Does recycling in Omaha actually work?
Good news: yes. But only if you have the right recycling hauler and they take it to the right place. If you live in the Greater Omaha Area, here's the inside scoop from someone who works in the industry.
If all you do is read the headlines, it looks as though the recycling system is broken. There are some naughty numbers floating around the past few years that are horribly discouraging. We found some of them recently in a PBS article. It goes like this … “Only about 5 to 6 percent of plastic in the U.S. is recycled.”
Big bummer, huh? When people read this, it’s easy to think, why bother with recycling at all?
If that’s you, or you know someone like this — it’s time to set the record straight.
The 5-6% Plastics Myth
First, the statistic is misleading. Many people read it as if only 5-6% of the plastic they place inside their recycling bin actually gets recycled. That’s not the case. The 5-6% refers to all plastics sent to recycling centers and tossed in landfills combined. Including plastics that were never meant to be recycled.
For example, carpet isn’t supposed to be sent to your recycling center. It’s extremely difficult to recycle. So it usually winds up in a landfill. But that’s included in the 5-6% stat. Same goes for a plastic chair sent to the landfill. Or things like chip bags that may go to a recycling center but aren’t recyclable (unless that location accepts Hefty Renewbags like the recycling center we use — more on that to come).
If we’re talking about recyclable plastics sent to a recycling center, the percentage is much more encouraging.
To get that figure, we like the Verify This article. It says: “The OECD says 60% of plastic collected for recycling worldwide in 2019 was actually recycled — but only 15% of all plastic waste was collected for recycling in the first place.”
So yay! That’s better.
Also, keep in mind that plastic is the most difficult category to recycle. The story gets much better from there. Things like paper, cardboard, and metal are a big success story. For example, according to the EPA, 67% of the 69 million tons that were recycled in 2018 came from paper and cardboard. It’s only really plastics that cause most issues. Not to mention, we learned this year that plastic is way more toxic to humans than we previously thought. We’ll get more into that another time.
But there’s more you need to know …
Omaha has access to a world-class facility
Now that we’ve debunked the 5-6% myth, how do we know recyclable items sent to a recycling center actually get recycled? That depends largely on where you live, who’s picking up your recyclables, and where they take it. So let’s get specific.
*When it comes to the City of Omaha residential homes, homes using Gretna Sanitation, or organizations using Hillside’s recycling system — we have good news for you. Your recyclables are sent to First Star aka Firstar Fiber.
That’s a good thing because they have a world-class operation. Millions of dollars have been invested in equipment, technology, and people to provide a recycling center (aka materials recovery facility) that’s on par with something you’d see in a larger city like Chicago.
So yes, it gets recycled! But it gets better. Wanna know our favorite thing about First Star?
First Star is a for-profit business and they don’t own a landfill.
This makes all the difference.
If they did own a landfill, they could easily toss as much stuff in the landfill as they wanted. Instead, they have to pay another company to transport the material and to drop it off at the landfill. When you’re a business, you want to minimize costs, right? So, landfilling is a bad thing for them.
What’s a good thing for them? Making money. Here’s how their business model works …
They make money when haulers (like us) pay to drop off materials at their site.
They also make money when they sell the bundled items to businesses that use them to make new things.
Those two revenue sources combined are what keep the whole business model afloat. Which means, they are financially motivated to keep stuff out of the landfill.
Read that sentence again. Sear it in your mind. And say this anytime you come across a recycling doubter.
What do your recyclables become?
When it comes to most things First Star collects, it doesn’t talk often about where the materials go and what they become, aka the end-market. We’re told it’s important they keep these things proprietary due to competition. Makes sense, but definitely doesn’t help with the general skepticism issue we’re addressing.
The good news is that we were able to piecemeal some things together, mostly from an April 12, 2019 email with First Star owner/founder Dale Gubbels. And there is one end-market use they are talking about all over social media and the news right now. So let’s jump into it …
*Where your recyclables go …
Your cardboard goes to International Paper in Iowa, WestRock in Minnesota, and Republic in Oklahoma. It becomes new cardboard, paper bags, retail displays, and packaging for products.
Your newspaper goes to Green Fiber in Norfolk and Cascades Moulded Pulp in Iowa. It becomes egg cartons, paper towels, and wall insulation.
Your PET plastic, like water bottles, goes to an “Ohio processor” and Revital Polymers in Canada. It’s sold back to Pepsi and Coke or becomes car parts.
Your HDPE plastic, like shampoo bottles, goes to Sandhills Plastics in Kearney and a “firm in Minnesota & Iowa.” It becomes access mats used on worksites and plastic sheets, like the ones you see at Kinko’s for poster boards.
Your metals like tin and aluminum cans go to midwestern steel plants and southeastern smelters. Because metal can be recycled back into metal an infinite amount of times, the recycled cans become new cans.
Like we said, there is one end-market they talk a lot about. And that’s the hard-to-recycle plastics that wind up in the Hefty Renew Bag. Things like soft plastics in the form of snack bags, styrofoam take-out boxes, and plastic utensils.
Most cities don’t have a way to recycle this stuff. So Omaha’s lucky that we have that option. And the end market is right here in Omaha. First Star started their own side company called Solutions Plastic Lumber. They pelletize the contents of the Renew Bags and then compress them into plastic lumber or other items.
*So recycling works, but only if you have the right program.
Recycling in Omaha is real. It works. But only if your recyclables wind up at First Star. So how do you know you have the right set-up? Let’s break it down for ya …
Programs where recyclables are sent to First Star …
Residential customers using Gretna Sanitation as its hauler
The City of Omaha residents with a city-provided service
Businesses and organizations using Hillside Solutions
If your home or business doesn’t fit one of the categories above, you may want to start asking questions. Better yet, talk to us about how to modernize your recycling program.
Why do we say that?
Other than the agreement the City of Omaha has, recycling haulers can technically take recyclables wherever they want. To ensure our partners can confirm we take their material to the right place, we had First Star write us this confirmation letter.
First Star does have a competing materials recovery facility in town named Nebraskaland (they have no website). We address our issues with that site in a previous blog. But suffice it to say, we haven’t been able to tour the site since 2018. We have talked to a few organizations that have had tours as recent as 2023 and 2024, and they confirmed that Nebraskaland’s capabilities aren’t as comprehensive as First Star.
It’s all about accountability, and we love that First Star will give us a tour anytime we want, they have a 27-year track record, and they are partnered and supported by credible non-profit organizations like Keep Omaha Beautiful and Nebraska Recycling Council.
Ready to modernize & legitimatize your recycling program?
This is what we do all day long. If you need residential recycling, contact our affiliate Gretna Sanitation. Or if you have a business or organization that pays for waste removal in the Omaha area, we can help. See our work in action via these 12 organizations we gave awards to for their excellect recycling program.