ng new.

Recycling is nothing
doing jtit for thousands
People have been dojng
of years. And not just
of just people: Nature has

energy, creates jobs, and helps buHd

energy, bujld
a strong economy.
economy. And itjt reduces
reduces prob-
lems associated with
lems wjth Htter
litter and trash.
trash.
recycling is still the
So, recycling
SO, thewise
wise
thing to do.
do. Here
Here is
js a brief history
history
of recycHng,
recycling, showjng
showing how itit has devel-
oped -- and how itjt has
oped has become aa way
of life
life for
for millions
millions of CaHfomians.
Califomjans.
65 millionyears
65miHion ago
yearsago
dinosaursdie
Asdinosaurs
As dieoff andbecome
o f fand becomeextinct,
extinct,they
theyare
are
recycledinto
recycled infooil andgas.
oiland gas.The
Theprocess
processtakes
takesplace as
placeas
thedecaying
the decayingremains dinosaurs--along
remainsofofdinosaurs alongwith
withother sea
othersea
animalsand
animals plants--settle
andplants settleon
onthe
theseabed.
seabed.Over
Overtime,
time,the
the
animals,plants,
animals, plants,mud,
mud, and
and sediment
sedimentwill
willgradually
graduallycom-
com-
press into
press intosedimentary
sedimentaryrockrockand
and change
changeinto
intogas
gasand
and oil
oil
through heat and pressure. Millions
of years later, they will be mined
and refined into petroleum,
plastics, and thousands of
other products. (Eventually,
the recycling of dinosaurs
will be embodied in
"spokesdinosaur"
Recycle Rex, created
by the California
Department of
Conservation to
promote recycling;
see 1992.)

they no
longer
travel from place
to piace, leaving
their garbage
behind, they must
learn how to dispose
of their trash. The
challenge of what to
do with waste begins.
1,600 B.C.
Religious, utilitarian,
and social conventions
play a mqjor role in
establishing sanitary .
practices in the ancient
world. for example, the
Jewish code of sanitary laws
obligates individuals to be
responsible for removal of their
own waste.
500 B.C.
Athens organizes the
tirst municipal dumps
in the western world.
local laws dictate
that waste must be olspm,eo
ofofatatleast
leastone
onemjle fromthe
milefrom citywalls
thecity walls.
 1031
1031
Japan begins tthe ofwaste paper
use of
h e first recorded use paper for
making new
making new paper.
paper. All
All documents
documents and
and paper
paper inin Japan
Japan are
are
recycled
recycled and repulped
repulped into new
new paper,
paper, sold in
in paper
paper shops.

1348
The Blackck Death epidemic reaches Europe from Asia,
spawned iin n pact
pad by garbage tossed onto unpaved unpcped streets
and vacant spaces. The trash became a fertile fertile environment
for diseases carried byby rat
rat fleas. Infected
Infected humans
humans typically
typically
within 22 to
died within Before itit is over,
to 10 days. Before over, Black will kill
Black Death wjll
hundreds ofof thousands of of men, women, and children.
children.

1690
The recycled paper manufacturing process is intro-
Rittenhouse Mill near Philadelphia will make
duced. The Rittenhouse
paper from fiber derived from recycled cotton and linen rags.
paper
/

1776
1776
As America
America declares its independence
independence from from England,
England,
rebels
rebels tum
tum to recycling
recycling ta to provide
provide material to fight the
War of Independence.
Independence. Silversmith
Silversmith Paul
Paul Revere
Revere advertises
advertises for
for
scrap metal of all kinds.
kinds. General
General George
George Washington
Washington urges the
reuse of wom chain from
of old worn from frigates.
frigates. And publisher
publisher Benjamin
Benjamin
Franklin
Franklin uses
uses reconstituted
reconstituted scrap
scrap paper in in his
his early
early printing.
printing.
Patriots
Patriots contribute
contribute metal,
metal, paper, cloth, and other
paper, cloth, other used items
items toto
the
the American
American Revolution.
Revolution. Among
Among other
other things,
things, iron
iron kettles
kettles and
pots are
are melted
melted down
down for
for armaments.
armaments. Meanwhile,
Meanwhile, paper use
grows
grows dramatically
dramatically in the
the new states.
states. The
The Massachusetts
Massachusetts
House
House of Representatives passes aa decree
Representatives passes decree requiring
requiring that
that all
all
towns appoint an
towns appoint an individual
individual toto receive rags for
receive rags for the
the mills.
mills.
I
1801
1801
The tim
'!'he from material other than
first mill to produce paper from
cotton aDd
cotton and linen England. Malfhias
linen rags is built in England. Matthias Koops
Koops
receives
receives the first pafent
patent for "extracting
“extractingprinting and writing
writing ink
from printed and wntten
from convertingthe paper from
written paper, and converting
into pulp,
which the ink is extracted into pulp, and making
making thereof paper
printing, and other purposes."
fit for writing, printing, purposes.” Two years later,
later,
Koops mill declared
the Koops declared bankruptcy
bankruptcy and closed.
closed.
iaio
1810
Durand is
Peter Durand is granted aa patent by King George IJI 111 of
England for his idea of preserving food
England food in "vessels
“vessels of glass,
pottery, tin, or other metals or fit materials,"
pottery, materials,” launching the
commercially
commercially processed food industry.
Industry.
1840s
18405
trade, among America's
The peddler trade, America‘s earliest
entrepreneurships, begins when men with back-
collect and recycle
packs and horsedrawn carts collect recycle
anything that has resale value. These
anything These merchants,
merchants,
impovenshed immigrants
usually impoverished immigrants
to the New World,
World, are
direct ancestors of
direct

business
families.

The California Gold Rush and the Civil Civil War create an
urgent food that could be preserved for 10Dg
urgeDt need for food long
transported over great distances.
periods of time and transported distances.
Travelers heading westward to open new settlements
Travelers settlements took
foods pocked
with them foods East.
packed in metal cans by canners in the East.
The U.S. canning
canning business will boom from an output of five
million cans in 1849
million five years
1849 to 30 million five yeors later.
later.
1865
1865
The Salvation Anny is founded
Salvation Army founded in London, England,
England, and
collecting, sorting,
begins collecting, sorting, and recycling unwanted goods.
goods. The
organization’s "Household
organization's “Household Salvage
Salvage Brigades"
Brigades” employ the
unskilled poor to recover
unskilled recover discarded
discarded materials. The Salvation
Salvatjon
Army and its resource activitjes migrate to the United
resource recovery activities
States in the 1890s.
1890s.

lW4
1874
Curbside recycling begins -- in BaIfimore,
Cucbside recydbig Balhore, Maryland. Mean-
while in Nottingham,
Nottingham, England, device called "the
England, a new device “the destructoc"
destructor”
provides systematicincineration
provides the first systematic incineration of municipal waste.
waste.
1892
T he Sierra Club is founded in
The in San Francisco by by
renowned conservationist John Muir. ItIt is the first
environmental organization
national environmental organization.

1895
New York City appoints
Colonel George E. Waring
as street-cleaning
commissioner. Known as
the "Apostle of Cleanliness,"
Waring administers the first
practical. comprehensive
system of refuse manage-
ment in the United States.
The system requires
households to sort organic
wastes, paper,
ashes, and street
sweepings into
separate containers
for collection.
Waring outfits the
proud sweepers
and drivers in
smart-looking white
uniforms. He even
helps New York
profit from source
separation by
reselling recovered
materials.
materials.

