It’s as simple as placing plastic, aluminum and cardboard in the recycling containers at home. Creating a sustainable environment is behind the more than 100,000 tons of recycling items that are processed at First Star Recycling, 10330 I Street. Every possible item is recycled, reused or repurposed.

While cans and plastic containers are often recycled and reused as new products, items that can’t be recycled and often find their way into the Douglas County landfill – such as food packaging and plastic bottle rings – can be repurposed into new products, like plastic lumber. First Star created its own division in January producing different sizes of plastic lumber, which can be used for decks and boat docks.

The lumber, made from flakes resembling paper, are created from the orange Hefty renewable bags and currently stored onsite while First Star builds an inventory before selling it to the public later this year, said Danielle Easdale, director of sales and marketing. The orange bags, which can be purchased at stores such as Hy-Vee, used to be known as energy bags because they were sent to a Kansas City, Missouri, plant which would burn the bags as part of its energy program. However, First Star shifted away from that concept.

“Once you burn the bag, those items are gone for good,” Easdale said. “As an effort to reuse sustainable products, we redirected to creating the innovative lumber.”

Additionally, plastic pellets created by a grinder are sold to other companies, which turn them into pallets, railroad ties and other industrial-type products, she said.

The plastic lumber is a small part of the operation, which covers more than 50,000 square feet and employs about 120 people, Easdale said.

First Star combines automation along with the human element in sorting and processing an average of 385 tons 24 hours a day five days a week, Easdale said. Automation sorts cardboard containers, paper and aluminum cans, while employees manually sort through a variety of recyclables to weed out garbage and other items.

While First Star manages to handle recycling items, some items find their way there that belong in the landfill, Easdale said.

“We call that ‘wishcycling,’” she said. “We have to sort through it and have it hauled to the landfill. It ends up becoming expensive waste.”

First Star Recycling serves a 500-mile radius, including states such as Iowa and Colorado, said Patrick Leahy, First Star’s chief executive officer. Leahy has been in the position for about six months, but has long been active with area recycling and sustainability efforts with organizations such as the Natural Resources District and Keep Omaha Beautiful.

Recycling is a must for society to appreciate life as we know it, Leahy said.

“At a certain point in time, if you don’t you don’t make them a renewable resource, you’re going to run out of the ability to create all things that our modern life has given us that we take for granted,” Leahy said. “If we keep those things in the economy, and we’re able to create and recreate the products and services that we need to elevate our quality of life for every individual across the economic chain, it’s a lot easier and cost effective. If you treat it like a fossil fuel and burn it up, it’s gone forever.”