Let's Talk Trash, edited by
Laura Dickerson
May29, 2003, Column from the Lexington Minuteman
RECYCLING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q: I have an old radio with tubes. How should I get rid of it?
A: Hold onto it until July 26th and take it to the next CRT & electronics
drop-off.
Q: We are doing some landscaping and excavating for a small pond and patio. We
will dig up more dirt than we can easily redistribute on our property.
Can this be taken to the yard waste facility or put at the curb with
other yard waste?
A: You will probably be able to take it to the yard waste site on
Hartwell Avenue, but the DPW would like to talk to you about it first. Please
call the solid waste coordinator at (781) 274-7298.
Q: Is it O.K. to recycle paper with staples in it?
A: Yes. Staples are OK, paper clips must be removed.
Q: Is there a difference between "30% recycled content" and
"30% post-consumer content"? I do the ordering of supplies for my
office and the Staples catalogue uses both terms for their paper.
A: It's good that you're planning to buy recycled content products. That
should always be your first choice. Recycled content is the more general,
blanket term. It can include any previously manufactured paper products,
including the trimmings from previous reams of paper that have just been made
in the same factory and cut to size. Almost all paper factories of any
sort (office paper, toilet paper, wrapping paper) have done this for many
years Post consumer content means that they have included paper from
recycling bins and so forth. Newspapers aren't made into office
paper, but they are used for paper towels (sometimes) or the chipboard in
cereal boxes, etc. Office paper sometimes gets processed back into higher
quality paper. In terms of saving trees, try to find the highest
percentage of post-consumer content. For printer/copier paper it
will almost never be higher than 30% at a place like Staples. Only a few
specialty suppliers offer office paper with a higher per cent of post-consumer
content. HP, Great White and others make 30% recycled content paper
that's regularly available at bulk office supply places. You have to pay
attention and specify it - the same manufacturers also make office paper from
new content only.
REMINDERS: no plastic bags should go into the recycle bins.
Discovery Day has been postponed until May 31st. The DPW will have
extensive recycling and composting displays. Extra recycling bins
and home composting bins will be on sale there as well.