Recycling & Waste Management Program Concord Public Works

Recycled Items

Athletic Shoes: Athletic shoes of any brand are collected through the Nike "Reuse-a-Shoe" program. Shoes are separated into three main materials, each of which is used in a different way to make new sports surfaces. Nike Grind Rubber, from outsoles and manufacturing byproducts, helps make football, baseball, and soccer fields, as well as golf products, weight room flooring, and running tracks. Nike Grind Foam, from midsoles, is used in synthetic basketball courts, tennis courts, and playground surfacing. Nike Grind Fluff, from textile and leather uppers, is used for padding under hardwood basketball floors. Nike recycles and reuses 100% of the materials from post-consumer and defective athletic shoes that are collected for recycling. It takes approximately 3,000 pairs of athletic shoes to make a basketball court and more than 100,000 shoes to surface a reuse-a-shoe track. On average, Nike recycles between one and two million pairs of athletic shoes each year. In Massachusetts you can see a reuse-a-shoe playground surface at Josiah Quincy School, 885 Washington St, Chinatown, and an outdoor basketball surface at Colonel Daniel Marr Boys and Girls Club, 35 Deer Street, Dorchester. Shoes are also collected for recycling at NikeTown on Newbury Street in Boston and all City Sport stores.

Batteries - rechargeable and button: More than 350 million rechargeable batteries are purchased annually for use in cordless power tools, laptop computers, cellular and cordless phones, camcorders, two-way radios, emergency lighting, and other wireless devices. Lithium and mercury-containing single-use batteries are used in watches, hearing aids, and other devices requiring powerful small batteries. All of these batteries contain heavy metals that can harm our environment, should they leach into soil or water from a landfill or be released into the atmosphere through incinerator smokestack emissions. All of these batteries can be recycled and their metals reused. For information on recycling rechargeable batteries visit www.rbrc.org. Batteries may be dropped off in containers at the library, Town House, Council on Aging, and Concord Public Works.

Bikes: Bikes are collected by Bikes Not Bombs, a non-profit organization working for alternative transportation and community development. The group operates the Bicycle Recycling and Youth Training Center in Roxbury, MA, to promote environmental education, meaningful employment, and safe sustainable communities, both in Roxbury and abroad. Bikes Not Bombs has sent over 22,000 bikes to Central America, the Caribbean, and Africa in the last 20 years. They provide technical and material resources for transportation alternatives. One program they have worked with is The Village Bicycle Project (VBP) in Ghana, West Africa. The VBP offers bike repair classes and tools to stimulate small business development in the bicycle transport sector. Since September 2002 BNB has shipped them nearly 2,000 bicycles and tons of parts. For more information visit www.bikesnotbombs.org, or call then at 617-442-0004.

Reusable Building Materials: Reusable building materials are collected by The Building Materials Resource Center, a nonprofit building materials reuse organization located in Roxbury. They accept donations of good quality used and surplus building materials and sell them to the public at low prices. In addition, low and moderate-income customers and nonprofits are eligible for a considerable discount on those prices. The BMRC also offers a wide range of homeowner support services, including home improvement classes, in-home consults, a do-it-yourself window repair shop, and much more. BMRC will pickup donations at your home year round. For more information visit www.bostonbmrc.org, or call them at 617-442-8917.

Books: Books are collected by Friends of the Concord Library for resale at their annual book sale, and by GOT BOOKS a for-profit business that markets books with retail value on the internet and recycles books for which there is no market value. Visit their website at www.gotbooks.com.

Carpeting: While most components that make up synthetic carpet are recyclable or reusable, only about 4% of waste carpet currently gets handled in these ways. Carpet manufacturers are working to develop a program by the year 2012 to recycle 25% of the 4.7 billion pounds of old carpet that are generated each year. Current reuse opportunities for recycled carpets include: carpet backing, carpet tiles, remanufactured carpet tiles, carpet cushion, construction sheeting, plastic lumber, "Geo Hay" for erosion control, commercial nylon with recycled content, automobile parts, and engineering resins. For more information visit www.carpetrecovery.org or www.moea.state.mn.us/carpet.

CDs: CDs are not recycled into new CDs. CDs and jewel cases are ground and sold as raw materials to be recycled into new products such as automotive parts, CD holders, office supplies, etc. To mail your own CDs for recycling call DADC at 812-462-8323.

Cell phones: Working phones are donated to Concord's Domestic Violence Victims Assistance Program (DVVAP) and to the Concord police senior assistance program where they are programmed to dial 911 and given to individuals that may need them to call for emergency assistance. Unneeded phones are sold to an organization that works with domestic violence programs and funds are used to support DVVAP. Any Concord resident that would like a cell phone for emergency use only can contact Concord Police at 318-3400 and ask to speak with DVVAP or Detective Camilleri. Cell phones may be dropped off at the police department at any time.

Computer diskettes: Data is deleted, then they are relabeled and marketed for reuse by Greendisk. www.greendisk.com.