1897
1897
New York
Yodc City
City creates
creates aa materials recovery
recovery facility
focilify
where trash isis sorted
sorted at "picking
"pickingyards"
yards" and separated into
into
various
various grades
grades of paper, metals, and carpet.
paper, metals, carpet. Burlap
Burlap bags,
bags,
twine, rubber, and even
twine, rubber, even horsehair
horsehair are
are also
also sorted
sorted for
for recycling
recycling
or reuse.
reuse.
1904-
1904
fie nation's
The fist aluminum
nation's first aluminum can
can recycling
recycling plants
open
open in
in Chicago
Chicago and
and Cleveland.
Cleveland.
1907
1907
An
An article in Cosmopolitan
article in Cosmopolitonmagazine,
magazine, "The
"TheChemical
Chemical
House
House That
That Jack
Jack Built,"
Built,"extols
extolsthe
the manner
manner in
in which
which "every
"even/
possible
possible substance
substance wewe use
use and
and throwaway
throw away comes
comes backback as
as
new
new and
and different material --aa wonderful
different material wonderfulcycle
cycle ofof transforma-
transfoma-
tion
tion created
created by
by scientists' skill."
scientists' skill."
Early 1900s
Eadv 1900s
Recyclers
Recyclersand
and reuse
reuse programs
programsadopt
adopt the
the phrase
phrase
"Waste
'Waste As
AsWealth"
Wealth"to to describe
describethe
the profits
profitsto
to be
be made
made
from sorting
from sortingand
and reselling
resellingitems
itemsfound
found in
in household
household trash.
trash.
1916
1916
The Chicago
The Chicago city
cityjail initiates aa unique
jail initiates unique recycling
recycling
experiment as it puts
experiment as puts prisoners
prisoners to
to work collecting
collecting and
and
sortingwaste materials.
sorting materials.
1916-1918
1916-1918
Due to
Due to shortages
shodages ofof raw
raw materials during World War J,I,
materials during
t h e federal
the federal government
govemment creates
creates the
the Waste
Waste Reclamation
Reclamation
S e n i c e with the
Service the motto
motto "Don't
“Don’tWaste Waste --Save
Waste Waste Save It"
It.” The
The
agency advertises
agency advertises extensively
extensivelyto to encourage
encourage thethe publlc
public to
to save
save
old rags
old rags and
and wastepaper.
wastepaper. The The service
service also
also advocates
advocates scientific
scientifjc
management of
management the notion's
of the nation‘swater,
water, timber,
timber, land,
land, and
and minerals
minerals
--early steps
steps in the
the evolution
evolution of progressive
progressive programs
programs to
protect resources
protect resources forfor future
future generations.
generations.
becomes a valuable commodity and,
Used paper becomes and, for
for the
the
first
first time in America,
Amenca, thousands of tons tons of old books,
books, news-
papers, and business papers are
papers, mills.
are recycled by paper mills.
Meanwhile, Ms.
Meanwhile, Ms. Otheman
Otheman Stevens
Stevens initiates
initiates an ambitious
ambitious fintin
foil collection
foil collection program
program in Los 10s Angeles and becomes the the sole
sole
representative of the Red Cross
representative Cross Salvage
Salvage Bureau.
Bureau.
1920s
19205
Landfflliag --reclaiming
Landtilling reclaimingwetlands
wetlands with layers
layers of garbage,
garbage, ash,
ash,
and dirt introduced and becomes
dirt --isis introduced becomes aa popular disposal
disposal method.
1929
1929
The Municipal Garbage
The Garbage Department of Sacramento,
Sacramento,
Califomia, increases
California, its annual revenue by selling
increases its the
selling the
to an independent paper company.
city‘s wastepaper to
city's
The new revenue
revenue allows the ent to increase
increase garbage
collectors’wages by 25 cents
collectors' cents a

