What is recycling? True recycling is a series of activities by which discarded materials are separated from the waste stream, collected, sorted, processed, and converted into new materials and then used in the production of new products. Collecting and processing secondary materials, manufacturing recycled-content products, and then purchasing recycled products creates a circle or loop that ensures the overall success and value of recycling.  Visit the following web site for Frequently Asked Questions about the environmental value of recycling: http://www.epa.gov/region4/recycle/faqs.htm.

Locality recycling programs are geared to the collection of recyclable materials, and then to the directing of these materials to the markets via public or private processing or brokering systems.  Types of collection systems include drop-off containers, manned or un-manned convenience centers, and curbside collection programs.  Key to the success of any program is on-going promotion of recycling as an environmental and community asset, with all sectors contributing to the diversion of recyclable materials from the waste stream.

Virginia's Solid Waste Management Regulations defined "recycling" as "any process whereby material which would otherwise be solid waste is used or reused, or prepared for use or reuse, as an ingredient in an industrial process to make a product, or as an effective substitute for a commercial product."

In Virginia recyclable materials from the municipal solid waste streams include: paper (newspapers, corrugated cardboard, Kraft paper, high-grade office paper, mixed paperf), metal (ferrous scrap, non-ferrous scrap, aluminum, tin cans), plastics, glass, yard waste (composted or mulched), waste wood, textiles, waste tires, used oil-oil filters-antifreeze, auto bodies (Abandoned Vehicle Program), construction waste, demolition waste, debris waste, batteries, ash and non-industrial sludges (composted).

National Trends

Recycling of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in the U.S. grew from 9.6 percent in 1980 to 32 percent in 2005.   EPA has developed a number of Resource Conservation Challenge (RCC) projects to promote expanding recycling and waste minimization efforts in the U.S.  A national goal of 35 percent recycling by the Year 2010 is being supported by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (For additional background information on EPA's analysis of the 35 percent recycling goal see Recycling.For the Future: Consider the Benefits at www.ofee.gov)