By Michael, on July 9th, 2012 
Have you ever wondered why certain materials are recycled? People used to be able to discard anything into the trash. Now most cities and communities require people to separate specific items and materials for recycling. Here are some of the top recycled items and the reasons they are not being discarded straight into the trash bin.
ALUMINUM
Aluminum is the only recycled item on this list and any list that has no limitations on recycling. It is 100% recyclable and is a very common item being discarded by users from soda and beer cans, to packaging, to items used around the house.
Recycling aluminum saves an enormous amount of energy that would be needed to make brand new aluminum materials. As of today, the beverage industry is the biggest user of aluminum, which also has an enormous consumer market that utilizes its aluminum products.
PLASTIC
Plastic materials are everywhere in a household but most plastic items that are used and recycled are food and drink containers, bags, eating utensils and various bottles such as shampoo and detergent.
As a result of the growing need for plastics, many communities have required it to be recycled. Similar to aluminum, recycling plastics generally takes less energy and resources than it would need to create brand new plastic materials.
An added incentive of recycling plastic is to keep it out of landfills and save space for non-recyclable items. The number of communities that recycle plastic is still relatively low, leaving room for improvement as the need to reuse items is recognized.
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GLASS
Out of all the recyclable materials listed, glass is the one that is considered the most sustainable. It can be recycled over and over again since it does not decompose, it would be take up too much space in a landfill making recycling that much more of a necessity.
Glass that is broken or crushed for reuse is called cullet. It is eco-friendly because of the reduction in energy used during this process.
There are glass materials that cannot be recycled and it makes up over 11 million tons that are discarded each year. Glass can also be easily recycled so it is important to recycle the materials that are able to in order to make up for the glass materials that cannot be recycled.
Kent Yuen is a writer for Granite Transformations, a home remodeling company that utilizes recycled Skyy vodka bottles for its products.
