Where each item goes and how it's processed

Commodity: Aluminum
Where it goes: Vancouver
What happens to it?: Recycled
Media Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmMP67eC2tg (see below)
Notes: Thirty percent of all aluminium used in the U.S is derived from recycled materials. Each year, the aluminum industry pays out over $800 million for empty aluminum cans. Making new aluminum cans from used cans takes 95% less energy. Every minute of everyday, an average of 113,204 aluminum can are recycled. An old aluminum can is recycled and back on the shelf as a new can, in as little as 60 days. One ton of recycled aluminum saves around 40 oil barrels, 14, 000 kWh of energy, and 10 cubic yards of landfill space. Mt. Lorne has recycled 3.5 tons of aluminum cans since April 1st, 2019.
Commodity: Metal
Where it goes: Vancouver
What happens to it?: Recycled
Media Links:
Notes: Scrap steel reduces related water pollution, air pollution, and mining wastes by about 70%.
It takes four times as much energy to make steel from virgin ore. The steel industry’s annual recycling saves the equivalent energy to electrically power about 18 million households for a year. Every time a ton of steel is recycled, 2500 pounds of iron ore, 1000 pounds of coal and 40 pounds of limestones are preserved. Mt Lorne waste metal pile is estimated to be 50 tonnes of recyclable metal.
Commodity: Ewaste (electronic waste)
Where it goes:
What happens to it?:
Media Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ikFMTuS9c 
Notes: Although nearly 100% of e-waste is recyclable, in 2016, of the approximately 44.7 million metric tons of e-waste generated world wide 8.9 million metric tons (20%) was recycled. North America generated 7 million metric tons of e-waste in 2016. Only about 17% of the e-waste generated in all of the Americas was recycled. Mt. Lorne has recycled an estimated 4 tonnes of ewaste since April 1st, 2019.
Commodity: Plastic
Where it goes: Vancouver (Merlin Plastic)
What happens to it?: #1 and #2 are recycled. #3-#7 are incinerated for energy recovery
Media Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO3jFKiqmHo&vl=en
Notes: One ton of recycled plastic saves 5,774 Kilowatt-hours of energy, 30.4 cubic yards of landfill space, 1,000 to 2,000 gallons of gasoline and around 16 barrels of oil. Producing plastic items from recycled plastics minimizes energy needs by 66 percent. It takes around 400 years for plastic to decompose or biodegrade. One trillion plastic bags are used and disposed of annually worldwide. Of the one trillion bags used, less than five percent are recycled.
 Half of the 300 plus million metric tons of plastic currently
 produced annually are used to make single-use containers or packaging.
Plastics currently represent about 10 percent of the total waste generated by human activity across the planet
Enough plastic bottles are thrown away each year to circle the earth four times. Mt. Lorne has recycled an estimated 9 tonnes of plastics since April 1st, 2019.
Commodity: Cardboard
Where it goes: Vancouver or Edmonton
What happens to it?: Recycled
Media Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx0ozMweqoU (see below)
Notes: Corrugated cardboard is the highest value grade of paper, as it’s durability means long paper fibres. It has highest recycling rate of paper products: 92.9% in 2015.
Recycling one ton of cardboard saves 46 gallons of oil and 390 kWh of energy. Recycled cardboard saves 24% of the total energy needed for virgin cardboard.
Recycling one ton of cardboard saves over 9 cubic yards of landfill space. On average, a corrugated box contains roughly 50% recycled fibre. Mt Lorne has recycled 6 tonnes of cardboard since April 1st, 2019.
Commodity: Mixed Paper
Where it goes: Vancouver or Edmonton
What happens to it?: Recycled
Media Links: https://youtu.be/sd4HGA4l1Sc
Notes: Recyclable paper includes: Magazines and catalogues, telephone books, direct mail, brochures, pamphlets and booklets in addition to cereal, cake, chip and cracker boxes.
Recycling one ton of paper:
– Saves 4,100 kWh of energy
– Saves 9 barrels (380 gallons) of oil
– Saves 54 million Btu’s of energy
– Saves 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space
– Saves 60 pounds of air pollutants being released
– Saves 7,000 gallons of water
– Saves 17 trees
Mt. Lorne has recycled 9 tonnes of mixed paper since April 1st, 2019.
Commodity: Textiles
Where it goes: Vancouver or Edmonton
What happens to it?: Recycled
Media Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URokpcF4Nfo
Notes: Nearly 100 percent of textiles and clothing are recyclable.
 About 50 percent of collected shoes and clothing is used as second-hand products. 20 percent is used to produce polishing and cleaning cloths for industrial purposes, and 26 percent is recycled for applications such as fibre for insulation products, upholstery, fibreboard, and mattresses. Over 80 billion garments are produced annually, worldwide. More than 70% of the world’s population uses second-hand clothing. In 2014, over 16 million tons of textile waste was generated, and of this amount, only 2.62 million tons were recycled. Mt Lorne has recycled 6 tonnes of textiles since April 1st, 2019.

Media Links

%d bloggers like this: