User:Ttrantow/Glossary of Recycling Terms

The following is a glossary of commonly used recycling terms. These terms are universally accepted and are common when referring to zero waste.

Recycling terms

A

Abatement

The reduction in landfill pollution by source reduction and waste recycling (GRN).

Abatement Debris

Waste resulting from remediation activities (EPA).

Acrylonitrile butadiene stryrene (ABS)

A copolymer that can be recycled (GRN).

Advanced disposal fee (ADF)

A fee charged at the time of purchase. The funds usually go to support recycling and reduction programs (South Carolina).

Aluminum Beverage Containers (ABC)

Containers containing no ferrous, steel or tin materials (GRN and Mass Recycle).

Administrative Waste

Waste produced from office related tasks (ZWA).

Arieation

The process of exposing composting material to the circulation of air (GRN and South Carolina).

Aerobic

Able to live and grow in the presence of free oxygen. Aerobic bacterial decomposition results in the conversion of organic wastes to compost (South Carolina).

Amalgamation

Process used by transfer stations that collect waste from smaller haulers, combine it with waste from other small haulers and transfer it in larger vehicles to disposal facilities. They may range from small municipal facilities to large commercial ones that process several hundred tons of waste a day (Mass Recylce).

Anaerobic

Able to live and grow only in the absence of free oxygen; anaerobic decomposition of organic wastes by bacteria results in the production and release of methane gas (South Carolina).

Aseptic Packaging

Packaging used to make drink boxes, usually single-serve containers for juice. The boxes are made of aluminum foil, plastic and paper (South Carolina).

B

Back-End System

Any of several processes for recovering resources from the organic portion of the waste stream (Ex.: fluid bed incineration; pyrolysis; composting; combustion; fiber reclamation) (GRN).

Bale

A compacted and bound block of recyclables (GRN and South Carolina).

Baler

A machine that compacts and binds recyclable materials, usually into blocks, to reduce volume and transportation. Blocks often are used on newspaper, plastics and corrugated cardboard (GRN and South Carolina).

Benefication

The mechanical processing of waste glass to decontaminate it and crush it to a more uniform size (GRN).

Best Available Practice(BAP)

Methods and techniques that have consistently shown results superior than those achieved with other means, and which are used as benchmarks to strive for. There is, however, no practice that is best for everyone or in every situation, and no best practice remains best for very long as people keep on finding better ways of doing things.

Bimetal Can

A food or beverage can with a steel body and aluminum lid. Often used for fruit, vegetables and soup, bimetal cans are 100% recyclable by the steel industry (GRN and South Carolina).

Bioconversion

A general term describing the conversion of one form of energy into another by plants or microorganisms. An example is the digestion of solid wastes or sewage sludge by microorganisms to form methane (South Carolina).

Biodegradable

Capable of being broken down by microorganisms into simple, stable compounds such as carbon dioxide and water (GRN and South Carolina).

Bleaching

Method used in the paper-making process to produce a bright white paper sheet. The bleach produces dioxins (GRN).

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)

The amount of oxygen needed for aerobic microorganisms to function in organic-rich water such a sewage (GRN and South Carolina).

Bond Paper

A high grade of paper usually used for forms, offset printing, copy paper, stationery, etc (Mass Recycle).

Bottle Bank

Containers meant to receive beverage bottles that people drop off to be recycled (GRN).

Bottle Bill

A law requiring deposits on beverage containers (GRN and South Carolina).

Bottom Ash

The ash produced from incineration that must be disposed of in a landfill (South Carolina).

Boxboard

Paperboard used for fabricating boxes. Different boxboard grades are classified as to the composition of the top liner, filler (middle layer), and back liner (GRN).

Broker

Agent or intermediary between the sellers and buyers of recyclable material (EPA, GRN and South Carolina).

Bulky Waste

Items that are large enough to warrant special collection services separate from regular residential curbside collection (EPA).

Buy-Back Center

 Recycling facility that purchases small amounts of secondary materials from the public (GRN).

Buy-back Program

Programs that buy recyclables from the public (South Carolina).

By-Products

C

Capture Rate

The percentage of generated secondary materials actually recovered from a household or business (Mass Recycle).

Carbon Sequestration

The uptake and storage of atmospheric carbon; for example, in soil and vegetation (EPA).

Cellulose Insulation

Insulation commonly used in construction and manufactured from waste paper (primarily newsprint) processing, with the addition of chemicals acting as retardants to fire or fibre breakdown (GRN).

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

An organic compound that contains carbon, chlorine, and fluorine, produced as a volatile derivative of methane and ethane (GRN).

