Consumers should buy recycled products if recycling projects are to be successful, said the co-founder of the NIU Recycling Center Monday.

Michael Finn, current vice president of Recycling Services in Chicago, said companies will make what the consumer wants, so consumers should demand recycled products.

“There has to be a major consumer uproar,” Finn said. “There is a lot of emphasis on collection and not enough emphasis on consumption. That’s where consumers come in. There is a real need to interject a moral decision.”

Finn said the purpose of his company is to convince large companies to look at waste as a resource.

He said only 20 percent of the Chicago Tribune’s paper is from recycled newspapers. “People need to put pressure on the Tribune. Their papers take up 2 percent of landfill space,” Finn said.

Calvin Tigchelaar of DeKalb County Recycling Company explained the collection side of recycling. He said better ways of separating and transporting the products are needed to make recycling cost-effective.

“We’re not at the level we want to be, but we’re learning,” Tigchelaar said.

He said the company receives $25 per ton of newspapers and $10 per ton of mixed papers such as magazines. The largest problem is getting enough paper in a truck to pay for the hauling fee, he said.

“Right now, we’re not getting what we like to get,” Tigchelaar said.