Free Essays on Recycling

The topic of recycling has been around for almost thirty years. It was realized that simply "throwing" our problems out the window and into the landfill wasn't a permanent solution. Slowly we have tried to upgrade our process of recycling, reusing and reducing. Though the question remains. Do we do enough for recycling? How much longer can we wait to act until we are buried under our own trash. The time has come to bring recycling into the global spotlight. On April 22, 1970 the first Earth Day was celebrated. First of many it kicked off a major Earth movement. That same year President Nixon passed the Environmental Protection Act. Complementing it six years later was the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The Recovery Act regulated disposal and treatment of solid waste. Prior to this, trash was either incinerated, burned in an open dump or landfilled. Seventeen years after this law was passed recycling still hadn't picked up immensely. 75% of trash still went to landfills, 13% was incinerated and only a meager 12% was recycled. That was in the year 1993, only four years ago. Of course a nation wide comparison doesn't truly do justice to waste disposal because of concentration of people and exporting of waste. However on a local comparison the statistics are very similar. In 1993 16 thousand tons of garbage were produced in Tioga County and only 4 thousand tons were recycled. Three years later in 1996 our production of trash went up to about 17 thousand tons while we still only recycled 4 thousand tons of it. With statistics like these it is not a matter that requires much thought. Landfill space is constantly being used up; and even the most advanced incinerators still pollute the air, one option stands. Prices on natural resources are escalating and their abundance is dropping, one option remains. What kind of future will we leave for our children, one option stands. Before we go into discussion of recycling some ground ru... Free Essays on Recycling Free Essays on Recycling An ancient practice with many modern applications, recycling is the recovery and reuse of materials from spent products. In recent years recycling, also called materials salvage, has become a major part of environmental policy, due to the increased costs of solid- and hazardous-waste disposal, the scarcity of natural resources, and the growing concern over polluted land, water, and air. There are two types of recycling operations: internal and external. Internal recycling is the reuse in a manufacturing process of materials that are a waste product of that process. Internal recycling is common in the metals industry. External recycling is the reclaiming of materials from a product that has become almost obsolete. An example of external recycling is the collection of old newspapers and magazines for the manufacture of newsprint or other paper products. In some areas, industries are required to pre-treat wastewater before it is funneled into a waterway. In homes, wastewater is sent t o a sewage-treatment plant, where it is purified, recycled, and put back into the water-supply system. Many gardeners recycle organic, biodegradable kitchen scraps by mixing them with leaves and grass clippings in a compost mound. There the organic waste decomposes and is biochemically transformed into usable soil. Successful recycling programs depend on several factors. There must be a general awareness of the problems caused by solid-waste disposal and an effective, inexpensive method for separating and collecting the recyclable materials. It also must be economically feasible for industries to use and market recycled materials. In 1976 the United States Congress passed the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, encouraging states to formulate solid-waste recovery plans. Many states set up special departments to assist local communities in their recycling efforts. Some communities adopted legislation that gives consumers the option of returning contain... Free Essays on Recycling Recycling is an extremely important issue in our world today. Recycling is returning materials to their raw material components and then using these again to supplement or replace new materials in the manufacture of a new product. It is important for every person to take responsibility for his or her own contribution to the recycling effort. Recycling not only means reusing and restoring our garbage but can also include donating old clothes to charitable organizations, reusing plastic containers to store food in the refrigerator, and many other activities we already participate in. Although recycling encompasses many areas of our lives, this paper will focus on our everyday waste products, how to recycle them, and if it is a worthwhile cause (Carless 3). With thousands of curbside recycling services operating nationwide, people can no longer make excuses for their lack of recycling. Consumer education is important so people can make informed decisions about buying products which are recyclable and minimize the amount of garbage that cannot be recycled. Recycling has several healing affects on the Earth such as helping to slow global warming, diminishing acid rain, reducing water pollution, conserving landfill space, and lowering pollutants in the air (Stein 13). For four consecutive weeks, I collected my personal garbage and counted and/or weighed the respective products. I learned that many of the products I use can be recycled, however, I also realized that I need to make a more conscious effort to buy recyclable products. Appendix A details the garbage I collected and is divided into several categories which are: aluminum, other metals, glass, plastics, newspaper, white paper, other paper, and food products. I will discuss each group and how, or if, the products listed in the group can be recycled. By using recycled aluminum instead of virgin ore, we can eliminate 95 percent of air pollution, 97 percent of water pollution, save 4 ton... Free Essays on Recycling People Need to Recycle In the United Sates, where the population is inflated every year. The amount of space for landfills decreases every day. The need for recycling should not be asked, it should just be done out of habit. Everyone in America needs to recycle, to help the lamdfill problem, help the environment, and help produce new products from recycled goods. In America there is about two-hundred and eight tons of residential and commercial trash generated a year, 4.3 pounds per person a day (Prichard 1A). This is an overwhelming amount of trashed produced yearly. When people recycle this number can be drastically cut. But many people do not practice and use recycling. Consumers and businesses should use the three R’s; recycle, reuse, and recharge (Prichard 1A). Consumers and businesses are producing more garbage than ever before. As a result, we are rapidly running out of landfill space. In 1979 America had close to 18,500 landfills, and by 1991 that number was nearly cut in half (Prichard 10A). Kentucky, Ohio, Minnesota, and Illinois will reach their maximum limit on landfills by the year 2005 (Prichard 10A). This whole garbage problem has forced us to try other options. Many of these options have been very unsuccessful. People have tried burning their garbage, that cause pollution to the environment. Some states even resorted to dropping their trash in the ocean, only to have the very same trash float ashore later. Dumping it on other states leads to feuding neighbors. Indiana passed a law to block imports of out-of-state trash, but a federal court ruled the law illegal (Prichard 10A). Instead of trying to find new ways to dump our trash, we need to find better ways to recycle it and save space in our landfills. In the 1970s there was a push to use recycled paper. A worker at a paper factory in Illinois states, â€Å"Then the issue was saving a tree. But trees are replaced. We plant them, we cut them, we plant them again† (Pendl... Free Essays on Recycling The topic of recycling has been around for almost thirty years. It was realized that simply "throwing" our problems out the window and into the landfill wasn't a permanent solution. Slowly we have tried to upgrade our process of recycling, reusing and reducing. Though the question remains. Do we do enough for recycling? How much longer can we wait to act until we are buried under our own trash. The time has come to bring recycling into the global spotlight. On April 22, 1970 the first Earth Day was celebrated. First of many it kicked off a major Earth movement. That same year President Nixon passed the Environmental Protection Act. Complementing it six years later was the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The Recovery Act regulated disposal and treatment of solid waste. Prior to this, trash was either incinerated, burned in an open dump or landfilled. Seventeen years after this law was passed recycling still hadn't picked up immensely. 75% of trash still went to landfills, 13% was incinerated and only a meager 12% was recycled. That was in the year 1993, only four years ago. Of course a nation wide comparison doesn't truly do justice to waste disposal because of concentration of people and exporting of waste. However on a local comparison the statistics are very similar. In 1993 16 thousand tons of garbage were produced in Tioga County and only 4 thousand tons were recycled. Three years later in 1996 our production of trash went up to about 17 thousand tons while we still only recycled 4 thousand tons of it. With statistics like these it is not a matter that requires much thought. Landfill space is constantly being used up; and even the most advanced incinerators still pollute the air, one option stands. Prices on natural resources are escalating and their abundance is dropping, one option remains. What kind of future will we leave for our children, one option stands. Before we go into discussion of recycling some ground ru...