Closed-loop Recycling

A system in which materials are continually recycled into the same product. Examples include aluminum cans and glass bottles (Mass Recycle and South Carolina).

Co-Collection

The collection of bagged recyclables together with other municipal garbage, separated later for recycling or disposal (GRN).

Collection and Demolition Waste (C & D Waste)

Collector

An individual or company that picks up recyclable materials that have been set aside for recycling; also can refer to an individual or company that collects trash for disposal (Mass Recycle).

Co-mingled Containers

Mixed recyclables that are collected or processed together (GRN).

Comminution

Mechanical shredding or pulverizing of waste; used in solid and water waste treatment (GRN).

Compactor

Equipment that densifies recyclable material and contains it under pressure, not allowing it to expand until it is unloaded (GRN).

Compost

A mixture of garbage, degradable trash and soil in which bacteria in the soil break down the mixture into a soil conditioner (not a fertilizer). It has high organic content but low nitrogen (GRN).

Compostables

Include food wastes, leaves, Christmas trees and yard waste (Mass Recycle).

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

Measures the change in the cost of typical wage-earner purchases of goods and services, expressed as a percentage of the cost of these same goods and services in some base period (EPA).

Containerboard

The component materials used in the fabrication of corrugated cardboard (GRN).

Contamination

Refers to the sullying, soiling and ruination of one material by another; when one recyclable material is mixed with another undesired material, the recyclable material is thus considered contaminated (Mass Recycle).

Corrugated Paper

Paper or cardboard manufactured in a series of wrinkles or folds or into alternating ridges and grooves (South Carolina).

CPO Paper

Computer Print Out Paper (Mass Recycle).

Cradle to Cradle

Cradle-to-Grave

A system that manages solid waste from creation to disposal. In product design, it refers to the product's creation from raw or recycled materials through manufacturing, use, consumption and disposal (GRN).

Crusher

A mechanical device used to break secondary materials into smaller pieces (GRN).

Cryogenic Size Reduction

Process in which flexible substances are made brittle by cooling to extremely low temperatures, using liquid nitrogen and ground rubber (GRN).

Cullet

Crushed glass which can be added to a batch of new materials in the manufacturing of new glass products. It increases the rate of heat gain by batch and reduces fuel costs. Domestic cullet if produced in house during the manufacturing process. Foreign cullet if it comes from an external source (GRN).

Cyclical System

D

Degradability

Ability of materials to break down, by bacterial (biodegradable) or ultraviolet (photodegradable) action (GRN).

Deinking

A process that removes inks, dyes or other contaminants from collected wastepaper (GRN).

Design for the Environment (DFE)

Dioxin

Chlorinated organic compound: a by-product of the paper-making process that uses chlorine as a bleaching agent. Dioxins can be released into the atmosphere through the incineration of chlorinated paper. They are believed to be highly toxic to humans (GRN).

Disposal Facilities

Facilities that are either incinerators or landfills, either in state or out-of-state, either public or private. Each type of facility has a permit that details its operating requirements, including the amount of waste it can process in a day or year.  Each takes wastes either by a contractual arrangement or on what is known as the 'spot' market, which means that someone just shows up and asks if the facility can take, or 'tip', the waste for (typically) a higher fee (Mass Recycle).

Diversion Credits

A financial incentive provided to municipalities or private recycling operations based on the tonnage diverted from the waste stream (GRN).

Diversion Rate

A measure of the amount of waste being diverted from the municipal solid waste stream, either through recycling or composting (South Carolina).

E

End User

Refers to facilities that purchase or secure recovered materials for the purpose of recycling. Examples include recycling plants and composting facilities. Excludes waste disposal facilities (EPA).

Endpoint Goal

Exothermics

Materials used to generate heat in chemical or other processes (GRN).

Extended Producer Responsibility

Manufacturers are held responsible for the waste and environmental impact their product and packaging creates, rather than passing that responsibility on to the consumer. The end result is that manufacturers redesign products to reduce materials consumption and facilitate reuse, recovery and recycling (GRN).

Extraction

F

Full Cost Accounting (FCA)

The process of collecting and presenting information - about environmental, social, and economic costs and benefits/advantages (collectively known as the 'triple bottom line') - for each proposed alternative when a decision is necessary.

Ferrous Metals

Refers to magnetic metals derived from iron (steel). Products made from ferrous metals include major and small appliances, furniture, and containers and packaging (steel drums and barrels). Examples of recycling include processing tin/steel cans, strapping, and ferrous metals from appliances into new products (GRN).

