Back Page

JUST AN AVERAGE GUY

To what extent does the average American benefit the recycling industry when he or she recycles at every opportunity? According to Northeast Resource Recovery Association, Concord, N.H., the average American uses 364 aluminum cans, 2.4 pounds of aluminum foil, 176 glass containers, and 650 pounds of paper each year. Multiply those numbers by 250 million people, and one is confronted with 91 billion aluminum cans, 600 million pounds of foil, 44 billion glass containers, and 162.5 billion pounds of paper.

THIS SLAG IS MY SLAG

The recycling of slag heaps left by the industrial processes of an earlier area would seem to be an idea upon which everyone can agree.

But according to some recent press reports, citizens in some U.S. cities are jealously guarding their slag.

In Pittsburgh, the top of a once formidable slag pile has slowly been hauled away and used to underlie various commercial buildings in the area. According to an Associated Press report, the administration of Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy wants to find a group to develop a five-square-mile area known as Nine Mile Run that is, largely, the remains of a slag pile.

Murphy’s plan might run into trouble in a place like Toluca, Ill., where two mountains of slag have been marketed as a tourist draw by Toluca—which calls itself Slag City. Citizens of Slag City have already saved their twin towers from being chipped away by one road builder who thought the material would be ideal for his purposes.

And some residents of another city in Missouri are unhappy with the EPA’s plan to cart away their formidable pile of industrial residue, which contains measurable amounts of lead. Some residents quoted in one story, however, feel the EPA should mind its own business so the town can retain its landmark man-made mountain.

Up in Smoke

Is the internal combustion engine pumping through its final days?

A panel of more than one dozen scientists convened by Chemical & Engineering News believes that could be the case. The panel was offered the chance to compare notes and ideas to produce some prediction on what might occur in the course of the next 25 years.

While most of the predictions involved the world of medicine, one prognostication was squarely in the manufacturing sector. “The internal combustion engine will be a museum exhibit” in the year 2023, the group predicts, as reported by the American Chemical Society News Service.

The House that Recycling Built

Its about as far away from the landfill as recyclable commodities can get—finding their way into America’s building products industry. Two separate efforts organized by different industry associations served to demonstrate how recycling can fit into the building process.

In Washington, D.C., the Steel Recycling Institute oversaw the design and construction of a home featuring an array of materials made from recycled containers. Plastic lumber was among the materials used, while recycled aluminum cans, pop bottles and ash showed up in other materials.

Bill Heenan, president of the Steel Recycling Institute, Pittsburgh, says at first organizers thought finding enough materials with recycled content would be difficult. But instead it turned out to be rather easy, he says.

Separately, The Aluminum Association, Washington, is using the goals of Habitat For Humanity to help it reach its goal of a 75% recycling rate for aluminum cans. A national program called “Aluminum Cans Build Habitat for Humanity Homes” features drop-off sites where the money earned from recycling the cans will go toward the non-profit group’s home building efforts.

The Aluminum Association and Habitat for Humanity have estimated that as many as 250 homes can be built by the non-profit group if the drop-off centers can attract just one percent of the used aluminum beverage can stream.

MORE COMPANIES SPIN THEIR OWN WEB SITES

Numerous recycling industry participants and suppliers have recently established new web sites or enhanced their existing sites, including: The Air & Waste Management Association, Pittsburgh, at www.awma.org ;   Control Instruments Corp., Fairfield, N.J., at www.controlinstruments.com ; Flexible Steel Lacing Co. (Flexco), Downers Grove, Ill., at www.flexco.com; International Resources Unlimited, Eugene, Ore., at www.rio.com/~gdavis/index.html ; Recycling Systems USA Inc., Springfield, Pa., at www.rsusa.com ; Tryco/Untha, Decatur, Ill., at www.tryco.com; Union Process, Akron, Ohio, at www.unionprocess.com ; Vibra Screw Inc., Totowa, N.J., at www.vibrascrewinc.com ; and the RecycleNet State of Colorado recycling bulletin board at www.governor.state.co.us/gov_dir/oec/recyclenet  / .