Crayons: Crayons are sent to Rebecca's Crayons or Crazy Crayons, two businesses that separate the crayons by color and remelt them back into fun-shaped crayons. New crayons are available from www.rebeccas-recycled-riters.com or http//crp3.tripod.com.

Electronics: Electronics are currently handled by ElectroniCycle, an electronics recycling facility in Gardner, MA. Every item sent to ElectroniCycle is examined to determine whether it has reuse possibilities or should be demanufactured for components or recycling. About 25% of materials collected are determined to be viable for reuse or repair. The remaining 75% is broken down into over 50 categories of scrap then sorted by chemistry and grade. Plastic is separated by polymer, copper materials (wire, copper yokes, degaussing coils, etc.) are separated by copper chemistry, light aluminum is sorted from heavy aluminum, etc. Even glass CRTs are processed into barium, leaded, and mixed glass, for recycling back into cathode ray tubes. 99% of all materials are recycled. Most components are processed within the US, except plastics, which are generally sold to plastics companies in China. You can visit ElectroniCycle's site at www.electronicycle.com

Flowerpots (plastic): Rigid plastic flowerpots can now be recycled at curbside. Plastic flowerpots that are brought to the DropOff are ground up and used as a substitute for stone aggregate in the manufacture of a product called "Plas-Crete" wall blocks by Conigliaro Industries. Use of plastic in the manufacture of these blocks reduces the need to quarry stone aggregate and results in a block that is half the weight of traditional concrete blocks.

Fluorescent bulbs: Fluorescent bulbs contain mercury and, though the amount of mercury contained in one bulb will do no harm, the amount country-wide is quite substantial -- in the U.S. alone, there are an estimated 600 million lamps discarded annually. Mercury vapor is released when the bulb is broken and, if incinerated, the remaining mercury is released into the atmosphere when burned. Bulbs that are collected for recycling are demanufactured and all components are separated and recycled for reuse by ONYX, a company in Stoughton, MA. Fluorescent bulbs may be brought to Concord Public Works any weekday between 8:30-4:30.

Furniture (upholstered), mattresses and box springs: These items are taken to Conligliaro Industries in Framingham where they are fed through a giant shredder. The metal, wood, foam, and fabric are separated and marketed. The vendor estimates that 60-90% of the components are recycled.

Mercury containing devices: Mercury containing devices such as fever thermometers and thermostats are dismantled and the mercury removed for reuse in mercury containing products. This both reduces unwanted mercury in landfills and incinerators and reduces the need to mine mercury for products that still use mercury. These items may be brought to Public Works any weekday.

Oversized waste: We separate oversized waste into two categories: wood/construction debris and all else. The wood and construction debris are ground up and used as daily cover for a landfill; the remainder of materials are landfilled at the Fitchburg landfill.

Plastic bags: Plastic bags are taken to Whole Foods in Bedford. Over half of all plastic bags collected for recycling are sold to Trex for use in their composite decking materials which are made from 50% grocery sacks and stretch film and 50% wood waste from woodworking manufacturers. Trex purchases approximately 300 million pounds of used polyethylene bags and film and an equal amount of hardwood sawdust each year, materials that would normally end up in a landfill. www.trex.com. Plastic bags may also be recycled at Shaw's, Stop and Shop, Whole Foods, Sudbury Farms, Roche Brothers, and Omni Foods.

Printer cartridges: In-demand cartridges are remanufactured and refilled by RecycleFirst and marketed through their website www.recycledfirst.com. REUSIT receives $1-$4 for each cartridge that can be remanufactured.

Propane tanks: Any remaining propane is removed from tanks and reused. The metal tank is then destroyed and marketed as scrap metal. Propane tanks may to returned to locations where they were purchased. Concord Lumber accepts them for $5.

Rags: Worn out clothing and other textiles that are no longer suitable for their intended purposes are collected by We Get Rid Of It and marketed for use in various products such as carpet backing. For more information visit www.wegetridofit.com.

Scrap metal and non-freon appliances: Metal is one of the most highly recyclable products we use; it can be recycled over and over and over, with no loss of integrity. The scrap metal we collect at our DropOff Day is collected by Framingham Salvage. They sort the materials and market them for reuse in new products.

Styrofoam block: The block is used to create PolyCornTM a loose-fill packaging product made completely from post-consumer and post-industrial foams. If you would like to purchase PolyCorn for packaging purposes, contact Conigliaro Industries at (888) 266-4425, or visit www.conigliaroindustries.com.

Old Towels: Worn out towels are donated for use as bedding to Stray Pets In Need (SPIN), an animal shelter and foster care program that provides care and adoption for stray and abandoned cats and kittens rescued by animal control officers in the Boston Metrowest area. www.straypetsinneed.info.

Video Tapes: Used video tapes are sent to the Lacerta Group in Mansfield. They degauss them, remove labels, and market them for reuse. Residents are encouraged to mail video tapes for recycling directly to Lacerta Group www.lacerta.com.