Purchasing power is the most strongest force in recycling, if you buy products that are made from recycling. This helps new recycling products emerge like plastic wood, made from plastic bags and old carpets.

You can also buy products that come in recycled packaging and containers. Also use services from green companies like green auto repair centers.

What is the future for recycling? well the short term future should see the recycling rates increase due to the investment in the infrastructure. More towns and cities are going to co-mingled collections and semi automated sorting.

The long term goals is to increase the number of products that are recycled and plastics being the most important, also on the cards is to create even more pure recycled products and to improve efficiency.

The price of energy will probably increase over the next few decades and this will make recycling a more attractive option.

One of the small mistakes that people make when recycling, is recyclable bottle tops that are made of a different material to the bottle, these are left on when thrown in with the plastic, another offenders is plastic lined steel and aluminum cans.

The biggest problem for the recycling plants is plastic bags clogging up the packing line.

Most of the carpet laid in US homes after the 1940’s is nearly all synthetic which does not decompose. Carpets contain pests, allergens and can give of VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) that is a strong indoor pollutant. This is why people are ripping out their carpets in favor of stripped back floorboards. So what happens to all the old carpets?

By 2012 it is estimated that due to no infrastructure to recycle old carpet there will be nearly 7 billion pounds dumped in the US alone. This is due to several materials that make up a carpet and which are difficult to separate for further processing. Some carpets are recycled and made into roof tiles and other home decorating items.

Yes!! plastic bags are a environmental nightmare, they cause a massive amount of litter and are difficult to recycle. In 2006 there were 100 billion or more plastic bags consumed in North America, all produced from 12 million barrels of oil. Most of these plastic bags end up at landfill sites, but because they are so light they cause a litter problem in towns, cities and the countyside.

Plastic bags are one of the few products that recyclers will not take in their sorting plants, if on a rare occasion a plastic bag is recycled it is turned into a plastic lumber.

Recycling saves money and energy savings. This is true of all the recycling markets that are well developed. However, recycling is only part of the hierarchy of energy and materials. When you look at the bigger picture, the best option is to reduce the consumption of these products.

Waste prevention is the cheapest option, if it takes the form of things like not buying bottled water or the minimization of consumption by choosing products that do not create waste. The reuse of components and re-purposing items is the best course of action, which often leads to the creation of new wealth in the form of up-cycle components.

Recycling and energy recovery, such as the tapping of reserves of methane from landfills are the best options. Expended of energy is higher, but at a savings rate higher than fthe cost of disposal, which is the most wasteful use.