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Recyclable materials include many kinds of glass, paper, metal, plastic, textiles, and electronics. Although similar in effect, the composting or other reuse of biodegradable waste – such as food or garden waste – is not typically considered recycling.[2] Materials to be recycled are either brought to a collection center or picked up from the curbside, then sorted, cleaned, and reprocessed into new materials bound for manufacturing.
In a strict sense, recycling of a material would produce a fresh supply of the same material—for example, used office paper would be converted into new office paper, or used foamed polystyrene into new polystyrene. However, this is often difficult or too expensive (compared with producing the same product from raw materials or other sources), so "recycling" of many products or materials involves their reuse in producing different materials (e.g., paperboard) instead. Another form of recycling is the salvage of certain materials from complex products, either due to their intrinsic value (e.g., lead from car batteries, or gold from computer components), or due to their hazardous nature (e.g., removal and reuse of mercury from various items). Critics dispute the net economic and environmental benefits of recycling over its costs, and suggest that proponents of recycling often make matters worse and suffer from confirmation bias. Specifically, critics argue that the costs and energy used in collection and transportation detract from (and outweigh) the costs and energy saved in the production process; also that the jobs produced by the recycling industry can be a poor trade for the jobs lost in logging, mining, and other industries associated with virgin production; and that materials such as paper pulp can only be recycled a few times before material degradation prevents further recycling. Proponents of recycling dispute each of these claims, and the validity of arguments from both sides has led to enduring controversy. read more...
Recycling
ReplyDeleteThe ENVIRONMENTAL reasons for recycling:
SAVING NATURAL RESOURCES - For example, New Zealand uses exotic forests for its pulp fibre production, however this is a low value usage of a resource and a lot of countries producing pulp fibre do not have planted forests and utilise native timbers, recycling reduces and in some cases removes this pressure on native and exotic timbers.
SAVING LANDFILL SPACE - Landfills are under pressure from increases in waste and whilst some are of the opinion we have plenty of land to spare, the environmental requirements of these sites means that in fact there are limited places to put them, with the ever present dangers of this method of disposal, methane, toxic leachates etc, everybody has a responsibility to reduce waste.
REDUCING POLLUTION - All landfills leach contaminants into our water systems, making drinking water unsafe killing fish and other marine life, destroying wildlife and wildlife habitat. All incinerator waste disposals add toxic contaminates to the air.
SAVING ENERGY - The world's greatest natural resource is energy, and every BTU and kilowatt saved reduces our reliance on other resources and adds to the overall wealth of our nation, and extends the resources of this planet.
The ECONOMIC reasons for recycling:
Saves Money in waste disposal costs through reducing volume on the waste stream
Recycling services are designed to be very competitive when compared to the alternatives.
Creates Employment.
Costs such as tip fees can be immediately saved.
What can be recycled
Aluminum, Batteries, Bottles, Boxes, Cardboard, Cartons Flyers, Garden cuttings, Glass, Grass trimmings, Juice containers, Kitchen waste, Metals and alloys, Newspaper, Office paper, Oils, Paints, Pallets, Phone books, Packing cases, Tires, and more
Did you know?
Less than 10% of the million of tons of trash is recycled.
Recycling one aluminum can saves the amount of energy to light one 100 watt bulb for 20 hours
1 ton of recycled paper saves 3700 pounds of lumber and 24,000 gallons of water.
Incinerating 10,000 tons of waste creates 1 job, landfilling the same amount creates 6 jobs, recycling the same 10,000 tons creates 36 jobs.
It takes 75,000 trees to print a Sunday Edition of a major metropolitan newspaper.
Recycling paper consumes 61% less water and 70% less energy then using Natural Resources.
Making glass from recycled materials cuts related air pollution 20% and water pollution 50%.
When used motor oil is poured into the ground, it can seep into the groundwater and contaminate drinking water supplies. A single quart of motor oil can pollute 250,000 gallons of drinking water.
We all must do our part: at home, at work, at play. Choose products that recycle
Avoid styrofoam and plastic coated papers whenever possible Limit your use of chemical cleaners and bleach Dispose of oils, paints, cleaners at your local disposal station Think, before you throw it out
The following is an excerpt from Environmental responsibility is a state of mind, not a bunch of rules and regulations. Environmental living is a way of life, not a passing fad. "Government" and "business" don't make the choices affecting our environment. We do, each one of us. What we buy, how we clean, the ways in which we travel, what we do with our garbage, these all impact our Earth, our health and our future generations.
We know few people who pollute on purpose. We know many loving parents, respected business people, responsible young people -- who pollute because they are not aware of how their everyday actions are connected to our environment and health. At Earthways, we are dedicated to increasing awareness about this important connection. We offer several tools to help people make decisions abut the ways they live on our beautiful Earth.