(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa D-N-R has released three studies on the environmental and economic impacts of recycling in the state. The D-N-R’s Laurie Rasmus says the studies are part of its Sustainable Materials Management Initiative as they try to get a better handle on what we are throwing away.

One study looked at how the bottle deposit law works.

Rasmus says the studies of the waste dumped at the landfills yielded a lot of information on what is thrown away in Iowa.

The studies also help them tell the true cost of what we throw away.

Rasmus says they hope to find more ways to use the waste.

She says recycling has to be a multi-step process.

You can see the results of the studies at iowadnr.gov/SMM.