Sometimes you may wonder if all your efforts to haul your recycling tubs to the curb are really helping. Is it really worth your time to just produce more plastic bottles, glass jars, or magazines and newspapers?

Well, once you realize that your efforts go far beyond just reproducing the same old things, you will appreciate just how important your recycling can be to your everyday world. Beyond just helping to reduce the unnecessary waste filling up our landfills, recycling produces a few really cool products.

Plastic

Plastic is the most recycled of all the items you can add to your curbside recycling bins. From old plastic jugs and bottles, come new plastic jugs and bottles, but the list of products definitely does not stop there.

While there are seven numerical classifications for recyclable plastic, the two that are most common are #1 PETE and #2 HDPE. These two categories cover all the flexible plastic bottles like drinking water bottles or soda bottles, plus the higher density plastic containers such as milk jugs, detergent bottles, toys and some heavy plastic bags.

Just from these two classifications of recyclable plastic, come many cool products - products that are manufactured by a process that puts these materials back into circulation, while saving energy. You and your family may use a number of these things every day.

Plastic lumber is just one product that comes from recycled plastic, and this lumber is used in modular homes, picnic tables, benches, chairs and even playground equipment. By recycling #1 and #2 plastic bottles we get buckets, tubs, containers and Frisbees. Even the bleacher seat that a fan sits in when they cheer on their favorite sports team is produced using recycled plastic.

Glass

Recycled glass has the shortest list of immediate products that are produced from your recycling efforts. But that list includes fiberglass, which is where the window of potential products is opened wide.

Of course the simplest process is to recycle old glass into new glass bottles, jars and other glass jugs. But there is also a procedure that reduces recycled glass to a fine dust-like stage, where it is then mixed with resins to make fiberglass.

From this new fiberglass product, made from your recycled jars and bottles, comes products like boat hulls, car and airplane body parts, countertops and various building materials. If you are using something made of fiberglass, there is a possibility it contains a percentage of your recycled glass.

Newspaper

It might be hard for you to imagine how many different things your dutiful recycling of newspapers can produce. Logically old newspaper can be recycled to become new newspapers, but there are more neat things that are manufactured from old newsprint.

A number of the boxes that various products are packaged in come from recycled newspaper. It is easier to upcycle the thin paper used for newsprint to paperboard, which is the term for a finished cereal box for instance. Egg cartons are also made from paperboard.

But there are four products that you might not realize that are also produced as a result of your noble efforts to recycle all your newspapers. Building insulation, kitty litter, drywall and even kitchen countertops are finished products that use recycled newspaper as one of the components.

So when you think that all your recycling efforts are just making more bottles, cans, newspapers, or boxes, be aware that there are a number of really neat products that are produced from an assortment of recyclables. This process saves energy, plus reduces the waste in our landfills. If you aren't recycling already, contact a company like Industrial Services Inc to find out how to get started.