193
1935
The ffirst
i n t aluminum can for bevzrages
bev61raSlles isyanufactuced
by a brewer in Newark, New Jersey. Jersey. The can weighed three
ounces. S
ounces. Sixty later, a process called “light
ixty years later, "light weighting”
weighting" will
reduce aluminum beverage cans to weigh just one-half
one-half ounce.
ounce.
1939-1945
Thousands of tons of material are recycled to support U.S.
and Allied troops during World War II. The War Production
Board's Salvage Division is responsible for promoting nationwide
recycling. More than 20,000 salvage committees, 400,000
volunteers, and millions of citizens pledge to "Get in the Scrap" to
help the war effort. The salvage of tin, rubber, aluminum, and other
materials is taken very seriously. Citizens contribute everything from
doorknobs to girdles to help build the military machine. The rhetoric
is strong: "If you have even a few pounds of scrap metal in your
home, you are aiding the Axis,"
asserts one wartime magazine
ad. II is said that salvaging
metal straps from corsets alone
saved enough metal to build
two warships.
The Boston General
Salvage Committee helps the
war effort with scrap drives -
advertising the campaign on
streetcars and billboards, and
with informational circulars to
homes. "Special Salvage Days,"
a children's scrap metal contest
involving schools, eJ<hibits in
grocery stores, and a volunteer
women's group known as the
"Salvage Commandos" are also
used to enlist support for the
program.
In a productive
public-private partnership to help
the government's war effort, the
International Harvester Company
coordinates an effort using its
10,000 dealerships nationwide
to collect much of the estimated
three million tons of ferrous scrap
metal lying idle on American
farms. In Chicago, the Herald &
American newspaper enlists the
aid of its 3,000 carrier boys
known as the "Junior Salvage
Commandos" to make personal
house-to-house calls in search
1948
1948
Morketacceptance
Market occeptonceof offrozen
frozenorange
orangeconcentrate
concentrateleads
leads
totothe
theexpansion
expansionofofthe
thefrozen
frozenfoods
foodsindustry,
industry,with
withassociated
associated
increasesininpackaging.
increases packaging.
1955
1955
7heAugust
The August11issue
issueof Lifemagazine
of Life magazineoffersoffersaatwo-page
two-page
orticleon
article “ThrowawayLiving."
on"Throwaway Living.“WithWithaaphoto
photoofof aafamily
family
cheerfullytossing
cheerfully tossingdozens
dozensof of disposables
disposablesinto intothe
theair,
air,itit
celebratedthese
celebrated these products'
products’ability
abilitytoto"cut
“cutdown
down ononhousehold
household
chores.”Consumers
chores." Consumersare are increasingly
increasinglysold sold on
on the
the idea
idea that
that
single-useitems
single-use itemsare
arenecessities
necessitiesof of aa modem
modem lifestyle.
lifestyle.EaseEaseand
and
conveniencebecome
convenience become the two most
the two most desirable
desirable qualities
qualitiesinin
product marketing.AA negative
productmarketing. negative side-effect:
side-effect:parks,
parks, forests,
forests. and
and
highwaysare
highways are littered
litteredwith
with trash.
trash.

