Post #2--Recycling in Newton

So I've done some research... And for Newton, it takes two: green and blue! Green for recycling, blue for the garbage (so now that I've told you, you can't ever mistake them!)

Newton has single stream recycling, which as I already mentioned, means you can place all of your recyclables curbside together and they are then be transported by Waste Management to a recyclables processing plant located in Avon, MA (I wonder if I can go there...) Once at the Avon plant, the recyclables are "single streamed, sorted, baled and sent to different markets". http://www.newtonma.gov/DPW/recycling/residents/where_go.htm
What I need to do now is find out what happens at the Avon plant and where they go! And what happens to them?? The mention of the Avon plant is preceded with a link to http://www.recycleamerica.com/, so I'll have to check that out too, of course. This is certainly quite the research process.

What I'm also curious about it how effective and efficient recycling is as a whole. Yes, it must be great to reuse and recycle, but what about all the energy it takes? That has to come from somewhere too. I remember watching a video in middle school science class (Hey, Mrs. Carito!) that involved recycling (I wonder if I can get my hands on that, hehe). It showed that it took a lot more energy to make a glass bottle from recycled glass than it does to make a new one. I'm not sure if 1) I'm remembering correctly, and 2) how pollution would play into effect in this scenario... Again, to research.

And now for an interesting fact!
Q. What does the little "chasing arrows" symbol mean? It means "this item is recyclable", right?
A. Apparently not. The chasing arrows symbol, usually with a number inside it indicates the type of plastic the product is made of. The example on the City of Newton website described a plastic bag, made of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE- #2), which is the same material that a milk jug would be made of. That doesn't mean they can be treated in the same way, though! The bag would contain all sorts of different dyes and plastic-modifiers and chemicals that would make it different from the milk jug (one obvious example, it's a film, not a jug...). Also, do you know what else is "same same, but different"? Styrofoam. To make styrofoam, air is added by the manufacturer creating a totally different product that is incompatible with the recycling processing equiptment.

Q. So what can I recycle if I don't know which "chasing arrows" symbols indicate recyclability?
A. The City of Newton asks that you place only stuff plastic containers with the numbers #1-#7 in the green recycle bins. http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/dpw/recycling/residents/faqs.htm

Q. What can I do with my plastic bags?
A. You can reuse them or bring them back to the store for recycling. Many stores do, like CVS.
--I'm not exactly sure HOW they recycle the plastic bags, but it's another thing for me to find out!