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Top 10 recycled items in 2009

By Melanie D.G. Kaplan | Mar 19, 2010 |

Of the top 10 states in which consumers searched for information on Earth911.com, California residents amounted to almost 30 percent.

Of the top 10 states in which consumers searched for information on Earth911.com, California residents amounted to almost 30 percent.

Computers and batteries top the list of most recycled materials last year, according to the 2009 Annual Recycling Report from Earth911.com.

“Electronics have always been popular searches on Earth911.com, but with the increased attention these devices have received, this past year was our highest yet,” Earth911 President Corey Lambrecht said on their site. “Also, overall recycling searches increased 12 percent over 2008, as consumers want to know more about how to dispose of these items.”

The report also found that money is the top factor preventing consumers from adopting more green practices. Forty percent of respondents to a poll conducted on the Earth911 homepage noted that when they buy a product, the green factor of most importance is its recyclability.

Founded in 1991 as a hotline for recycling, Earth911 now has a database with more than 100,000 recycling locations across the nation, helping consumers recycle everything form cell phones to Christmas trees (No. 10 last year).

Here’s the complete list of most-recycled products in 2009:

  • 1. Computers
  • 2. Batteries
  • 3. Televisions
  • 4. Paint
  • 5. Aluminum Cans
  • 6. Used Motor Oil
  • 7. CFLs
  • 8. Glass
  • 9. Fluorescent Lamps
  • 10. Christmas Trees

The 2009 Annual Recycling Report also details the top 10 states that recycled using Earth911.com in 2009 (see pie chart). In addition to its website search functions, Earth911 also maintains a hotline (800-CLEANUP) and a free iPhone app, iRecycle.

 
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  •  
    1

    nickbk

    03/19/10 | Report as spam

    NOT the most recycled products

    The report states that this is a list of the most SEARCHED-FOR
    information on their website, not the most-recycled products.

    Maybe these are the most searched-for because they are the hardest to
    recycle. More likely is that the real most-recycled products are those
    everyone already knows about and thus don't need to be searched on.

  •  
    2

    SparkyMaddy

    03/19/10 | Report as spam

    RE: Top 10 recycled items in 2009

    Are these the most recycled or most searched?

    I had heard that asphalt was the most recycled product, because it's so expensive and easy to reuse.

    I would also think paper and cardboard would be recycled more than say paint or fluorescent lamps.

  •  
    3

    HollyRose

    05/08/10 | Report as spam

    RE: Top 10 recycled items in 2009

    Automobiles (the steel, aluminum) are the most recycled items. Bad journalism again here. Come on youngsters, us old guys will keep chopping you up until you move from fallacy and opinion to facts.

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Christina Hernandez

Contributing Editor, People

Christina Hernandez is an award-winning journalist based in the Philadelphia area. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, the website of the Columbia Journalism Review and elsewhere. Christina is a graduate of the University of Delaware and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

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Christina Hernandez

Christina Hernandez is an independent journalist whose reporting and observations are not influenced by financial holdings. She writes for SmartPlanet and is not an employee of CBS.

Melanie D.G. Kaplan

Contributing Editor, People

Melanie D.G. Kaplan is a veteran journalist, traveler and swimmer. She writes regularly for The Washington Post and is a contributing editor at Washington Flyer.

She has also written for The New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, People and USA Weekend. Melanie is a graduate of Syracuse University and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her beagle Darwin.

She writes for SmartPlanet and is not an employee of CBS.

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Melanie D.G. Kaplan

In addition to working as a journalist, Melanie keeps the dog food fund flush with occasional consulting jobs. In the unusual event that her writing mentions a company or organization for which she has provided editorial services, she will disclose that fact. She will do the same should she cover any companies in which she holds investments.

She writes for SmartPlanet and is not an employee of CBS.

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