Fly Ash

A fine residue, left after trash is burned in an incinerator, which can be carried in the air. It can contain harmful or toxic substances such as dioxins, lead and mercury (GRN).

Front End Separation

A system in which certain materials removed from the waste stream are directed toward a specific recovery system such as recycling or waste-to-energy incineration (Mass Recycle).

G

Grasscycling

Source reduction activity whereby grass clippings are left on the lawn after mowing (Mass Recycle and EPA).

H

High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE)

A recyclable, non-toxic plastic product used to make plastic bottles, milk cartons, detergent containers and other products. Constructed from ethylene molecules in long chains with few side branches, the standard plastic code is #2 (GRN, Mass Recycle, South Carolina and EPA).

High Grade

Refers to types of paper such as computer printout, copy paper, white ledger and tab cards found in offices, homes, schools and other sources (GRN and EPA).

Highest and Best Use

Humus

The substance which results from decay of plant or animal matter. Biodegradable matters form humus as they decompose (GRN).

I

Incentives

Industrial Ecology

The objective, multidisciplinary study of industrial and economic systems and their linkages with fundamental natural systems.

Industrial Metabolism

First proposed by Robert Ayres as ‘‘the whole integrated collection of physical processes that convert raw materials and energy, plus labor, into finished products and wastes…’’.

Integrated Solid Waste Management

The complementary use of a variety of practices to manage solid waste safely and effectively. Integrated waste management techniques include source reduction, recycling, composting and landfilling (South Carolina).

Intermediate Processing Center

Facility that separates, cleans and bails or packages materials for sale to manufacturers or brokers (GRN).

L

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

A systematic set of procedures for compiling and examining the inputs and outputs of materials and energy and the associated environmental impacts directly attributable to the functioning of a product or service system throughout its life cycle.

Leaching

Process by which soluble materials are dissolved and carried through the soil by a percolating liquid.

Life Cycle

All stages of a product's development, from extraction of fuel for power to production, marketing, use, and disposal.

Linear Wasting System

Liner

Barrier designed to prevent the leaching of contents from a landfill. Commonly comprised of plastic or dense clay (GRN).

Low Grade Paper

Less valuable types of paper such as mixed office paper, corrugated cardboard and newspaper (GRN).

M

Mandate Recycling

Programs that by law require certain recycling practices or results.

Mass Balancing

Materials Flow

Materials Recovery Facility (MRF)

A recycling facility that sorts and processes collected mixed recyclables into individual streams for market. Also known as an intermidiate processing center (IPC) (GRN).

Midden

A pit in which trash or garbage is buried. Usually only organic garbage (GRN).

Mulching

The natural and gradual decomposition of dead organic matter that has been evenly distributed in a thin layer on the ground (GRN).

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)

Residential and commercial trash and/or garbage generated by a particular municipal area (GRN).

N

New Scrap

Material which is discarded during a manufacturing or processing operation and which cannot be directly fed back to that operation (GRN).

Newsprint

Alternate term for the low grade paper used to make newspaper (GRN).

Non-Ferrous Scrap Metal

Metals which contain no iron, such as aluminum, copper, brass and bronze (GRN).

O

Old Newspaper (ONP)

Paper that is usually used in newspapers. ONP has two major sub-grades.  No. 8 is sorted newspapers only.  No. 6 may have some magazines mixed in and maybe tied in bundles or gathered in brown bags (Mass Recycle).

P

Paper Stock

Scrap or waste papers that have been sorted and baled into specific grades. It is commonly used interchangeably with the term waste paper (GRN).

Paperboard

General term for heavyweight grades of paper that are used for containers, boxes, cartons and packaging materials. It is divided into: Containerboard, Boxboard and Other Paperboard (GRN).

Pay-as-you-throw (PAYT)

A system in which residents pay for each unit of waste discarded rather than solely through a fixed fee per residential household or property tax.Also known as unit-based pricing or variable rate pricing (Mass Recycle).

Perforator/Flattener

Equipment that perforates and flattens material, then ejects it into a receptacle or processor. Used to prevent plastic bottles from expanding after flattening (GRN).

Photodegradable

A process where ultraviolet radiation degrades the chemical bond or link in the polymer or chemical structure of a plastic. Ability of materials to break down, by bacterial (biodegradable) or ultraviolet (photodegradable) action (GRN).

Pollution Prevention (P2)

The reduction of waste and its associated pollution at the source by material substitutions or process modifications that generate less hazardous waste or less waste (South Carlina).

