How to Recycle Hard-to-Recycle Materials

Nov. 15, 2011 - PRLog -- Lake Forest, IL – Today, ecycler Inc. has added a new feature to its website: the ability to recycle materials that aren’t accepted by curbside programs or drop-off facilities.

Most recycling centers and municipal recycling programs only accept newspapers, aluminum cans and plastic or glass bottles, but there are businesses that allow people to ship them non-traditional items.

Ecycler.com is making it easier for people to send such odd items as crayons, tennis balls and wine corks to various businesses that either reuse them or turn them into new products. On ecycler’s website, all one has to do is click on “start recycling” button and scroll down to the list of shippable items. Once a site visitor indicates the number of items to recycle, they’ll be taken to their dashboard, where they can view the transaction and print out a customized printing label. Ecycler also will e-mail people the shipping label, along with shipping instructions for each type of item.

Ecycler’s co-founder, Timothy Laurent states, “There are numerous household items that can find new life if they’re shipped to a business that accepts them.”

For example, used crayons can be recycled using this shippable service from ecycler.com. Between 45,000 and 75,000 pounds of broken crayons have been found in landfills each year in the U.S. Although the crayon wrapper may deteriorate over time, the wax is not biodegradable and will never break down leaving a waxy sludge in landfills for centuries to come.

People can select from among discs, crayons, tennis balls, alkaline batteries, wine corks, VHS tapes, inkjet cartridges, eyeglasses, keys and bicycle inner tubes to recycle. Over 100 pounds of these hard-to-recycle materials have already been diverted from the landfill via ecycler.

Laurent goes on to say, “When shipping your recyclables, remember to reuse an old box.”

Each material has its own landing page where more information and top recyclers are listed. For example, crayons may be recycled here: http://ecycler.com/crayons


About ecycler, Inc.
Ecycler.com creates a new way to recycle by connecting people discarding cans, bottles, newspapers and other recyclables with those wishing to collect them.

Ecycler provides an alternative to the many U.S. households, institutions and businesses that are not offered curb-side recycling.  It’s also an option for people who do have curb-side recycling but who want to have their recyclables picked up when and where they desire.

To learn more about ecycler, visit: http://ecycler.com/