Lillian Liem 6S 26
Date:19-01-2004
Discuss on the recycling of wastes e.g. paper and aluminium
Recycling is an important aspect in conservation. The term recycling
has two dimensions: recovery and utilization. Recovery refers to the
collection of waster material that can be reused. Utilization refers to the
processing of diverted waste into new and useful material and products.
Some of the solid wastes can be recycled. They can be classified under the
categories of reusable material and recyclable materials. Renewable
material (such as glass bottles) can be sold to relevant manufactures.
Recyclable materials include paper, metals (such as aluninium cans), certain
types of plastics, types and other valuable materials. They are separated
and then sold as raw materials for recycling.
Glass, steel (or "tin") and aluminum are easy to recognize and recycle.
For clarity, a recycling symbol should be present, but most people have
little trouble sorting these materials. Glass bottles must not be mixed with
other types of glass such as windows, light bulbs, mirrors, glass tableware,
Pyrex or auto glass. Ceramics contaminate glass and are difficult to sort
out. Clear glass is the most valuable. Mixed color glass is near worthless,
and broken glass is hard to sort. There have been marketing experiments
with plastic and steel cans that look exactly like aluminum cans. Recycling
plants have been damaged by these fakes. The distinctive shape of an
aluminum beverage can must be reserved for aluminum beverage cans only.
It is no longer necessary to remove labels for recycling. To save water,
clean only enough to prevent odors. Unlike with plastics, the high
temperature of glass and metal processing deals easily with contamination.
Scrap aluminum is accepted in many places. Other metals are rarely
accepted.
Most types of paper can be recycled. Newspapers have been recycled
profitably for decades, and recycling of other paper is growing. Virgin
paper pulp prices have soared in recent years prompting construction of
more plants capable of using waste paper. They key to recycling is
collecting large quantities of clean, well-sorted, uncontaminated and dry
paper. Paper that can't be recycled as normal "mixed paper" includes: food
contaminated paper, waxed paper, waxed cardboard milk & juice containers,
oil soaked paper, carbon paper, sanitary products or tissues, thermal fax
paper, stickers and plastic laminated paper such as fast food wrappers,
juice boxes, and pet food bags.
With a little bit of care much plastic can be recycled, and collection
of plastics for recycling is increasing rapidly. Plastic recycling faces one
huge problem: plastic types must not be mixed for recycling, yet it is
impossible to tell one type from another by sight or touch. All plastic
containers we purchase should be marked with a large and clear recycling
code. This code must be molded into the plastic and located on the bottom
surface of the container. Ideally the entire container should be made of
the same plastic to avoid confusion, but often the caps are of a different
type. Caps should be separately marked, but few are. Note that most caps
are not of the same type as the bottle they sit on
Recycling of waste materials helps to alleviate solid waste pollution to
the environment. Reducing the rate of depletion of natural resources thus
saving the energy used in mining and processing of natural resources. Less
wastes, less the needs for landfill sites. Development of recycling industry
can create more posts. Also, educating people through, the practice of
recycling, about the important of proper waste disposal, thrift use of
natural resources and environmental problems.