The Amencan
American Society of Civil Engineers
Engineers publishes o a
guide to londfffling,
landfUling, calling for compacting trash and
covering it daily with a layer of
of soil to guard against rodents
later standards will call for new landfills to have a
and odors. Later
liner
liner on the
the bottom
bottom and
and liquid collection
collection systems that
that pump
pump
out
out water
water for treatment, and toto collect methane gas, which
which is
is
produced
produced asas waste
waste decomposes.
decomposes.
1964
The
The all-aluminum
all-aluminum can can is
is introduced.
introduced. Recognjzing
Recognizing thethe value
value
of
of used
used aluminum
aluminum canscans asas aa ruw
raw material
material for
for making
making newnew
cans,
cans, the
the aluminum
aluminum industry will soon
industry will soon begin
begin creating
creating aa
massive
massive system
system for
for recycling
recycling and
and redeeming
redeeming used
used beverage
beverage
containers. U.S. collection
containers. U.S. collection will
will grow
grow from 1.2 billion
from 1.2 billion cans
cans in
in
1972
1972to more than
to more 62 billion
than 62 billion cans
cans inin 1995
1995 through
through curbside
curbside
recycling
recyclingprograms
programs andand more
more than 10,000 recycling
than 10,000 recycling centers.
centers.
1965
1965
The
TheSolid
SolidWaste
WasteDisposal
Disposal Act Actisis passed
passedby byCongress,
Congress, thethe
first
firstsignificant
significantrecognition trashas
recognitionofoftrash asaa national
nationalissue.
issue.The
The
primary
primarythrust
thrustofofthe actisisto
theact to“initiate
"initiateand
andaccelerate”
accelerate" aa
national
nationalresearch
researchandanddevelopment
developmentprogramprogramandandtotoassist
assist
state
stateand
andlocal
localgovemments
governmentswith withtheir
theirdisposal
disposalprograms.
programs.
 1970
The first Earth Day is held on
tirst national Eatth OD April 22. The
brainchild of Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson,Nelson, it is inspired
"teach-Ins" held to educate citizens
by "teach-ins" citizens about the Vietnam War.
An estimated 20 million Americans
Americans celebrate at festivals
festivals and
fairs throughout
throughoutlhethe U S . One focus
U.S. focus is recycling,
recycling, which begins
to evolve into a mainstream movement,
movement, as recycling and litter
clean-up programs spring up throughout the country. Schools.
country. Schools,
religious institutions,
religious institutions, environmental
environmental organizations,
organizations, and youth
groups take the lead in these efforts.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is created as
a government
government response to the public's growing environmental
Office of
concerns, and its Ofice of Solid Waste begins examining
examining the
problems caused by generating and disposing
disposing waste. Mean-
Congress passes the Resource Recovery Act to shift the
while, Congress
emphasis of federal involvement from disposal to recycling,
federal involvement recycling,
recovery, and the conversion
resource recovery, conversion ofof waste into energy.
energy.
1972
Oregon passes the first
tirst "bottle
"bottle bill" in the US.,
U.S.,
requiring
requiring consumers to pay a deposit on bottles and cans,
recycled.
to be redeemed when the container is recycled.
Meanwhile, aluminum industq
Meanwhile, industry efforts lead to a record
of aluminum being recycled this year.
53 million pounds of
Americans will exceed that amount
Twenty-five years later, Americans
every week, with some 119,292
ll9,292 cans recycled every minute
nationwide.
nationwide.
1973
1973
The polyethylene terephthalate (pET) battle is
(PET) plastic bottle
pateDted by chemist Nathaniel Wyeth, brother
patented brothel' of
distinguished American painter Andrew Wyeth. The
bottles will soon begin replacing glass bottles for some uses.
will begin in 1977,
Recycling wjll 1977, though it will be years before a
significant number of recycling facilities
significant facilities accept PE7
PET bottles.
boffles.
effo I1 get a boost in 1991,
1991, when Coca-Cola
soda bottle. PET recycling will
in 1979 to 622 In 1995.
1974
1974
Dicect-mail advertising
Direct-mail advertising begins
beginsto to take
take off, with more
off, with more
than $5billion
than $S billion spent
spent to
to promote
promote credit
credit cords,
cards, magazines,
magazines, andand
hundreds of
hundreds of other
other products.
products. Within
Within 2020 years,
years, the
the industry will
industry will
grow to
grow to more
more than
than $100
$100billion,
billion, with
with more
more than
than 7070 billion
billion
pieces of
pieces mail delivered
of moil delivered annually,
annually, about
about one
one in
in seven
seven of which
which
will be recovered
will for recycling.
recovered for recycling.
1976
1976
The Federal
The Federal Resource
Resource Conservation
Conservation and and Recovery
Recovery Act
is passed.
is passed. Among
Among other
other things,
things, itit mandates that
that landfills
landfills
become more
become more closely
closely monitored.
monitored. TheThe low
law emphasizes
emphasizes
recycling and
recycling and conserving
conservingenergy
energy andand other
other resources,
resources, and
and
the nation's
launches the nation‘s hazardous waste management
management program
program
1979
1979
”Choicesfor
"Choices for Conservation,"
Conservation,”aa report
report of the Federal
Federal
Resource Conservation
Resource Conservation Committee,
Committee, warns: “Wehave no
wams: "We no
cause for
for complacency
complacency about the rate at which
which we consume
consume
endowment. Our
our natural endowment. practices affect
OUI materials-use practices affect
environmental policy, energy
environmental energy consumption,
consumption, waste generation,
generation,
the balance of trade,
the trade, and other
other important
important concerns.
concems. lndividu-
Individu-
als, private companies,
companies, local government,
govemment, and the federal
federal
govemment all make choices
govemment choices every
every day which affect
affect our use
and conservation resources.“
conservation of resources."

