When was recycling established

The first curbside collections of yard waste, metals, and paper start popping up around the county. Separate waste streams collected at the curb become common place. Although this is a condensed list, you can see how far the recycling process has come and it is only becoming MORE accessible and widespread as time goes on! Disclaimer : Guest blogs represent the opinion of the writers and may not reflect the policy or position of the Northeast Recycling Council, Inc.

Junk Removal : Oct 14, at PM. We recently started a junk removal company and came across this article. As a junk removal service, we find it hard to ignore the impact our business has on landfills. We always take the necessary care to recycle materials properly when taking them to the landfill. Thanks for the great article on it's history and why we shouldn't ignore it. Waste Removal : Jul 28, at PM.

What a beautiful history. Our ancestors really did their job the next generations. Thanks for sharing. Rubbish Removals : Jul 28, at PM. Awesome article about history. These people are so motivated and dedicated to provide cleanliness for the community. Thank you for sharing! The celebratory — now foreboding — article helped to feed a less responsible way of thinking when it came to waste, leading to wide scale littering and a lack of guilt or forethought about the environment.

The Container Corporation of America held a competition to find a new symbol for recycled paper. On the 6th June, , Stanley Race dropped an empty jar into the very first glass recycling bank in the country. This first deposit kicked off the nationwide appearance of bottle banks, where the public can take empty bottles and jars to be recycled. Glass is an infinitely recyclable material, and the introduction of bottle banks is a pivotal moment which made glass recycling easy for everyone.

In the city of Kitchener, Ontario, the blue box recycling system was introduced as a way of efficiently sorting and collecting household waste. The blue box system made it simple for the public to recycle plastic, paper, glass, aluminium, steel and other materials.

The system was adopted and modified across the globe, and it remains in use to this day. In Switzerland, IT and electronics importers gathered together to tackle the issue of electronic waste disposal. Discussions led to the development of the Swico recycling system, where waste electronic items would be collected and recycled free of charge to consumers.

The system began with old refrigerators, but then grew to include all electronic waste. The directive set goals for EU members to improve electronic recycling rates. With the introduction of this recycling legislation, it became law that local authorities in England provide every household with the collection of at least two types of recyclable materials by Other manufacturers, including Sony and Apple, have since done the same.

In a bid to reduce the use of plastic bags across the country, a five pence charge was introduced throughout shops in England, for anyone who wants to use a plastic bag. To find out more about our efficient recycling services , simply contact us today. A real moment in the history of recycling came in , when aluminum can recycling factories opened in Chicago, Illinois — the first of their kind in America.

Due to large-scale material shortages the government created a Waste Reclamation Service. The Great Depression was an infamous time of shortages, so residents were encouraged to recycle or reuse everything from scrap metal, to cloth, paper, sacks and more.

Like in WW1, recycling became critical to the war effort during WW2. Materials were commonly recycled, reused and rationed — everything from rubber, to nylon and scrap. Who invented recycling? No-one in particular. As long as there have been raw materials, there has been recycling.

One of the biggest movements in the history of recycling happened in , with 20 million people taking part in the Earth Day marches. US Senator Gaylord Nelson raised national awareness about increasing waste and the need to recycle. April 22 nd is still globally recognized as Earth Day. How has recycling changed over time?

After the wars and marches, recycling started to be commercialized. In , the first recycling mill was established in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. In Woodbury, New Jersey, the very first curbside recycling program was opened in By , there were 1, programs in the US, by , there were 5, This was a fast growth period for the spread of the now popularized city curbside programs.

By , over 10, recycling centers existed in the US. Two out of 3 cans were recycled in the US at this time. Another critical point in the history of recycling came in , when the Environmental Protection Agency confirmed the link between waste and global warming. They declared that the best way to lower greenhouse gas emissions to slow climate change would be to recycle. Dell computers sparked the e-waste recycling movement, by offering residents free recycling services for all of their products.

Over the next decade, laws were passed and innovations came to light that improved the industry.