59 Recycling Facts: Learn The Importance Of Waste Management

Over seven billion people live in the world, and each has its own waste to control.

On average, a person throws away around 4 lb (1.8 kg) of waste every day, and this data conjures up to 1.5 t (1.3 mt) of solid waste every year from a single person. Over seven billion people add to this waste, so we are going through so many environmental problems.

Many of us do not know, but 75% of this trash added every year consists of recyclable materials. This waste and materials can be reused to make new items, which is what recycling is.

The practice of recycling ensures that no items that can be used again go to waste. The use of new materials can be reduced substantially if recycled materials from solid waste can be used to make new products. The energy consumption will reduce quite a bit.

Recycling also ensures that the non-recycled trash does not reach landfills to cause more pollution in the world. Plastic bottles and plastic bags create a lot of pollution globally, so it is mandatory to practice recycling to save the planet from destruction. Switzerland leads the race for recycling rates, followed by Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway.

Here are a few items that can be recycled to keep in mind when you recycle trash; glass, plastic, paper, metal, batteries, textile, food waste, and electronic equipment.

All the different products that can be made from these materials like glass bottles, office paper, plastic bottles, and more need a lot of raw materials and some intense manufacturing that in turn pollute the environment.

For instance, if not recycled, a glass bottle will take 4000 years to decompose entirely. This can become even longer if the bottle is kept in a landfill. Glass is fully recyclable and can be recycled again and again without losing any purity and quality.

Recycled paper saves trees, water, oil, and electricity. A family typically uses paper worth seven trees in a year. Think how many trees you save if you reduce using a new sheet of paper every day.

A lot of food waste can be seen in the world. Food waste, solid waste like plastic, glass, aluminum, and more add to the woes of the environment.

We have to start with recycling and saving the planet. Most of the waste stream in the world is recyclable. Only 30% of the waste stream is recycled in America, while 75% is recyclable.

Learn more recycling facts here in the coming topics.

Process Of Recycling

Recycling is a way of renewing an object that has already served its previous purpose. People can make a new product of recycled waste, and every time you recycle a product, you protect the environment a bit.

We use less water, cut fewer trees, use less energy, and protect the raw materials that are depleting at an alarming rate. Let us know some recycling facts and the process of how to do it.

Paper is one of the most important resources globally, and all parts of the world use it. However, paper waste can be harmful to the environment.

The paper is first taken to a recycling plant and then separated into different grades and types. Soapy water is used to wash the separated paper to remove inks, staples, plastic film, and glue.

A slurry is created by mixing the mixture with water and then recycled. Recycled paper is the next best thing and should be used worldwide.

Just recycling a ton of paper can eventually save 7000 gals (31822.6 l) of water, 17 trees, a lot of electricity, and 2 bbl (318 l) oil.

Just saving natural resources to produce a ton of paper can power a home for five long months.

Recycling plastic is a lot different and needed as plastic bottles and plastic bags have crowded the whole world with pollution.

When plastic is recycled, it is first sorted into different colors and types.

It is then filtered of all the contaminants and then turned into fibers by chopping and melting into pellets.

New products can be made by recycling plastic bags and plastic bottles.

Recycled plastic can be used to make new products, including construction materials, fleece fabrics, insulation, and molted furniture.

Metals like aluminum cans are first chopped up, then put through the heat to remove the paint coating, and then heated again to melt the substance.

The melted metal is then filtered and put into ingots. It is then rolled into a flat sheet.

The flat sheet can be used to make new materials. Metal recycling is one of the best cost-effective solutions for recycling.

Aluminum is almost recyclable an infinite number of times.

In just 60 days, aluminum can be thrown into a recycler, recycled, made into a new can, and bought back into your grocery shelf.

Glass recycling is also very effective as it is first collected, sorted by color, and then washed. Removing the impurities is important for the process. The processed glass is crushed and mixed with soda ash, sand, and limestone.

The mixture is then melted and molded into new glass products, which can be anything from a glass bottle to a glass jar.

It is also important to recycle electronic waste and clothes/fabric.

Recycling Industrial Waste

First, recycle, and you will reduce the pollution in the environment. Reuse the processed products to help further. In any industry in the world, waste is produced in a large amount.

Air pollution is quite common in industries, be it in manufacturing or medical.

An immense amount of toxic waste is released from these industries every day, which is deadly to nature.

Recycling helps reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and the use of landfills.

Using an industrial composting system is important instead of putting the waste out in the world.

Microorganisms are used to break down biodegradable organic waste.