1986
Califomia
California enacts the California Beverage Container
Recycling
Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, placing a deposit on
Reduction Act,
aluminum cans cons and glass and plastic bottles. The program
program
pushes the state‘s
state's overall beverage container recycling
recycling rate to
80% by
80% by the
the mid 1990s,
1990s, with
with more than
than 10 billion
billion cans
cons and
bottles recycled annually. Meanwhile, Rhode Rhode Island
Island becomes
the
the first state to pass a mandatory
to pass mandatory recycling
recycling law for aluminum
low for
and
and steel
steel (“tin’?
("tin") cans,
cans, glass, plastic (PET
gloss, plastic (PIT and
and HDPE)
HDPE) bottles,
bottles,
and newspapers.
newspapers. Residents and businesses
businesses must now
separate these
these recyclables
recyclables from
cecyclables from their
their trash.
trash.
1987
The Mobro,
The Mobro, aa barge
barge carrying
carrying garbage
garbage fromfrom New
New Yo&,
York, tries
tries
unsuccessfully to
unsuccessfully to get
get rid
rid of
of its
its load in six
load in six states
states and
and three
three other
other
countries.
countries. The barge travels 6,000 miles for six months
The barge months before
before
is finally allowed to
itit is to dump its its load,
load, consisting
conSisting primarily
primarily of
of
paper,
paper, backback in New
New York.
York. The event is is wjdely
widely publicized
publicized and
and
bnngs
brings new recycling as an altemative
new interest in recycling alternative to
to landfilling.
In an unrelated incident a year later, hypodermichypodennic needles and
other medical waste wash wash up onto East Coast beaches. The
media
media begins
begins referring
referring to the
the sjtuahons collectively as a “solid
situations collectively "solid
waste crisis."

1988
Government
Govemment purchasing
purchasing policies and technological
breakthroughs
breakthroughs advance
advance paper recycling. Caljfomia state
recycling. California
govemment allows aa price preference for
government for paper with at least
postconsumer content.
50% recycled and 10% postconsumer content. By the early
'90s, 50 states adopted legislation
’90s, all 50 legislation or executive
executive orders
orders
favoring recycled paper. In 1993
favoring 1993 President
President Clinton
Cljnton orders
orders
federal agencies
federal agencies to
to buy paper with at least 20%
postconsumer content.
postconsumer content.
1989
1989
Arizona archaeologist William William Rathje begins the
Garbage Project in which which he leads students in "mining"
“mining”
local landfills
local landfills to learn
leam about modem civilization.
cjvjljzation. Among
their findings:
their findings: Trash
Trash doesn't
doesn‘t break down
down in
in landfills.
landfills.
Students
Students unearth decades-old
decades-old newspapers that that are
are intact,
intact,
and bananas
bananas that
that are
are still
still yellow.
yellow.
 1990
The 20th
anniversary of
Earth Day marks
a pinnacle of the
modem environ-
mental movement
as millions of
citizens worldwide
participate in
environmental
events. Public
opinion polls show
environmental
protection as a top
concern. 50 Simple
Things You Can
Do to Save the
Earth, The Green
Consumer, and
other bestsellers join
with network TV
specials and
magazine cover
stories to bring a
renewed focus on
recycling and other
conservation efforts.
conservation efforts.
recyclables is so prolific
Collection of recyclab\es challenge
prolific that the challenge
findjng markets
becomes finding markets for the materials being collected.
collected.
A new emphasis is placed on "closing
A “closingthe loop"
loop” -- buying
products made fromfrom recycled material.
material.
Califomia state government
California govemment mandates municipalities
municipalities to
reduce
reduce their waste stream by 25% by the year 1995 1995 and 50%
by the year 2000. Integrated Waste Manage-
2000. The California lntegrated
Assembly Bill 939 in 1989)
ment Board is established (by Assembly 1989) to
administer
administer the program.
program.
The Environmental Defense Fund, Fund, National Recycling
Recycling
Coalition, Environmental
Coalition, Environmental Media Association,
Association, and other
prominent environmental
prominent environmentalorganizations,
organizations, along
along with state
!
govemment agencies
government agencies in California,
Califomia,Washington,
Washington, and else-
where, begin promoting
where, promoting buying recycled-content
recycled-content products
products
continued success of recycling in the U.S.
as key to the continued
1991
1991
League teams
7he National Football League
The teams up with the
California Department of Conservation,
Califonda Conservation, the city
of Pasadena, and the Rose Bowl to implement the first
comprehensive recycling
comprehensive recycling program at Super Bowl XXVII.
Califomia observes its first
California first Recycle
Recycle Week in mid-April.
Meanwhile, California
Meanwhile, Califomia Governor
Govemor George Deukmejian
Deuhejian intro-
litter prevention
duces a litter prevention campaign
campaign targeting
targeting the youthful
youthful
htterbug. The ad line:
litterbug. ‘Leam to hold it until you get to the can.
line: "Learn can.
Don’t litter."
Don't litter.”
 1992
Recycle Rex.
California's
spokesdinosaur
for recycling and
conservation,

