Recycling and the Environment
Ayanna G Hawkins
Argosy University Atlanta
Professor Lily
March 19, 2015

There is a number of items people use in their daily lives that could be used again. On any given day, the number of used plastic or glass bottles, newspapers, and paper products fill garbage bins. Rarely does the impact of discarding these items occur to many people in the world. Instead of throwing used products away, more people should focus on reusing and recycling. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defined recycling as “the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash and turning them into new products” (para. 1, 2015). Recycling helps extend the life and usefulness of something that has already served its initial purpose by producing something that is useable. Recycling has a lot of benefits and importance not only to us humans but especially to our planet. There are various means for collecting recyclables such as curbside pick up, recycling centers, and incentive programs. Recycling benefits the environment in numerous ways such as reducing waste, preserving resources, and preventing pollution.
Reusing Recycled Material The most easily recycled materials are plastic and paper. According to the EPA (2014a), “32 million tons of plastic waste were generated in 2012” (para. 2). Plastic accounts for 13% of waste in the United States. Unfortunately a mere 9% of plastic was recycled in that same year. Paper is used at rate similar to plastic. However, 65% of paper was recycled in 2012 (EPA, 2014b) While plastic and paper are recycled at differing rates, there are a number of usages for each in there recycle form. Paper can be reused for a host of different things. The envelopes you receive in the mail containing bills or information can now be used to as a coupon holder, or a means of writing down your grocery list. The comic section of newspaper can be a fun filled creative way to wrap children’s and teen’s gifts. You can also use newspaper as a potty training tool when you bring home a new puppy. Plastic bottles can be used for gardening, artwork, birdfeeders, curtains, organizers and casing for jewelry. Plastic bags are great for trash bags when you have little ones, they are also great for securing items while traveling that you may not want to leak on your clothes such as lotion, toothpaste and hair products. While these are only a fraction of what you can use recycle paper and plastic for there are several thousand products that are made daily from recycle each.
The Recycling Process: Cans, Bottles and Newspapers There is a three step process to recycling. Every week citizens pull out bins of recyclables’ and place them on the curb where trucks pick them up. This is considered the first step known as the collection process. During this process recyclables are sent to various facilities for sorting and cleaning, which are then processed into materials that can be used in manufacturing. The manufacturing process is the second step in the cycle. From this process other items are created or reused. Once the manufacturing is completed those items are labeled as recycled goods so consumers can distinguish them from non recycled items this is known as the final step in the recycling process. When cans are recycled they rinsed, packaged and sold to steel mills. Once there they are melted and manufactured into sheet of aluminum which be produced to create products such as body parts for vehicles. Aluminum that has been recycled has the same quality as new, and is a valuable tool for many products. Like other recyclables, newspaper is compacted into large packages for easy transfer. Once at a paper mill, a chemical process that isolates the ink from the fibers of the newspaper is done. The paper is then turned into pulp and washed, and a screen is used to remove the contaminants. The pulp is blanched and combined with pulp from wood chips to strengthen it. The pulp is emptied on the screen to drain, then smoothened and dried as it goes through steam-heated rollers. It is then neatly cut and packaged to be reused as newspaper, or wrapping paper and even flower pots. Glass is taken to a treatment where it’s washed to remove impurities and then sorted by color. Then a mechanical system breaks the glass into little pieces called cullet. After which another system removes debris and metals. There are also ceramic contaminants which are found in glass cullet that are removed through a process known as fine sizing. The finely grounded glass cullet goes through various screens, leaving behind ceramic residues. The glass is then compressed and liquefied, and formed into products such as bottles and jars.
Impact on Creating Renewed Resources According to Green Living(2015) defines renewable resource “as a natural resource that renews itself at a rate that is faster, or equal to the rate of consumption” (para. 2). When we employ and cultivate renewable resources we lessen the impact society has on the Earth, while guaranteeing continuous survival. Most often people look at recycling as a nuisance, because of the extra steps it takes to sort certain items out. However, if we all took a moment to research the negative impact those items have on the environment when discarded improperly, I am inclined to believe we would all do a better job. For instances, recycling and renewable resources benefit from one another. For example, when paper is recycled this process can be considered a renewable resource, as recycling of paper can give the time required for trees to reseed, replenish and renew, thereby making paper, and wood and trees a renewable resource. This also helps to save millions of dollars each year in waste disposal cost. When consumers recycle the environment is protected because recycling reduces energy consumption which is essential to mass production. This is beneficial to manufacturing companies as the production process is cost effective keeping cost to a minimum. Pollution is also reduced when, as it helps alleviate unnecessary waste from being disposed of incorrectly. Global warming is at ease because of rrecycling, because huge amount of waste is destroyed by fire which generates huge amounts of CO2 and CFC’s. Recycling ensure that this process is reduced and any waste is restored as a useful product with least harmful impact on the environment as possible. This process also assists industries in burning less fossil fuel for eco-friendly products thus allowing for the reduction of greenhouse gases.

References

Eco-Cycle (n.d) Why Recycle? Retrieved March 19, 2015 from http://www.ecocycle.org/files/pdfs/why_recycle_%20brochure.pdf

Environmental Protection Agency (2014) Waste-Resource Conservation-Common Waste and Materials-Paper Recycling. Retrieved March 19, 2015 from http://www2.epa.gov/recycle/recycling-basics

Environmental Protection Agency (2014) Plastic Common Waste and Materials Retrieved March 19, 2015 from http://www2.epa.gov/recycle/recycling-basics

Environmental Protection Agency (2015) Recycling Basics Retrieved March 19, 2015 from http://www2.epa.gov/recycle/recycling-basics Environmental Protection Agency United States Environmental Protection Agency United States Environmental Protection Agency