You are here: Home Recyclables vs. Recycled Products



See the Difference

Ever wonder what makes a recycled-content product and what makes a product recyclable?

Recycled-content products are made from materials that would otherwise have been discarded. That means these products are made totally or partially from material contained in the products you recycle, like aluminum soda cans or newspaper. Recycled-content products also can be items that are rebuilt or re-manufactured from used products such as toner cartridges or computers. There are more than 4,500 recycled-content products available, and this number continues to grow. In fact, many of the products people regularly purchase contain recycled-content.

Post-consumer content is a material that has served its intended use and instead of being disposed of it is being reused in a different product. If a product is labeled "recycled content," the material might have come from excess or damaged items generated during normal manufacturing processes-not collected through a local recycling program.

Recyclable products can be collected and remanufactured into new products after they've been used. These products do not necessarily contain recycled materials and only benefit the environment if people recycle them after use.




What Can I Recycle?