~e",
is created through
a parlnership
~~ between The Walt
Re'l1l'" e

__-
Disney Company
.,. and the Califomia
Department of
Conservation.
McDonald's sponsors
the distribution of
the "Recycle Relt
classroom video
in English
and Spanish - to
the state's 6,000
public and private
elementary schools.
.Television public
service announcements
introduce the popular
character to all residents.
1993
The first Earth Day ConservatioD :Fair at State Capitol
Park in Sacramen10 educates and entertains more than
5,000 kids and adults. Conservation fair '97, with 120 exhibits,
live music, and celebrities, attracts SO,OOo-plus attendees and
is heralded as the largest event of its kind in the country.
1995
Amedcons recycle a record 47.5 billion soft drink
con1ainers, an increase of 500 million over the previous year.
Aluminum cans are recycled ata rate of 63% in the U.S. and
80% in Califomia. There are more than 10,000 recycling centers
natianwide and at least 4,000 curbside collection programs.
There are more than 400 recycled papers in all grades.

.
Evidence grows that recycling helps create jobs. For
example, the city of Son Jose estimates it could create 775
jobs by recycling 624,600 tons of material. A study by the
California Integrated Waste Management Boord calculates
that diverting 50% of the state's waste stream from landfills
could create 40,000 new jobs by the year 2000. The
California Department of Conservation publishes Good, Green
Jobs, documenting how companies are creating economic
growth through recycling and other environmental initiatives.
Californians achieve a milestone by diverting 25% of
their waste, meeting the requirements of state law. The
California Integrated Waste Management Board intensifies
its efforts to help communities, businesses, and families to
reduce, reuse, and rec.ycle even more in order to reach the
historic 50% reduction by 2000.
Today . .. and Tomorrow
Recycling has come of age in CalifoOlia - and throughout
the u.s. - with more than a quarter of all household waste
being diverted from landfills and incinerators. Among other
things, Californians recycle nearly 10 billion glass and plastic
bottles and aluminum cans every year - nearly one a day for
every state resident.
And the future looks bright.
Throughout California, recycling
programs continue to grow in compa-
nies, communities, households, schools
and other institutions. Public opinion
pools show that Americans in general
overwhelmingly support recycling
programs and believe they are an
important part of our everyday efforts
to conserve resources and protect
the environment.

California's recycling agencies

T
he CalifoOlia Depadment of Conservation
administers the state's Beverage Container Recycling
and litter Reduction Act. This recycling program is
funded through redemption payments made by beverage
distributors on every eligible beverage container sold in
the state. Revenues from these payments are used to pay
consumers who redeem their California Redemption Value
(CRV) beverage containers at certified recycling centers and
to fund various recycling programs.
The purpose of the program is to foster recycling of
the state's aluminum, glass, plastic and bi-metal beverage
containers in an environmentally sound and economically
viable manner.
The Department also provides public information on
recycling - from where to find certified recycling centers to
how to join the RecyCool Club. CallI-BOO-RECYCLE for
Information.
The CalifoOlia Integrated Waste Management
Board is the state agency responsible for promoting recycling
of cornmodities other than cans and bottles, as well as
ensuring that the state's landfills and other waste facilities
operate in compliance with all federal and state environmental
and health and safety laws. The six-member Board assists
developing markets for recyc1ables through a variety of
measures, including its Recycling Market Development Zone
loon program, reviews plans submitted by cities and counties
for reaching 50% waste diversion, and provides information
and assistance to governments, businesses and individual
Californions on ways they can recycle and buy recycled products.
The IWMB also is responsible for specialized waste
prevention programs, such as certifying locations for consum-
ers to drop off used motor oil for recycling and tire recycling
efforts. For more information on IWMB programs, to find
the used oil recycling center closest to you, or to order a
publication, call the new CallEPA hotline at l-BOO-ClEANUP.