Where Does It Come From?

As the public's participation in recycling increases, it might seem that soft drink cans and bottles, milk jugs, newspapers, and used juice bottles constitute the bulk of products that are recycled. In fact, the nearly 200 billion pounds of commodities recycled annually come from every sector of American life, including industry and households.

Scrap Products Commonly Recycled

Scrap Metal

Aeronautical and aerospace equipment, including airplanes and rockets · Aluminum siding, doors, and windowframes · Appliances · Automobiles · Bed Frames and mattress springs · Bicycles · Bridges · Cast iron sinks and bathtubs · Computers · Cooking pots and pans · Electrical wire · Elevators · Eyeglass frames · Farm equipment · Food and beverage containers · Hospital equipment · Industrial cuttings · Locks and doorknobs · Office equipment and furniture · Park and playground equipment · Pipe · Railroad and subway cars · Roadbed reinforcing bars · Roofing · Ships · Structural steel building frames · Telephone wire · Tools · Toys

Scrap Paper

Books · Cardboard (corrugated) boxes · Computer printouts · Industrial cuttings · Newspaper · Office paper · Packaging materials · Surplus wallpaper · Telephone directories

Scrap Plastics

Bottle carrying crates · Detergent containers · Milk and water jugs · Pallets · Soft drink bottles

Sources of Scrap

Scrap recyclers purchase recyclables from a wide variety of collection sources, including · Airlines and railroad companies · Apartment complexes · Automobile dismantlers · Auto mechanics · Builders, roofers, and other construction sources · Demolition contractors · Factories, mills, foundries, fabricators · Farmers · Federal, state and municipal government agencies and programs · Hospitals, universities and schools · Machinists and appliance repair shops · Municipal curbside collection programs · Offices, stores, hotels, and restaurants · Plumbers and electricians · The general public · U.S Armed Forces · Utility companies

Source: Winter 1992 · ISRI Phoenix