Recycle Utah

Nonprofit Summit County, Utah Recycling Center

#zero waste

Why Does Recycling Matter?

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Rumor has it that it’s not worth recycling any plastics as they end up in the landfill. Are what Republic picks up at the curb every other week actually being made into a new product? While I can’t proclaim what occurs in other communities, I can say what occurs in Summit County. What is happening to our plastics… and more? Is it worth the effort to recycle?

Most recyclables, at this time, are not profitable except metals (a crime to see in the trash!). Glass is very recyclable and like metal, never degrades in quality, while paper and plastic weaken a bit each time. Glass, after transport, rarely pays back. Cardboard and paper are critical to recycle with fluctuating markets (often related to online orders) but they’re important to recycle due to released methane when landfilled.

Plastic is complicated. While there is seldom a payback, it’s the right thing to do. Most #1 and #2 plastics have a market; they are chipped and recycled into fleece, decking, carpet, etc. Everything else (#3 – #7) is now often used as ‘waste to energy’ to make cement at a local plant in Morgan, Utah. At least 30% of fossil fuels are avoided in the process, replaced by petroleum-based products like used plastics and tires. 

We’ve learned that at least 80% of what is going into our curbside recycling bins is being recycled (it used to be 65%) – that’s great! Plastic bags, glass, Styrofoam, and food are the biggest contamination culprits. One bad egg doesn’t make a difference, but many making bad do. As Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

By Mary Closser

Sustainable Travel and Lodging

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There is a saying that experience is the best teacher, and the best experience is travel. There are so many reasons we love to travel; to see new sites, experience new cultures, and embed ourselves in new communities. While travel can be one of the most meaningful ways to connect with the greater world around us, it can often come with less than friendly environmental impacts.

At Park City Lodging, we have developed several initiatives to help our guests to travel sustainably. One of the most impactful changes a hotel or vacation rental provider can make is to switch to bulk amenities. Park City Lodging offers 17oz. amenities, replacing 55,000 single use plastic bottles from production each year. Another impactful endeavor that businesses in every industry can explore is the 1% model for donations to local nonprofits. This can mean something different for each business: for PCL, our guests opt-in to donating $1/night to the Summit Land Conservancy, but it can be as simple as $0.10 per sale or even offering a donation bucket at the place of business for travelers to connect with the local community in a meaningful way. We also provide reusable grocery bags to guests upon check in, helping to keep plastic bag usage down within our community and shifting behavior for travelers upon returning to their own communities.

When searching for lodging accommodations during your next vacation, don’t be afraid to ask about sustainability practices, the industry is driven by consumers so the louder we are, the more impact we can have.

Heleena Sideris, Park City Lodging

Wishcycling

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You just finished a cup of soda in a disposable container with a plastic lid and straw. You are late to work, didn’t eat breakfast, your kid is calling you about who knows what, and now you are faced with a choice: throwing your waste into the trash can or the recycling bin.

In our increasingly busy lives, figuring out what is recyclable or not on a time crunch is difficult. Plus, there is seemingly no harm in throwing something in the recycling bin. Someone at the recycling facility can surely figure out how to turn it into a new item on the shelf, right?

Turns out, there is a name for this phenomenon: wishcycling, or recycling something only in hopes that it’s recyclable. While throwing an unrecyclable plastic straw or a plastic lid into the blue bin seems innocuous, it can cause serious problems. About 25% of recycling in the United States is contaminated by unrecyclable materials, mainly because of wish cycling. Non-recyclable materials clog and damage recycling machines, require more labor and money to sort out, and ultimately deteriorate the ability to turn materials into new products.

These issues can make contaminated loads unacceptable by recycling sorting facilities. So, what can we do?

1. Abide by the mantra “When in doubt, throw it out.” If you are unsure if something is recyclable, throw it away.

2. Learn more about recycling. Visit recycleutah.org for information on what is accepted in curbside bins and at Recycle Utah.

