What is a recycled product?

A genuine recycled product has been produced from material that has previously been manufactured as another product and has been retained for reuse/reforming after original consumption rather than being discarded as waste. This is generally known as Post Consumer Waste.

Some products are described as recycled but have been produced from material that has been retained as usable waste from the production process and reused. This material is known as left overs or manufacturing scraps. In the true sense, these products are not recycled, but in context compared with an equivalent product made from virgin material, they are environmentally friendlier or green as they are made from material which would otherwise go to waste.

There is currently, no legislation in this area forcing manufacturers to declare the type or percentage of recycled content, however many have gained environmental accreditations from pressure groups and leading organisations in this area and JBL are able to provide specification data on any of our environmentally friendly product range.

Why buy recycled
Products made from recycled materials are environmentally friendly as they require less energy to produce and use fewer or no raw material in its production. If consumers adopted more green purchasing habits the Earth would be more able to cope with the demands that we put on it.

Buying recycled
The important thing to know when you choose to buy a recycled product is what elements of the product are made from recycled material and what does the manufacturer mean by recycled. In other words, what percentage of the item has been produced from post consumer material and what percentage has been made from left overs? E.g. 70% P.C.W. but 100% recycled (30% of it has been produced from manufacturing scraps!

It is almost pointless recycling your waste unless you actively buy recycled products where possible as the "recycling loop" is incomplete until recycled materials are re-manufactured into products and bought by consumers. The more people that buy recycled, the greater the demand which puts pressure on manufacturers and distributors to supply such products competitively. This will encourage other consumers to consider buying recycled products in the future.