Modern-day 'scrap drives' are good for the environment

Nebraska's leadership in the World War II recycling effort wasn't for environmental reasons, but for patriotic -- we needed that scrap metal to win the war.

It might not be quite as urgent, but America Recycles Day, celebrated today across the nation, is just as important as we work together to save energy, save space in landfills and protect the environment for future generations.

What is recycling worth:

According to Stanford University, the amount of energy lost from throwing away recyclable commodities such as aluminum cans and newspapers is equivalent to the annual output of 15 power plants.

Recycling aluminum -- selling a trash bag or two of aluminum cans can yield enough money for a cup of cappuccino -- saves 95 percent of the energy required to make the same amount of metal from raw materials. A ton of recycled aluminum saves 14,000 kilowatt hours of energy, 40 barrels of oil, 238 million Btu's of energy and 10 cubic yards of landfill space.

One ton of recycled newsprint -- which includes part of the paper you're now reading -- saves 4,100 Kwh of energy, nine barrels of oil, 54 million Btu's of energy, 60 pounds of air pollutants from being released, 7,000 gallons of water and 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space. We hope you'll recycle it when you're done reading.

A barrel of recycled plastic saves 5,774 Kwh of energy, 16.3 barrels of oil, 98 billion Btu's of energy and 30 cubic yards of landfill space. A ton of recycled steel saves 642 Kwh of energy, 1.8 barrels of oil, 10.9 million Btu's of energy and four cubic yards of landfill space.

A ton of recycled glass saves 42 Kwh of energy, .12 barrels of oil (five gallons), 714,000 Btu's of energy, 7.5 pounds of air pollutants and 2 cubic yards of landfill space. More than 30 percent of the raw material used in glass production now comes from recycled glass.

All those factors should ring a bell with McCook residents, who pay to have landfill materials shipped to Ogallala, and who have recycling facilities available.

The City Recycling Center, 1501 Old Highway West 6&34, is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon. According to the city website, items that can be recycled include: cardboard (corrugated only and brown sacks accepted), glass (brown and clear only-rinsed and no lids), plastic (#1 and #2 only-look on bottom of container; rinsed out and no lids), newspapers, magazines, office paper (white only), computer paper, junk mail (colored paper, envelopes), tin cans (one end opened, label removed and rinsed out), aluminum cans, automotive batteries, metal (cast iron, copper, stainless steel, lead, mowers), white goods (washer, dryers, stoves). Refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners are accepted when accompanied with a Freon-free certificate.

The city has placed a recycling trailer at the east parking lot at Community Hospital, and has cardboard recycling bins at the city offices and Highland Park as well. More information is available by calling the recycling center at (308) 345-7049 or the hospital at (308) 344-8320.

The city, hospital, county and other local entities should be lauded for their recycling efforts so far, but we'd like to see more. Yes, costs are an important consideration, but for recycling to be truly effective, it should be as easy for consumers to do as throwing items in the trash.