Recycling

The Recycling Process

From street collection to becoming a new plastic bottle, your household waste goes through a complex journey.

• First, recyclable materials are collected and separated. This stage often starts in people's homes.

  Do your local recycling services ask you to keep glass and cardboard separate?

• Different waste materials are deposited into separate recycling bins or boxes.

  Plastics and aluminium cans are typically collected together.

• Once collected, the recyclable materials are converted back into raw materials.

• For the final step, raw materials are converted into a finished product.

Fig. 1 - Plastics and aluminium cans are typically collected together, unsplash.com

Examples of Recycling

There are many different types of recycling; it all depends on the material being recycled. Here we explore three types of recycling: mechanical, energy and chemical.

Mechanical Recycling

Mechanical recycling transforms waste materials into new products without changing their chemical composition. This type of recycling uses processes such as grinding, washing and compounding. The waste materials can be used again and again in new products.

Metals are mechanically recycled by melting them down and recasting or reforming them into different products. The metals often require separation, depending on the properties necessary for the final product.

Energy Recycling

This recycling method converts plastics into thermal and electrical energy via incineration (burning). Waste incineration plants use catalysers to prevent pollutants and emissions from being released into the atmosphere, which makes this recycling method environmentally friendly.

Chemical Recycling

This is the most complex method of recycling. After reprocessing plastics, their chemical structure is modified, reducing the requirements for raw materials.

Facts About Recycling

Impress your friends and family with these fun recycling facts!

• It takes 95% less energy to recycle aluminium cans than to make new ones. In fact, 75% of all aluminium ever produced is still in use today!

• The UK throws away enough wrapping paper every Christmas to cover 11,000 football pitches.

• The UK uses 7.7 billion plastic bottles annually - equivalent to 117 per person.

• The average UK household throws away 20% of their weekly food shop.

Fig. 2 - The recognizable three arrows logo indicates if a product can be recycled, unsplash.com

Benefits of Recycling to Society and the Environment

As well as preventing waste from ending up in landfills, recycling provides many benefits to society and the environment.

Here's an overview of the benefits of recycling.

• Recycling reduces the demand for raw materials, helping to conserve natural resources.

• It helps wildlife and nature by protecting biodiversity, it reduces the need to obtain new ores through mining which destroys habitats.

• Less waste is in hazardous landfill sites.

• Making products from recycled materials saves energy, thus cutting carbon emissions.

• Recycling is usually cheaper than waste disposal.

• Fewer Fossil Fuels are needed to make new materials, like Crude Oil to make plastics.

• The recycling industry provides green jobs.

Benefits of Recycling Plastic

Plastic is a hugely versatile material that has revolutionised modern life. However, some plastics can take up to 1000 years to decompose in landfill sites, resulting in large amounts of waste. If plastic waste ends up in a watercourse, it can flow out to sea.

Once in the ocean, the natural elements erode plastic waste into small fragments known as microplastics. These have spread worldwide and can even be found in drinking water.

Plastics and microplastic fragments are incredibly harmful to animals. They might get entangled and suffocated by plastics or experience internal damage from consuming them.

Increasing plastic recycling is vital to prevent plastic from ending up in the ocean and harming animals. Recently, numerous companies have cut down on single-use plastics. Some food shops have zero waste refill aisles, while some fast-food chains have banned plastic straws.

Fig. 3 - Marine plastic pollution near Indonesia, unsplash.com

Negative Effects of Recycling on the Environment

Despite its significant benefits, recycling waste is not a perfect solution to the problems of pollution and landfill.

Like manufacturing products from scratch, recycling also uses energy. If this energy comes from non-renewable resources like fossil fuels, it can contribute to carbon emissions. Energy may also be needed to speed up the difficult process of sorting materials.

Certain types of recycling release pollutants. Electronic recycling, in particular, is notorious for contaminating local environments. Old electronic devices are frequently shipped overseas to be sorted manually. During this process, metal and chemicals leach into land and water, affecting the local environment and residents.

'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle'

Some environmentalists have argued that 'reducing' and 'reusing' are actually better for the environment than recycling. If we reduce our consumption and reuse what we already have, less energy and resources will be used to manufacture and recycle these products.