into the trash. Fluids like unused paint and cleaners, heating fuels like unused kerosene, and automotive fluids like dirty oil and transmission fluid pollute the groundwater and soil if they’re disposed of improperly. Dumping used motor oil in a river can harm the fish and wildlife that rely on that river […]

Wish-cycling is the practice of recycling items that cannot be recycled. It stems from the best intentions. You wish or hope that something you’ve bought or use regularly can be recycled. Instead, your good intentions end up costing recycling companies more time and money. Worse, it can impact recycling at a later processing point. The items […]

In August, California became the first state in the U.S. to require any company making plastic bottles to use recycled plastic. Governor Newsom signed AB 793 into law on September 24th. Starting in 2022, big changes are coming to plastic bottles in the products available to consumers.Many food and beverage manufacturers use virgin plastic to […]

Take a trip back to the 1980s when recycling started gaining steam. School kids were informed to put their unneeded papers into boxes in the classroom. Those papers would get recycled. Bottles and glass became the next items being recycled. At the time, the focus was on keeping reusable materials out of overflowing landfills.Fast forward […]