3. Educate others! If someone throws an unrecyclable item into the trash, let them know.

Montana Burack, Junior at Park City High School

Put a Little Bamboo in Your Life

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Here are some stats on the incredible sustainability features of bamboo. A forest of it acts as a giant carbon sink—a tropical bamboo plant can sequester 2 tons of carbon dioxide in 7 years. In comparison, a hardwood tree will sequester a ton of CO2 in 40 years and compared to pine, bamboo absorbs 5 times more. It also produces 35% more oxygen than an equivalent volume of trees. It requires very little water; it doesn’t need chemical fertilizer, herbicides or pesticides; it self-regenerates from its own roots. Crop yield is high. It grows fast. Some species can grow by more than a meter a day! It is fully biodegradable—toss a bamboo product in the landfill, and it will biodegrade in a few or more years. As a building material it is an excellent replacement for plastic, wood, concrete and steel. Its fibers are durable and super strong (er than steel), elastic, lightweight and rot resistant. It makes a lightweight, breathable, antibacterial fabric.

In 2019 the global bamboo marketplace reached $72 billion, and it grows steadily. So, what can we do to put more bamboo in our lives?

  • Learn more about bamboo. An interesting article is at https://www.greenbiz.com/article/north-america-should-be-growinghuge-swaths-bamboo-heres-why.
  • Purchase building materials, fabric, and housewares made with processed bamboo. In clothing, it’s “the new hemp.” Other products include flooring, roofing, scaffolding, furniture, rugs, kitchen utensils, toothbrushes, paper products, and diapers. Eat some high fiber, mineral and vitamin packed bamboo shoots and try a bamboo beer!

By Bev Harrison

Laundry Tips

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Unless you have the laundry fairy on speed dial, chances are you or someone in your household does up to 300 loads of laundry each year. Washing laundry requires about 6,000 gallons of water each year, and the dryer is the 2nd biggest user of energy in most houses behind the fridge. The United States’ annual residential laundry carbon emissions is equivalent to powering 21 million homes. So, what can we do to reduce the environmental impact of laundry, and maybe save some money while we are at it?

  1. Reduce the number of loads of laundry that is done by wearing clothes more than once and running full loads.
  2. Wash on cold. Heating the water in a washing machine takes up to 90% of a washing machine cycle’s energy. While washing on hot is still needed for germ filled loads, cold cycles are generally better for making clothes last longer and removing stains.
  3. If a washer or dryer needs to be replaced, be sure to choose an efficient energy star option. It could save you $370 in operating costs over your washer’s lifetime, and only uses 25 gallons per load, compared to 40 gallons for older machines.
  4. When it comes to drying, air dry if possible. Not only will you reap the savings from not using your energy hogging dryer, but you will also extend the life of your clothes.
  5. When using the dryer, make sure to properly clean the lint filter, and consider using dryer balls to reduce laundry drying time and energy use. Dryer balls also have the added benefit of softening laundry, making them an ideal replacement for single use and chemical laden dryer sheets.

By Montana Burack, Park City High School

Recycling the Small Stuff

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We at Recycle Utah often get questions about the small stuff. The caps? Lids? Corks? Small bath products? First, keep in mind that products need to be pure. If it’s a mixed material, it’s often not recyclable. Additionally, all materials need to be 90% clean of any residue – food, grease, etc.

Lids can stay on plastic bottles and be recycled through curbside service or Recycle Utah. Though, there’s a good chance the lid will pop off when bailed and may be swept aside into the landfill pile at the Salt Lake City recycling facility. Recycle Utah has designated containers for small plastics, corks and more to assure recyclability of small items.

Metals are important to always recycle as they consistently have market value – and recycling metals is less energy intensive than converting the raw material of ore into a new metal. Try compacting foil pieces, yogurt covers and more into a tennis ball-sized mass or save them in a sealed metal can. Metal products are often mixed with plastic – consider that the item needs to be at least 70% metal to be recyclable.

Now the bathroom, an open door to creative alternatives! First, how can you reduce? If your product is disposable, is there a sustainable and non-plastic replacement such as washable wipes, glass or metal containers, toothpaste tabs or bulk buys? And did you know that Recycle Utah accepts toothbrushes and toothpaste containers, a program with Colgate and Terracycle?

By Mary Closser