Entries in Recycling Challenge (20)
Recycling Challenge: Paint
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 10:00AM 
FACT
Approximately 10 percent of the 637 million gallons of paint sold each year goes unused. This equals 64 million gallons per year.
Recycling Challenge: Pens
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 2:00PM 
FACT
According to the most recent statistics from the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association, nearly 5 billion pens were sold in the U.S. in 2008.
Recycling Challenge: Yard Waste
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 2:00PM 
FACT
Yard waste, consisting of grass, leaves and other garden debris, comprises an estimated 18 percent of the annual municipal waste stream.
PROBLEM
Sending yard waste to the landfill puts an unnecessary seasonal burden on the municipal garbage collection system. Leaf waste can account for as much as 60 percent to 80 percent of the waste stream in the fall, and grass clippings can make up 50 percent.
Recycling Challenge: Construction Waste
Monday, September 26, 2011 at 4:10PM 
FACT
Building-related construction and demolition waste totals approximately 170 million tons per year, roughly two-thirds of all non-industrial solid waste generation in the U.S.
PROBLEM
Total annual construction and demolition waste (“C&D waste” in the biz) equates to 3.2 pounds of building-related materials per person in the U.S., per day. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 52 percent of this ends up in a landfill. Sources of building-related C&D debris in the waste stream include demolition (approximately 48 percent of the annual waste stream), renovation (44 percent) and new construction (8 percent). It is economically viable to recycle the majority of this waste, as the cost to transport and dispose of C&D waste can be more than 2 percent of a project’s cost.
Recycling Challenge: Eyeglasses
Thursday, June 30, 2011 at 12:32PM 
FACT: More than 4 million pairs of eyeglasses are thrown away each year in North America.
According to the World Health Organization, 1 billion people who need glasses lack access to them. In developing countries, and here in the U.S., inaccessibility means that these people are losing educational opportunities because they can’t see clearly to read, and they are excluded from productive working lives, thus suffering economic and social consequences. The cost of glasses in developing nations is high, frequently exceeding three months’ salary. Most bespectacled Americans have at least one old pair of glasses sitting in a drawer in their house. Instead of becoming a dust magnet—or worse, going to a landfill—those specs could have a second life improving someone else’s.
Recycling Challenge: Cell Phone Chargers
Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 2:37PM 
FACT: Globally, 51,000 to 82,000 tons of cell phone charger waste is generated per year.
PROBLEM: One hundred million cell phones become obsolete each year and, in most cases, so do their chargers. The European Commission has recently solved this problem for residents of the European Union by persuading 10 major cell phone manufacturers to sign an agreement that takes effect this year to make a universal charger for all phones. Unfortunately for those of us living on this side of the Atlantic, without governmental pressure to change, cell phone manufacturers are in no rush to provide the same waste-reducing technology to the American market.
Recycling Challenge: Metal Clothes Hangers
Wednesday, December 8, 2010 at 2:59PM 
FACT: 3.5 billion metal hangers, the equivalent of 200 million pounds of steel, are used each year by the dry cleaning industry alone.
Problem: Metal (or wire) hangers are the scourge of the recycling industry. In addition to the low percentage of steel reclaimed per hanger, they can catch on recycling equipment and cause jams and damage.
Recycling Challenge: Sports Equipment
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 11:00AM 
Keep treadmills, tennis balls and tired sneakers out of the landfill! Fact: Approximately 20,000 tons of tennis balls end up in landfills every year
Donate: Goodwill accepts sporting goods (with the exception of bowling balls); visit goodwillnj.org to locate the donation center nearest you.
Recycling Challenge: Refrigerators
Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 1:13PM 
The Issue: Disposing of your old fridge