Many countries even use the product of this process as an alternative fuel.

Many countries have made it compulsory for industries to implement composting in their industries.

Some of the waste materials from industries are melted down and made into new objects.

Plastic bottles are melted to make polyester used for clothing.

Oil filters, industrial transformers, and big containers are recycled by this method.

Harmful gases like carbon dioxide are released, and it is very important to recycle this industrial waste at the earliest.

Many countries have used some of the gases to make electricity and fuel.

Useful material can be extracted from industrial waste.

From broken thermometers, mercury can be extracted; and from paint and batteries, lead can be extracted.

There are many other ways that you can recycle waste, and all these steps are just a start.

It is important to improve recycling rates and educate people on all of the positive ways to save the environment.

Recycling Plastic

New and useful products can be made by processing plastic and recycling.

When plastic recycling is done correctly, it can help to reduce the use of landfills, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, stop plastic pollution, and save the world.

In modern times, plastic is the most popular and useful material, and you can see plastic being used for plastic bags and plastic bottles.

Plastic is excellent for recycling, and even mixed things like tubs, trays, and films can be recycled. It is both environmentally and economically valuable to recycle plastic.

Plastic bags and bottles, and all other items made of plastic, are recycled in a series of ways.

First, the plastic is sorted by the polymer type of the material, and then the plastic is shredded and washed.

The next step of recycling is to melt the plastic and turn it into pellets. The pellets are used to make new materials.

Reusing plastic again and again after recycling reduces the need to produce new plastic.

Doing this can help to conserve non-renewable fossil fuels.

Stopping the production of new plastic stops the consumption of energy and raw materials.

Not producing plastic also reduces the emission of harmful gases in the atmosphere.

Sorting Waste

It is very important to sort the waste first to process it further to remove impurities from the items.

To sort your trash, first, file everything separately and divide the things between recyclable ones and non-recyclable ones.

After you are done, pack your recyclable waste into a bag and take it to centers where you donate them.

There are also buy-back centers that take the recycled waste from you for a nominal price.

Alternatively, there are also places where recycled waste gets collected from your homes daily or weekly.

21.5 million t (19504471.9 mt) of food waste is seen throughout the world each year.

For all the food scraps, if we start composting all the food waste from each person in the world, its effect is unthinkable.

It will have the same impact as removing two million vehicles off the road.

Just by saving and recycling 10% of newspapers people buy, we will save 25 million trees in the world each year.

Just in the United States itself, if you gather all the plastic bottles thrown away by people, those bottles, if made into a queue, will encircle the Earth's circumference five times.

Aluminum is really harmful in terms of pollution, and recycling is very important.

Solid waste of aluminum stays on the surface for many years, and the recycling rates of this are also very slow all over the world.

But wouldn't you recycle aluminum if you knew that a can of aluminum, if recycled, will power a television for three hours?

For each ton of recycled glass, 694 lb (315 kg) of carbon dioxide is saved from being released into the atmosphere, saving the planet from air pollution in the process.

When you clean out your house, you may find some clothes that you don't wear and use anymore. Instead of throwing them out, give them to the needy or donate the clothes to places that desperately need them.

If you recycle clothes, less fabric, water, and fertilizers are needed to grow the cotton that is used to make these clothes.

These recycling facts will help you understand many things that would allow the environment to grow and sustain a lot better than it is today.

FAQs

Q: How much waste ends up in landfills?

A: According to statistics, in the United States itself, 150 million t (136 million mt) of waste end up in landfills. Out of this, around 30 million t (27.2 million mt) are of food, and about 26 million t (23 million mt) are of plastic.

Q: How much plastic is thrown away every day?

A: 300 million t (272 million mt)of plastic are thrown out each year globally. Thirty-eight billion plastic water bottles are thrown each year in the landfills in the U.S.

Q: What will happen if we don't recycle?

A: Natural habitats are being destroyed every day because of not recycling products. If proper measures are not taken, it won't be that long before we lose all our resources soon.

Q: How much waste is actually recycled?

A: Around 32.1% of waste is recycled in the U.S as of 2018. With proper awareness, these numbers can quickly increase as the majority of the waste produced is recyclable.

Q: Is glass 100% recyclable?

A: Yes, glass is 100% recyclable and can be used an endless number of times.

Q: Can you recycle aluminum foil?

A: Yes, aluminum foil can be recycled, but to do that, the tin foil needs to be cleaned first. It can be made into any number of items.

Q: Which color is not common for sorting?

A: The color which is not common for sorting when recycling glass is blue.