SANTA ANA : Recycle Fair Shows Uses for Garbage

Vendors from across the country came to hawk their reusable wares at the first “Orange County Buy Recycled Products Fair” on Wednesday, an event that county officials hope will encourage government and corporate buyers to purchase recycled goods.

More than 35 vendors participating in the fair showed off samples of toilet tissue, note pads and computer paper made from recycled products. They invited visitors to test a park bench made of recycled plastic and hammer pieces of lumber composed of former milk bottles and plastic foam.

The event, sponsored by the Orange County Departments of Purchasing and Integrated Waste Management, was the brainchild of Supervisor Don R. Roth and follows a similar fair held in Los Angeles last month.

Roth and Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez spoke during a brief program that began the fair in the courtyard of Santa Ana’s Civic Center.

“When I introduced the idea of this recycle fair to the Orange County Board of Supervisors in May, it was my intent to show that products made from recycled materials have made great strides in recent years,” Roth said. “And for recycling to work properly these products need a stronger market. People need to know about them.”

“Nothing is completely recycled until it’s given a new life,” said Denise Piccola, a staff analyst for the county Recycling and Materials Recovery Division. “Even if you recycle your goods, it doesn’t really help until you purchase something that’s recycled also.”

More than 500 individuals and city, county and corporate representatives from throughout Southern California braved the mid-day heat to attend the fair. Visitors said they were impressed with what they saw.

“I didn’t know that there were quite so many vendors coming out with what appear to be pretty high-quality office supply materials,” said Dave Walker, buyer for the City of Santa Ana.

Walker said that for the first time, the city is considering purchasing all of its office supplies from companies that use recycled materials.

“If the quality and price is comparable and the availability is there, then, yes, we prefer to buy recycled,” he said.

Procter & Gamble, the company that produces Luvs and Pampers disposable diapers, took a booth at the fair to defend the products which have been criticized as a major solid waste problem and to explain to interested parents a process now in development that will turn the diapers into an environmentally viable compost. Under a bill pending in the Legislature, companies selling disposable diapers will have to put stickers on their packages warning that the items are an environmental hazard.

Xylan Inc., a Wisconsin company, demonstrated uses for agricultural waste materials: yard waste such as leaves and grasses become cattle feed, while small seeds and cracked grains can be transformed into “Black Magic Barbeque Briquets.”

But only one vendor was selling the idea that “recycling can be fun.”

J. Michael Huls, of Universal Recycling in Tustin, explained his card game, “Recycle USA,” as an “educational game composed of trash.”

“You actually get to experience what it’s like to be a broker in the (recycling) industry,” said Huls, a self-proclaimed “environmental entrepreneur.” Naturally, the cards are made of recycled plastic.

The game, for ages seven to adult, consists of seven types of cards, each representing different salable materials and carrying a point value. “Compost” cards are worth five points, while a non-ferrous materials card representing aluminum and tin carries 20 points.

Players can win by recycling a variety of less valuable materials as easily as they can by brokering the higher valued metals, Huls said--a good lesson for real life.

“This game demonstrates that we need to build the local markets for recycling,” Huls said.

Besides, he said: “Doing the right thing can make money.”