Recycling is the activity of taking waste materials and turning them into new products. It aims at minimizing the disposal of materials in landfill and incinerator sites by identifying and extracting resources from products that undergo the first stage of utilization. Recycling assists in the conservation of natural resources, efficient use of land fill space and determent of pollution resulting from the disposal of wastes.
The Basics of Recycling
Recycling entails gathering used up materials, categorizing them and preparing them for reuse by converting them to raw materials before using them to produce other products. Common household items that can be recycled include:Common household items that can be recycled include:
- Papers and Cardboards – Newspaper, magazines, cardboard boxes, cartons, and other paper like products can be recycled into paper products.
- Plastics – The bottles, containers, bags and packaging made out of plastics can be recycled and converted back to new products made from plastic. Different types of plastics are usually labelled numerically from 1 to 7 in terms of the type of plastic.
- Metals – Aluminum containers for beer and other beverages, steel containers for foods, scrap metals can be reused by melting them and forming new metal products.
- Liquids – Glass bottles and containers can be crushed and melted to make material to reuse in the production of new bottles and jars.
- Electronics – Computers, mobile phones, and other electronics possess reusable components and precious metals for their recycling.
The recycling symbol is a symbol of three arrow symbols with a triangle shape with each arrow chasing the other. This mobius loop shows that the process of using old materials and turning them into new products is a cycle that never ends.
Why is Recycling Important?
Recycling offers several advantages over disposal in the countries’ landfills in terms of the country’s economy and the environment.
1. Conserves Natural Resources
Recycling works to minimize the quantity of raw materials that may be needed therefore forests, minerals and fossil fuels can be retained rather than exploited. The use of recycled material especially metals to produce goods in most cases consumes far less energy than the use of virgin materials.
2. Saves Energy
Production of goods from recycled materials requires less energy as compared to production of goods from raw materials. Recycling of metals through the process of melting down metals and putting them in new products entails much less energy compared to extraction of ores, moving them and extracting metals through demanding processes.
3. Reduces Landfill Waste
Removing recyclables from the waste flow that goes to landfills saves on the finite landfill space. The space required for the establishment of landfill is also becoming a major challenge in many regions. Recycling helps to save millions of tones to waste per year which would otherwise go to the dump sites.
4. Prevents Pollution
Recycling also alleviate pollutions from waste disposal such as air pollution from incinerators and water pollution from runoff of landfill. Manufacturing products from recycled materials is also environmentally friendly in terms of air and water pollution than when manufacturing from new materials.
5. Creates Jobs
Currently, the recycling industry is a major employer with over one million people employed in the United States. Increased recycling strategies and facilities generate even more employment opportunities in waste collection, transportation, recycling facilities and manufacturing companies that use recycled products.
The Recycling Process
There are the five key stages that start from a recycled good and see that material through to a new product.
1. Collection
Collection is the first process that has to be followed in recycling. Recyclables have to be disposed in recycling bin or transported to a recycling centre before they are processed in the system. Recycling programs in many municipalities offer to pick up recyclables directly from people’s homes. Products, in particular, must be clean and arranged in a specific manner as per material type to prevent cross-contamination.
2. Sorting & Processing
After being collected, they are transported to a materials recovery facility (MRF) where they undergo sorting, which can be done by hand or through a machine. Sorting helps to remove some non-recyclable items or contaminants from the recyclable items for the next stage. A material may be cut into small pieces, melted, pressed or changed to pellets depending on the form that the processing facility requires it in.
3. Manufacturing
These are taken to the different manufacturing industries where they undergo processing to make new products as would be with virgin materials. Paper which can be newspaper, egg cartons, new office paper or paper towels is prepared from paper. Metals can get used for anything from bicycles, rebar, car parts, or even aluminum cans. The possibilities are endless.
4. Purchasing Recycled Products
Another significant one is the consumer who buys products that contain post-consumer recycled content. Recycled paper based paper towel, notebooks with fifty percent recycled paper, and products packed in recycled paper promotes the recycled paper in the market. The more the cycle is carried out, the more the recycling programs increase in their economical value.
5. Recycling the Item Again
The cycle repeats itself as the products which are manufactured using recycled materials can be recycled over and over once the consumer is through with them. For instance, that newspaper can be gathered and used to make new newsprint or even perhaps be reused to make even more newsprint in the future. This closed-loop system is the basic model for the recycling industries.
What Can Be Recycled?
A lot of things that one uses in their day-to-day life can be recycled even though it varies based on the type of facilities available in your region. Here are some of the most common recyclables:Here are some of the most common recyclables:
- Newspapers, magazines, junk mail, phone books, cardboard boxes, food boxes, cartons, and other paper products made of paper or cardboard.
- Plastic – Bottles, containers, jars, bags, and packaging that are marked by recycling symbols #1-#7.
- Glass – Small, medium and large bottles and jars of clear, blue, green, brown, pink and any color in between.
- Food packaging materials – Beer cans, tin food cans, scrap metals etc.
- Electronic Waste – This is another major type of waste that includes discarded computers, laptops, television sets, computer monitors, printers, and mobile phones.
- Batteries – Disposable and rechargeable batteries.
- Cars & Tires – Since tires are part of cars, they can be recycled into other car accessories and products.
- Clothing & Textiles – Can be used again, worn out or converted to insulation material.
It also important to note that many areas also recycle other construction materials such as wood, concrete, household hazardous waste such as paints, CFL bulbs, and chemicals as well as food waste through composting. Find out what your municipal recycling service will take.
Recycling Programs & Access
As noted earlier, recycling programs have increased tremendously in the last three decades, despite the constraints and challenges that exist in the field.
With the current statistics, the United States is recycling or composting about 35% of its waste as of 2020. It means 65% still ends up in the landfill. The target for the recycling rate is to be at 50% by 2030.
Recycling is still a problem in many regions that do not have access to recycling facilities such as a collection and processing center for the material. Other enhancement to the collection networks are the installing of more public space recycling bins and ensuring all households have access to recycling collection could increase participation and volumes.
Ensuring Quality
Recycling facilities still face challenges in managing contamination. Another issue that causes added work and cost to sorting centers is careless participants who put non-recyclable items into bins. Contamination with trash causes paper mills to reject more loads, which means that recyclables end up in landfills.
The crucial factor that ensures that recycling works as needed is learning what can be placed in the recycling bin depending on the ability of each community to accept it. It also helps with the labeling of the recycling bins, and that means that most of the contamination is already sorted out at the source.
Building End Markets
There is still need for strong markets to accept processed recycled material in order to close the loop. Lacking corporations to purchase the recycled paper or plastics to use when developing the new products, the recycled products simply remain idle.
Using policy incentives, brand’s declarations of using post-consumer recycled content, and actual buying of products made from such material encourages continuous markets to take what recycling processors recover. This market pull maintains the system operational.
The Future of Recycling
Advancements in recycling technology, decrease in contamination, and marketing can be expected to boost recycling infrastructure and maintain material in the economic loop rather than ending up in the dump. They range from resource and energy conservation to economic benefits and lowering of emissions on the global level. With more consumer awareness and companies together with improved facilities, recycling can go on to reinvent waste as value.
