Buy Recycled

Buy Recycled to Close the Loop: Collecting recyclables is just the beginning. To Close the Loop they must be used to manufacture new products!

Here are some items that are manufactured from with recycled materials. “Recycled content” is good, but make sure to look especially for “post-consumer recycled content” items, which are made from the materials that you recycle curbside!

  • Aluminum & other metals: appliances, cans, building materials, furniture
  • Glass: bottles, kitchenware, mosaics, tile flooring, fiberglass insulation
  • Laser & inkjet cartridges:  refurbished cartridges
  • Paint: recycled content latex paint
  • Paper: office & printing paper, chipboard, cardboard, paper towels, toilet paper & tissues, insulation, hydraulic mulch (usually mixed with seed for highways), absorbents
  • PET plastics (clear bottles): bottles, tote bags, t-shirts, office products, fleece jackets, blankets, athletic wear, carpet, automotive parts
  • Plastics: poly-wood (decking), playground equipment, picnic tables, planter boxers, office materials, landscaping materials (e.g. lawn edging, fence posts, garden hose), bins & buckets, street barricades & cones, carpet, paint
  • Textiles: canvas bags, t-shirts, polo shirts, absorbents
  • Tires: flooring, floor mats, walking paths, shoes, mouse pads, roofing, soil enhancements, tires (2%-6%), arena footing
  • Used cooking oil: biodiesel fuel
  • Used motor oil: re-refined motor oil
  • Yard trimmings, food scraps & wood: animal feed, compost & other soil amendments, mulch, wood chips, absorbents, renewable fuel

Benefits of Buying Recycled

  • Reduce the extraction of virgin materials
  • Save energy; decreasing the need for coal, oil or other nonrenewable energy resources
  • Help fight climate change by cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions
  • Use less transportation — manufacturing facilities are often near the source of materials
  • Create new enterprises, markets & jobs
  • Reduce solid waste and keep useful materials out of our rapidly filling landfills
  • Reduce air and water pollutants; manufacturing with recycled products is a much cleaner process
  • Create a greater demand for manufacturers to use recycled materials
  • Demonstrate a commitment to the environment and a sustainable economy
  • Help California reach its mandated recycling goals of 75% and reach toward Zero Waste

Recycled Product Databases, Directories & Catalogs