Here’s How To Recycle Different Kinds Of Items
By: Stephanie Chizoba Odili
Tags: Recycling, Climate Action, Sdg 13, Sustainability, Climate Change

Here’s How To Recycle Different Kinds Of Items

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

First of all, you’re probably wondering what recycling actually means. Recycling is the process of breaking down and re-using materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash. Yup, it’s that simple.

And here’s why it’s important.

Recycling is crucial to the future health of our planet. It reduces the need to grow, harvest, or extract new raw materials from the earth.

Recycling also saves us more. For example, did you know that producing new aluminum from old products uses 95% less energy than making it from scratch? Or that making paper from pulped recycled paper uses 40% less energy than making it from new wood fibers? Think this doesn’t mean anything, what about knowing that the amount of energy saved from recycling one coca cola glass bottle could power an old 100-watt light bulb for 4 hours and a new low-energy LED equivalent for a lot longer?

So you see, recycling is so important and needed to keep Earth alive. And when we don’t recycle, the earth weakens.

Basically, it’s like watching a 75-year-old woman working twelve-hour shifts non-stop seven days a week.

Now, what can be recycled? The most common types of items that can be recycled are paper, clothes, plastic, metals, wood, electronics, and glass. Instead of throwing away all your recyclable waste, why not save the old mother earth, and even earn some money while at it. For plastics, you should first understand the different unique labeling. Plastics such as beverage bottles, perishable food containers, and mouthwash bottles are called PETE or PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate). These plastics are recycled into carpet, furniture, and fiber for winter garments.

Plastics including milk jugs, yogurt tubs, cleaning product containers, body wash bottles, and some children’s toys are made from HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene). Recycled HDPE plastics are made into pens, plastic lumber, plastic fencing, picnic tables, and bottles. V or PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) plastics such as food wraps, plumbing pipes, tiles, windows, and medical equipment are turned into flooring, paneling, and roadside gutters to name a few.

The ones you’re most familiar with are LDPE (Low-Density Polyethylene) plastics. These are found in household items like plastic wrap, grocery bags, frozen food containers, and squeezable bottles which are then turned into garbage cans, paneling, furniture, flooring, and bubble wrap- which we all love.

Other plastic types include PP (Polypropylene) as seen in medicine bottles, PS (Polystyrene) as found in egg cartons, and disposable dinnerware. And finally, miscellaneous Plastics, also known as the SPI code 7 as seen in computer casings and baby bottles.

This doesn’t mean you need to set aside seven bins at home for the different kinds of plastic, two extra bins are enough. The professionals — recycling companies — will do the rest of the sorting out for you. Since it’s your plastic, some of those companies are often ready to pay for your waste, so, what are you waiting for? I hear someone asking ‘how much are we talking here?’ Well, depending on how much recyclable waste you have, there are some organizations paying up to US$ 100 a month. *Wink*, that’s what I thought.

With cloth recycling, interestingly, it takes up to 200 tons of water to make a ton of fabric. Multiply that by all the clothes you have and then by all the people in the world. That’s a whole lot of water and clothing going to waste if we’re not careful. Thankfully, organizations like PUMA, Worn Again, Levi Strauss, H&M and so much more ask that you send in old clothes to them for recycling. H & M has even openly said “There are no rules in fashion but one: Recycle your clothes.”

So, if you cannot get your clothes across to these organizations, especially if you didn’t buy from them, then you should try thrift selling, who knows, you might be able to get a new phone or phone case, depending on how many you sell. If thrift selling fails, then you can submit them to The Lagos Food Bank Initiative. About a decade ago, London-based Worn Again began upcycling and has turned things like discarded McDonald’s uniforms, Virgin Atlantic airplane seats, and prison blankets into clothes, shoes, and bags. Who knows, your old clothes could be recycled into Birkin bags.

Think your home plastics and clothes recycling aren’t really doing anything for the planet in the grand scheme of things? Well, think again. To begin recycling, here’s what you should do.

Sort out the items- plastics, clothes, glass, whatever you might have.

Google “where in, (insert whatever location you’re in), can I recycle my, (insert item name)”. Lots of results will come up, choose the one best and closest to you, and find your way there.

Tell one or five more people about what you’ve done and urge them to do the same.

Climate action does not just begin with the recycling symbol and end at the recycling bin, it’s much more than that. Let’s join hands to do better in the journey to saving our planet.