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET or PETE)

A clear or colored transparant plastic often used to make soft drink bottles, food packaging containers (such as ketchup bottles) and some household cleanser containers. Referred to in the standard plastic code as #1 (GRN and South Carolina).

Polypropylene (PP)

A plastic with a smooth surface that cracks easily when bent and is difficult to scratch. Created by linking propylene molecules, it is hard to collect in marketable queantities for recycling and has limited uses in recycled form. Used for flexible rigid packaging, dairy tubes, lids and straws, its standard plastic code is #5 (GRN, South Carolina, and EPA).

Polystyrene (PS)

A lightweight plastic material that cracks easily when bent. Used to make containers and utensils it can also be expanded to create the material referred to as "Styrofoam". Takes up a large part of landfill space because of its bulk. Its standard plastic code is #6 (GRN, Mass Recycle, and South Carolina).

Polyvinyl Chloride(PVC)

A recyclable plastic used to make a wide range of products. Environmentally indestructible, the standard plastic code for PVC is #3 (GRN, Mass Recycle, South Carolina, and EPA).

Pre-Consumer Waste

Recovered materials produced in manufacturing and converting processes such as scraps, trimmings or overruns. Waste generated before the product reaches the consumer (GRN, South Carolina, and EPA).

Postconsumer Recovered Fiber

Paper, paperboard, and fibrous wastes from retail stores, office buildings, homes, and so forth, after they have passed through their end-usage as a consumer item, including: used corrugated boxes; old newspapers; old magazines; mixed waste paper, tabulating cards; and used cordage.

Potential Resource

Precautionary Principle

When information about potential risks is incomplete, basing decisions about the best ways to manage or reduce risks on a preference for avoiding unnecessary health risks instead of on unnecessary economic expenditures.

Precycle

Source reduction option whereby evaluation and selection of items for purchase is dependent upon method of manufacture, product content and recyclability of product after consumer use (GRN).

Primary Materials

Virgin or new materials, such as wood pulp and iron ore, used in making products (South Carolina).

Process Mapping

Producer Responsibility

The duty of manufacturers or producers to be responsible for their products when these eventually become waste, e.g. by taking them back from consumers.

Product Life Cycle

Product Stewardship

Product stewardship is a principle that directs all participants involved in the life cycle of a product to take shared responsibility for the impacts to human health and the natural environment that result from the production, use and end-of-life management of the product. The greater the ability of a party to influence the life cycle impacts of a product, the greater the degree of that party’s responsibility. The stakeholders typically include manufacturers, retailers, consumers, and government officials.

Production Waste

Pulp

A soft, moist, sticky mass of fibers made of wood straw, etc., and used to make paper and paperboard (Mass Recycle and South Carolina).

R

Reclamation

Transformation of solid waste into useful products, such as soil conditioners or recycled materials (GRN).

Recovered Fiber

Recovery

Refers to the diversion of materials from the municipal solid waste stream for the purpose of recycling or composting. Excludes reuse and source reduction activities such as yard trimmings diverted to backyard (onsite) composting or the repair of wood pallets (EPA).

Redemption Program

Refers to a program where consumers turn in recyclable materials to the original supplier for monetary compensation (GRN and EPA).

Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF)

Fuel produced from separating, shredding, dehydrating and incinerating solid waste (GRN and South Carolina).

Refuse Reclamation

Transformation of solid waste into useful products, such as soil conditioners or recycled materials (GRN).

Regrind

Ground up recyclable plastics (GRN).

Residual Product

Amount of a pollutant remaining in the environment after a natural or technological process has taken place; e.g., the sludge remaining after initial waste water treatment, or particulates remaining in air after it passes through a scrubbing or other process.

Residuals

Waste materials left after recovery of recyclables and/or the physical, chemical, or biological processing of wastes (Mass Recycle).

Resource Recovery

The extraction and use of materials or energy from discarded materials, usually through high technology processes (GRN and South Carolina).

S

Setout Rate

A measurement of how successful a curbside recycling program is: Number of households on a route that put out recycling bins on a given collection day.  This differs depending on collection frequency.  Weekly programs have a lower setout rates than bi-weekly ones, since not all households use every collection day.  Setout rates are lower than participation rate, as it measures activity on one day, while participation rate measures activity over a longer time (Mass Recycle).

Solid Waste

Refuse that can include all matters of materials originating from industrial, demoliton, mining and agricultural activities (GRN, Mass Recycle and South Carolina).

Source Reduction

The design, manufacture, purchase, or use of materials to reduce the amount or toxicity of materials before they enter the municipal solid waste management system. Behavior that deliberately reduces waste through educated consumer choices and disposal (Mass Recycle, South Carolina and EPA).

