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GRN - Recycling Terms Glossary Category: Earth and Environment > Recycling Date & country: 13/09/2007, USA Words: 231

Materials Recovery Facility (Mrf)
A recycling facility that sorts and processes collected mixed recyclables into individual streams for market. Also known as an intermidiate processing center (IPC).

Mdpe
Medium density polyethylene.

Me
Mercury.

Midden
A pit in which trash or garbage is buried. Usually only organic garbage.

Mill Broke
Waste paper produced by mills during the paper making process that has traditionally been reused in manufacturing paper. It cannot be considered in the recycled content according to U.S. EPA guidelines.

Minimum Recycled Content Laws
Laws requiring a product or type of packaging to contain a certain percentage of recycled material.

Mjc
Milk, juice cartons.

Mlr
Multi layered resins.

Mrf
Materials recovery facility.

Msw
Municipal solid waste.

Mulching
The natural and gradual decomposition of dead organic matter that has been evenly distributed in a thin layer on the ground.

Municipal Solid Waste (Msw)
Residential and commercial trash and/or garbage generated by a particular municipal area.

Mw
Medical waste.

Mwp
Mixed waste paper.

New Scrap
Material which is discarded during a manufacturing or processing operation and which cannot be directly fed back to that operation.

Newsprint
Alternate term for the low grade paper used to make newspaper.

Ni
Nickel.

Non Ferrous Scrap Metals (Nf)
Metals which contain no iron, such as aluminum, copper, brass and bronze.

Noryl
Plastics noryl.

Npc
Nylon polycarbonate.

Occ
Corrugated cardboard, old.

Of
Oil filters.

Office Paper
Waste paper generated by offices, including stationery, photocopy and computer paper.

Omg
Old magazines.

Onp
Old newspapers.

Owm
Oil water mixture.

Ozone Depletion
Destruction of the stratospheric ozone layer of the earth's athmosphere due to the release of chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, into the environment.

Pa
Paper, all grades.

Paper Stock
Scrap or waste papers that have been sorted and baled into specific grades. It is commonly used interchangeably with the term waste paper.

Paperboard
General term for heavyweight grades of paper that are used for containers, boxes, cartons and packaging materials. It is divided into: Containerboard, Boxboard and Other Paperboard.

Pc
Polycarbonate.

Pd
Plastic drums.

Pe
Polyethylene.

Perforator-Flattener
Equipment that perforates and flattens material, then ejects it into a receptacle or processor. Used to prevent plastic bottles from expanding after flattening.

Pet
Polyethylene terephthalate.

Pg
Plate glass.

Photodegradable
A process where ultraviolet radiation degrades the chemical bond or link in the polymer or chemical structure of a plastic.

Pl
Plastic, all grades.

Pm
Precious metals.

Polyethylene Teraphthalate (Pet)
A type of plastic that is clear or colored transparent with high gloss. It is used for carbonated beverage bottles and some household cleanser containers. Often referred to as No. 1 Plastic.

Polypropilene (Pp)
Plastic with a smooth surface that cracks easily when bent and is difficult to scratch. Typical uses are: battery cases, dairy tubs, jar lids, straws and syrup bottles. It is hard to collect in marketable quantities for recycling and has limited uses in its recycled form. Often referred to as No. 5 Plastic.

Polystyrene (Ps)
Plastic with a smooth surface that cracks easily when bent. Used for fast food packaging, styrofoam cups and packing peanuts, it takes up a large part of landfill space because of its bulk. Often referred to as No. 6 Plastic.

Polyvinyl Chloride (Pvc)
Environmentally indestructible plastic that releases toxic hydrocloric acid when burned. It is used for food wraps and containers for personal care products. Often referred to as V-3 or No. 3 Plastic.

Post Consumer Material
Any household or commercial product which has served its original, intended use.

Post Industrial Material
Industrial manufacturing scrap.

Pp
Polypropylene.

Pre-Consumer Waste
Waste produced by converting or printing operations and includes any scraps, trimmings, overruns, etc.

Precycle
Source reduction option whereby evaluation and selection of items for purchase is dependent upon method of manufacture, product content and recyclability of product after consumer use.

Ps
Polystyrene.

Pvc
See: Polyvinyl chloride.

Pw
Papermill waste.

Pyrolysis
A process of producing fuels from waste by heating it in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere.

Rb
Rubber, all grades.

Rbc
Rubber crumbs.

Rbf
Rubber buffings.

Rbit
Rubber inner tubes.

Rbs
Rubber, shredded tires.

Rbt
Rubber, used tires.

Rd
Radiators.

Rdf
Refuse derived fuel.

Reclaimer
A company that processes post-consumer materials into new products.

Reclamation
Refuse reclamation.

Recycling
Process by which materials that would otherwise become solid waste are collected, separated or processed and returned to the economic mainstream to be reused in the form of raw materials or finished goods.

Redemption
To turn in a secondary material to the original supplier.

Reduction
Source reduction.

Refuse Derived Fuel (Rdf)
Fuel produced by separating, shredding and processing mixed wastes.

Refuse Reclamation
Transformation of solid waste into useful products, such as soil conditioners or recycled materials.

Regrind
Ground up recyclable plastics.

Remanufacturing
The process of disassembly and reassembly of products during which time parts are cleaned, repaired or replaced.

Reprocessing
Operation of reforming reclaimed materials into new products.

Resource Recovery
Any process of obtaining matter or energy from materials formerly discarded.

Retreading
The process of removing a worn tread and placing a new tread on an undamaged tire casing.

Reuse
To use a product repeteadly in the same form (e.g.: glass bottles, cloth diapers).

Rs
Railscrap.

Rubber Asphalt
A product that combines ground-up scrap tires and asphalt. It is primarily used in highway, airport runway and street projects as a stress-absorbing membrane interlayer.

Rubbish
Solid waste that does not contain food waste.

Salvage
The act of obtaining a secondary material through collection, sorting, etc.

Sc
Steel cans.

Scrap
That portion of solid waste which can be economically recycled.

Sd
Steel drums.

Secondary Material
Post consumer material; Post industrial material.

Separation
Source separation.

Sg
Specialty grades, paper.

Shredding
Size reduction by shearing action.

Sht
Stainless, high temperature steel.

Sm
Special metals.

Solid Waste
Nonsoluble, discarded solid materials, including sewage sludge, municipal garbage, industrial wastes, agricultural refuse, demolition wastes and mining residues.

Solid Waste Management
The handling of activities which provide for the collection, separation, storage, transport, transfer, processing, recycling, incineration, treatment and disposal of solid waste.

Source Reduction
Reducing the quantity of waste which in turn lessens the amount of material that enters the waste stream.

Source Separation
The sorting of specific waste materials prior to their collection or deposition into a collection container.

Special Wastes
Any waste requiring special handling such as scrap tires, used motor oil, hospital wastes or household hazardous wastes.

Steel Can
A rigid container made exclusively or primarily of steel. It is 100% recyclable.

Sweating Furnaces
Furnace in which metals are separated by melting at different temperatures.

Tb
Telephone books.

Test Linerboard
Linerboard that is made exclusively out of recycled materials such as double-lined kraft cuttings and old corrugated containers.

Tf
Tin foil.

Thermoplastics (Tpo)
Plastics which can be reformed repeteadly by application of heat and pressure.

Thermosets
Plastics which once molded cannot be reformed using heat or pressure.

Ti
Titanium.

Tin Can
A term sometimes used to describe a steel food can. Technological developments have allowed for the tin coating on a can to become progressively thinner, to the point that tin now represents less than one percent of the weight of a steel can.