Identifying Recycled Content Products

What’s the difference between recycled-content products and recyclable products? Earth 911 breaks it down for you with the following definitions to clarify any uncertainty you have while reading product labels.

• Recycled-content products are made from materials that would otherwise have been discarded. That means these products are made totally or partially from material contained in the products you recycle, like aluminum soda cans or newspaper. Recycled-content products also can be items that are rebuilt or remanufactured from used products such as toner cartridges or computers.

  There are more than 4,500 recycled-content products available, and this number continues to grow. In fact, many of the products people regularly purchase contain recycled-content.

• Postconsumer content is a material that has served its intended use and instead of being disposed of it is being reused in a different product. If a product is labeled “recycled content,” the material might have come from excess or damaged items generated during normal manufacturing processes-not collected through a local recycling program.

• Recyclable products can be collected and remanufactured into new products after they’ve been used. These products do not necessarily contain recycled materials and only benefit the environment if people recycle them after use. To find out what materials are recyclable in your community, use the Earth 911 recycling locator box.