Source-Separated

Separating recyclable materials at the source, such as at home or office, to reduce the amount of material that enters the waste stream (GRN and South Carolina).

System View

Systems Understanding

Systematic Approach

T

Tipping Fee

The charge placed on individuals for the process of unloading waste or recyclables at a landfill or recycling facility (GRN, Mass Recycle and South Carolina).

Thermoplastics (TPO)

Plastics that can be re-formed repeatedly by application of heat and pressure (GRN).

Tons Per Day (TPD)

Used as a measurement of the solid waste disposal rate at a landfill, incinerator or materials recovery facility (South Carolina).

Toter

A two wheeled, lidded, plastic container of either 64 or 96 gallons in size that is used to store recyclables or trash until collection (Mass Recycle).

Transfer Station

An intermediate facility where waste and recyclables are taken from collection vehicles, consolidated and then transferred onto larger transport vehicles (Mass Recycle, South Carolina and EPA).

Triple Bottom Line

Financial, social, and environmental effects of a firm's policies and actions that determine its viability as a sustainable organization.

True Cost Accounting

U

Unit Based Pricing

See Pay-As-You-Throw

Universal Wastes

A class of hazardous wastes from large and small generators which accumulate in such quantity that special systems have been set up to deal with them. Currently they include: non-alkaline batteries, pesticides, thermostats, mercury containing devices, and fluorescent lamps (tubes or compacts) (Mass Recycle).

Used Beverage Container (UBC)

An acronym for used beverage container, usually plastic soda bottles and aluminum cans (South Carolina).

V

Variable Rate

See pay-as-you-throw.

Vermicomposting

The production of compost using worms to digest organic waste (Mass Recycle and South Carolina).

Virgin Product

Refers to products that contains no recycled materials. Also known as raw materials, which include timer or metal ore (Mass Recycle and South Carolina).

Volume Reduction

Processing waste materials to decrease the amount of space the materials occupy. It is accomplished by mechanical, thermal or biological means (GRN).

W

Waste Assessment

The review of processes to identify options that will result in either the generation of less waste or the productive recycling of materials that would otherwise be added to the waste stream (South Carolina).

Waste Audit

Process of inventoring the different types and quantities of items in the waste stream produced at a specific location (Mass Recycle and South Carolina).

Waste Ban

Regulations that ban the items listed below from disposal by any means other than recycling.  The waste bans are enforced on incinerators, landfills, transfer stations, haulers and commercial generators.  The requirements banning landfilling or incineration of these materials are articulated in the Solid Waste Regulations at 310 CMR 19.017.  Currently, the materials so banned include: lead acid batteries, leaves and yard waste, whole tires at landfills, white goods, aluminum containers, metal, plastic, or glass containers, recyclable paper and cardboard, and cathode ray tubes (Mass Recycle).

Waste Exchange

A program that helps companies offer their waste by-products to another firm that may be able to utilize these wastes (GRN and South Carolina).

Waste-Heat Recovery

Recovering heat discharged as a byproduct of one process to provide heat needed by a second process.

Waste Stream

A facility where recovered municipal solid waste is converted into a usable form of energy, usually through combustion (Mass Recycle and South Carolina).

Waste to Energy Facility

A facility where recovered municipal solid waste is converted into a usable form of energy, usually through combustion (South Carolina and EPA).

White Goods

Major appliances such as refrigerators, stoves, water heaters, air conditioners and washing machines (GRN and EPA).

Windrowing

The placement and management of compostable material in piled rows, where micro-organisms break down organic material into a finished compost product (GRN).

Z

Zero Waste

Zero Waste is a goal that is both pragmatic and visionary, to guide people to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are resources for others to use. Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to reduce the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them. Implementing Zero Waste will eliminate all discharges to land, water or air that may be a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health.

References

• "Zero Waste Alliance". Retrieved 17 March 2011.
• "Global Recycling Network". Retrieved 17 March 2011.
• "The Massachusetts Recycling Coalition". Retrieved 17 March 2011.
• "South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control" (PDF). Retrieved 17 March 2011.
• "EPA - Measuring Recycling: A State and Local Guide" (PDF). Retrieved 17 March 2011.
• "Common US and UK Recycling Terms" (PDF). Retrieved 11 April 2011.
• "Green Networld". Retrieved 11 April 2011.
• "University of New Mexico" (PDF). Retrieved 11 April 2011.
• "Pure Planet Recycling". Retrieved 11 April 2011.
• "Department of Environmental Protection (Connecticut)". Retrieved 11 April 2011.