Modern clothing and fashion designer Issey Miyake said, "The purpose--where I start--is the idea of use. It is not recycling. It's reuse." Miyake is describing a mindset of creating products from items that no longer have any use. While Miyake's furniture lines incorporate cast-off paper and fabric, the recycling also frequently takes place without the consumer's knowledge that the new product is made from recycled ones.
Recycled Paper
Trees are a renewal resource, but the supply of paper used around the world outstrips tree growth. Half the trees harvested in the U.S. are used for paper production, totaling 346 pounds for every American. While nearly 60 percent of the paper used in the U.S. in 2008 was recycled, according to statistics from the Paper Industry Association Council, the majority of the remaining paper products went into landfills. New recycled newspaper is nearly a one-to-one match in making new newsprint, while it takes two to over three times the amount of tree material to make virgin paper. Recycled paper also uses less water, chemicals and energy.
Recycled Concrete
Concrete supplies are in short supply, especially in the eastern part of the U.S. As a result, construction companies use recycled concrete to supplement building materials. Concrete recyclers break the material into smaller pieces and then crush the product into an aggregate that is used in new applications including roadbeds, drainage structures and highway noise barriers, according to the Portland Cement Association.
Recycled Glass Bottles
While returnable glass bottles can be reused 20 or more times, according to the Container Recycling Institute, glass is also recycled into other glass bottles, dinnerware and industrial glassware. The Glass Packaging Institute states glass is the "only true 'cradle-to-cradle' packaging material" due to its 100 percent recyclability. Approximately 80 percent of all recovered glass is converted into new bottles. The downside is the total recycling figures: just over one-quarter of bottles used in the U.S. in 2007 were used in recycling, the rest going into landfills.
Recycled Aluminum
Aluminum is now in short supply. Cans were once tossed into landfill as raw materials provided limitless metal for hundreds of thousands of new cans. As the price of new products skyrocketed beginning in the late 1960s, aluminum manufacturers developed systems for recycling. Recycled aluminum cars, doors, windows and appliances now provide the raw materials for new aluminum products. Can recycling accounted for only 30 percent of recycled consumer goods in 2010, according to the Aluminum Association. Recycled aluminum is used to manufacture cans. The recycled product is also used to manufacture a product called "specification aluminum alloy," a metal that incorporates aluminum with other alloys for use in automobile manufacturing.
Household Goods and Clothing
Throw and bed pillows can be made from recycled plastic. Carpets and rugs and carpet batting also use recycled plastic from bottles and thin plastic supermarket bags. Shredded plastic is mixed with new polyester to stuff winter jackets and stuffed toy animals. The average American contributes over 160 plastic bottles to environmental waste, most of which end up in landfill. The recycling alternatives for plastic bottles are restricted due to the present technology.
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