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100% Post Consumer or a mixture?

post #1 of 7
7/2/08 at 9:34am
Thread Starter 

I am having a tough time coming to an opinion.

100% post consumer uses all pre-used materials, which is very green.

 

But when you buy a recycled product that is ”100% Recycled 30% post consumer" is that just as eco-friendly?

That 70% usually consists of virgin material that was waste/scrap product, meant for the dumpster, but instead was salvaged and "recycled" into a mix w/ post consumer. That sounds green; saving it from the dumpster. Whether they are scraps of fabric, or pieces of paper, having it get used rather than dumpsterized, is great!

 

So it's a bit of a conundrum for me. Which is greener? What are you opinions?

 

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post #2 of 7
7/2/08 at 10:53am

I guess you could argue that the post consumer material is greener because it had a previous life and was used for something prior, therefore the use gotten out of the material is double that of the non-post consumer.

 

However, both are made of material being saved from the trash heap, so in that aspect they're the same.

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post #3 of 7
7/2/08 at 11:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mattress:

I guess you could argue that the post consumer material is greener because it had a previous life and was used for something prior, therefore the use gotten out of the material is double that of the non-post consumer.

 

However, both are made of material being saved from the trash heap, so in that aspect they're the same.


 

I was thinking the same thing.  You could argue post consumer is slightly greener because it's being reused, but as long as the material is being used rather than thrown away, it's still green.  A slight edge to post consumer, but either is good.

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post #4 of 7
7/3/08 at 4:05am
Thread Starter 

That's where my thought was too. It's almost as it they are even in "greeness"

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post #5 of 7
7/3/08 at 5:51am

Pre-consumer is good, but I'd say post-consumer is better.  Businesses are much more willing to take pre-consumer waste because it is less likely to have contamination (home recycling bins may have food residue mixed in with paper, etc) and easier to collect (it comes in large amounts from a single source).

 

I haven't read this before, but I suspect its cheaper for them too, if they are a place generating their own pre-consumer waste rather than paying for post-consumer waste.

 

Post-consumer is often the lower percentage of recycled content, and I'd say more important, because it's less likely to get reused.  If we don't reuse it, then the things you and I try hard to recycle will just end up in the dump.  Pre-consumer waste will have an easier time finding a new home.

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post #6 of 7
7/24/08 at 8:07pm

I guess I agree that post-consumer is 'greener' but that either way 100% recycled is awesome, in my humble opinion

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post #7 of 7
7/24/08 at 8:09pm

this is true, I guess I still see it as a step in the right direction, but I do agree that they could be going even greener by finding a real use (or 'home') for the pre-consumer stuff without sending it through the process of recycling it and using even more energy and resources on it.

 

Quote:
 

Originally Posted by nitedreamer:

Pre-consumer is good, but I'd say post-consumer is better.  Businesses are much more willing to take pre-consumer waste because it is less likely to have contamination (home recycling bins may have food residue mixed in with paper, etc) and easier to collect (it comes in large amounts from a single source).

 

I haven't read this before, but I suspect its cheaper for them too, if they are a place generating their own pre-consumer waste rather than paying for post-consumer waste.

 

Post-consumer is often the lower percentage of recycled content, and I'd say more important, because it's less likely to get reused.  If we don't reuse it, then the things you and I try hard to recycle will just end up in the dump.  Pre-consumer waste will have an easier time finding a new home.


 

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