Buying products made from recycled materials will help close the recycling loop. Buying recycled means that you are buying re-used products that otherwise would be in a landfill. By re-using materials, we can decrease the emissions of greenhouse gases that are used when creating new materials.
There are several terms that are used when describing recycled products that you should look for when shopping. Recycled-content products are manufactured with recycled materials either from a recycling program or was recovered from the normal manufacturing process. Post-consumer content is when the material comes only from recyclables collected from consumers or businesses through a recycling program. Recyclable products can be collected, processed, and manufactured into new products after they have been used.
A list of common products that can be made with recycled content:
- Carpeting
- Glass containers
- Motor oil
- Newspapers
- Trash bags