Buy recycled
Buying recycled products keeps valuable materials out of landfill.
When you buy recycled, you could be supporting the recycling industry, specialist repairers, artists and students. Recycling products can also support members of your local community.
Look for recycled products
The range of recycled and recyclable products is increasing all the time.
You might already be buying second-hand items like furniture, sporting equipment, clothes and collectables.
Many household products are now being made out of re-manufactured waste products. For example, many gift stores contain items like handbags made out of old bicycle inner tubes or shopping bags and jewellery made out of old buttons.
The range of recycled products is growing as the quality improves and people are more aware of the advantages of recycling. Keep an eye out for recycled products for:
- gifts
- household essentials
- computing and business supplies
- building and renovating
- gardening and landscaping
- fashion and decorating
What's on the label
Recycled materials can come from different recycling processes. Commercial products with recycled content will usually have the type and percentage of recycled materials written on the label.
Some of the common terms are described below.
Recycled material
Recycled means the product is made from materials that would otherwise have become waste.
Reused material
Reused means that the product has been used more than once and could possibly be used again and again.
Remanufactured material
Products with remanufactured material have new and reused parts or materials. For example, old or damaged parts of a product may have been replaced so that the product can have a second life.
Pre-consumer material
In products made from pre-consumer material, the recycled material is from the manufacturing process. This material was never used by consumers and would have otherwise become waste.
Post-consumer material
Post-consumer materials are waste products from homes or commercial and industrial processes. The material has been recycled instead of becoming waste.
More information
As well as being available in retail stores, recycled and reused products can be found for sale in newspapers, at swap meets, at trash and treasure markets, in charity shops and at some recycling centres attached to local council landfills.
There are also a range of websites dedicated to selling, swapping or giving away interesting and useful products.
Why do it?
- A wide range of useful products are made from recycled materials
- Reduce the use of raw materials in manufacturing
- Help create employment opportunities in your local community
Did you know?
Aluminium has the highest embodied energy out of all the common building materials and is 100 per cent recyclable. Recycled aluminium only has 10 per cent of the embodied energy of new aluminium. This is a great reason to recycle your drink cans.
Page last modified: 20 Aug 2009