Waste and RecyclingWise Use of Resources

Pre-cycling

• Not allowing something to be wasted

• Could involve reuse or simply using something wisely as to not allow it to become trash

Reuse, Composting and RecyclingTwo of the 3 Rs of Waste Prevention

Reuse

• A form of waste reduction that keeps high quality resources from becoming waste

Composting

• Sweet-smelling, dark brown humus-like material that is rich in organic matter and soil nutrients

Composting

• Advantages• Could reduce up to 35%

of waste• Can be used as fertilizer

or landfill cover• Helps rebuild eroded soil

• Disadvantages• Excludes toxic materials• Odor (enclosed facility;

near landfill; or be careful to get only biodegradable waste and put in closed container with air circulation

• Can be expensive to set up

RecclingThe last of the 3 Rs of Waste Prevention

Recycling comes in two types

• Primary

• Secondary

Primary Recycling

• Also called closed-loop recycling

• Recycles the same product

• Aluminum cans form new aluminum cans

• Newspaper becomes newspaper

Secondary Recycling

• Also called Open Loop Recycling

• Waste is converted to new products

• Jeans into carpet

• Plastic into lumber

How much paper is really recycled?

• 40-50% of all paper products are estimated to be recycled

Plastics Recycled

• What % of plastics do you think get recycled?

• About 5% of plastics are recycled

• Why?

• Low cost resin except for the drinking bottle which is most likely type of plastic to be recycled

Post-consumer recycling

• Waste that could have been put into a landfill because it had been already used for its original purpose but was instead recycled into either the same product or a different product that its original use

Pre-consumer Recycling

• Material was not used for its original purpose. In the manufacturing process this material was excess and did not make it into the original product; therefore, the manufacturer recycled it back into its own manufacturing process

• Can you think of an example of this?

How is recycling done?

• Centralized recovery areas are where mixed urban waste is transported to this type of facility

• Recovery implies recycling

• Rest of the waste is burned

• There are roughly 250 of these facilities in the US

What factors limit recycling?

• The environmental cost is not included in the purchase price

• Tax breaks for manufacturers but not for individual recyclers

• Lack of market for recycled materials

Traditional waste management

• Trash is presorted into recyclables and trash

• Recyclables go one route

• Trash is taken to sanitary landfill

Land Disposal

• 57% of waste goes to a landfill

• Sanitary Landfill: garbage graveyard where solid waste is spread out in thin layers and compacted daily with fresh layers of clay or plastic foam

Landfill Liners

• Landfills need to have thick layer of concrete separating them from the nearby material

• The concrete layer is covered over with a thick liner which is thicker than the shingles on your roof

Other ways of dealing with wasteDetoxification & Incineration

Incineration

• 7-15% of US waste is incinerated

• Process by which combustible waste is burned and ash is buried

Incineration

• Advantages• Reduces waste• Most things are

combustible• Cheap once set up

• Disadvantages• Fire and associated

threat of explosive substances getting into incinerator

• Separation of items• Expense of incinerator• Air pollution• Smoke

Detoxification

• Some waste can be disposed of in other ways if it was detoxified.

• This can be done by toxic-degrading bacteria • Also substances can be watered down • Finally, some substances like heavy metals

cannot be dealt with in this way • Heavy metal poisoning is very difficult to manage

b/c body’s tissues pick up the metal and is not easily removed