Recycling 101
Metal, Glass, Plastic & Cartons is otherwise known as
What is MGPC?
This type of waste includes fruit peels, coffee grounds and egg shells
What is food waste?
The R's stand for this.
Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle, Rot
Single use plastic items are identified this way.
What are resin codes or the numbers 1-7. The most easily recyclable are #1 and #2.
The average NY'er generates this many pounds of waste per day
What is 4.5 lbs.
Did you know that The average American produces enough trash to fill a 90,000-seat football stadium.
This item can be recycled forever
What is aluminum
This brown material helps balance moisture in compost piles
What are carbon rich materials like leaves or shredded paper
What can you bring with you to help reduce your use of a single use item?
What are Reusables
Bags, water bottles, reusable coffee cups, a reusable straw, reusable cutlery and maybe some containers.
Plastics are made from this material.
What is Petroleum Oil?
While natural polymers – such as silk, wool, DNA, cellulose and proteins – occur in nature and are often water-based, synthetic polymers are human-made and derived from petroleum oil. Common synthetic polymers include nylon, polyethylene, polyester and Teflon.
The percentage of food wasted in the US?
What is approximately 30-40%
These items are often incorrectly placed in the recycle bin
What are Liquid, Food, Paper Napkins and Soft Plastics?
Can food turn into compost in the trash bin or landfill.
What is NO. Food needs air and heat and circulation to become compost.
The act of dumping your waste on the floor and sorting into categories
What is a waste audit
What is Downcycled?
Most plastic is downcycled before ending up in landfill.
Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy power 100 watt bulb for how many hours.
What is 4 hours.
It can also power a computer for 30 minutes, or a television for 20 minutes. If we recycled all of the aluminum cans in the U.S., the energy saved could power 4.1 million homes for a full year.
How do you know if a plastic item can be placed in the recycle bin in NYC
What is if it is Rigid, or has the #1, #2 or #5 on the package
Composting reduces this green house gas emitted in landfills
What is Methane
Name 2 ways to recycle right
What is dump food and liquids before recycling items
and
Read the signs to know what bin waste belongs in
9%.
What is the amount of plastic ever recycled?
This is the fastest growing material stream
What is e-waste.
Only 22% is formally collected and recycled. 62 million tons was generated in 2022.
This is how many times paper / cardboard can be recycled
What is 5-7 times?
Did you know recycling has always been a part of the process of making paper? Paper, as we know it today, is believed to have originated from China thousands of years ago, made out of mulberry bark, hemp, and rags mixed with water, mashed into pulp, pressed, and hung to dry in the sun.
These are two ways that organics are processed.
What is compost or waste to energy.
Compost is the act of turning food waste into a soil amendment and is usually what a community compost program does. Waste to energy is the process of turning food waste into a methane gas that is put into the power grid.
Name two ways to reduce food waste
What is meal prep, freeze your leftovers for later, share with others, order less for catering, donate, compost
This is one topic that scientists have been studying regarding our use of single use plastic that relates to health
What is microplastics?
Microplastics <5mm. Humans ingest roughly 50,000–120,000 particles annually through bottled water, seafood, and dust. They have been detected in human lungs, liver, kidneys, and blood, potentially causing inflammation and cellular damage.
The amount of time it takes for a single use plastic bag to decompose in a landfill
What is 1,00 years. And it doesn't bio degrade but rather becomes small pieces of plastic -- microplastics
This country has the highest recycling rate among OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) nations at 54%
What is South Korea?