Level: Intermediate
Reduce, Reuse And Recycle
Waste, rubbish, trash, or garbage is unwanted or undesired material. Waste can exist in any phase of matter (solid, liquid, or gas). When released in the latter two states, gas especially, the wastes are referred to as emissions. It is usually strongly linked with pollution.
Sources of waste
Waste produced in the wild is reintegrated through natural recycling processes, such as dry leaves in a forest decomposing into soil. Outside of the wild these wastes may become problematic, such as dry leaves in an urban environment. The highest volume of waste, outside of nature, comes from human industrial activity: mining, industrial manufacturing, consumer use, and so on.
Almost all manufactured products are destined to become waste at some point in time, with a volume of waste production roughly similar to the volume of resource consumption. Many manufactured goods are unable to be recycled due to the impracticality of separating the materials of glass, metal and plastic from each other, or the inability to separate the elements of a metal alloy back into its base components. This could create a logistical nightmare scenario in terms of how or where the various types of buildings (and the many contents they contain) of present day towns and cities will be disposed of in the distant future.
Post-consumer waste is the waste produced by the end-user (the rubbish one puts outside in the rubbish bin). This is the waste people usually think of. But though the most visible, this is very small compared to the waste created in the process of mining and production.
Four hundred million tonnes of organic waste produced by agricultural activities, 150 million tonnes of industrial waste and 30 million tonnes of domestic waste. These figures represent the annual production of a country in the western world such as France. The volume of French domestic and industrial waste keeps on increasing, while the various systems for processing it have for a long time, been insufficient to absorb it all. That is why 60% of household waste is piled up in overloaded rubbish-dumps, and certain unethical industrialists do not hesitate to store even their hazardous waste in inappropriate sites, or pour it into waterways.
Today, there are four processes for eliminating waste: putting it in rubbish- dumps, collecting it and sorting it with a view to recycling, turning it to compost or burning it to produce energy. In volume, organic waste alone accounts for more than half of our annual production. However, it is easier to process than industrial or domestic waste which contains a great variety of substances. The organic waste can be turned into compost and re-used as fertiliser by farmers. Of the 150 million tonnes of industrial waste produced in France every year, 100 million consist of inert waste (rubble, debris, slag and waste from mineral extraction, etc.), 32 million tonnes of ordinary waste (metals, wood, paper, cardboard, glass, plastics, etc.) similar to domestic waste, and 18 million tonnes of special waste, four million tonnes of which is toxic. The ordinary and inert waste is either recycled, or incinerated and placed in class 3 (inert) or class 2 (domestic waste) dumps.
Household Hazardous Waste
Common household items such as paints, cleaners, oils, batteries, and pesticides contain hazardous components. One way to help determine if your household waste has hazardous components is to read the labels on products. Labels that read "danger," "warning," "caution," "toxic," "corrosive," "flammable," or "poison" identify products that might contain hazardous materials. Leftover portions of these products are called household hazardous waste (HHW). These products, if mishandled, can be dangerous to your health and the environment.
Although we cannot completely stop using hazardous products, we can make sure that leftovers are managed properly. The best way to handle HHW is to reduce the amount initially generated by giving leftover products to someone else to use. Although federal laws allow the disposal of HHW in the trash, many communities have collection programs for HHW to reduce the potential harm posed by these chemicals. These programs ensure the safe disposal of HHW in facilities designed to treat or dispose of hazardous waste. More than 3,000 HHW collection programs exist in the United States.
HHW Facts and Figures
· Americans generate 1.6 million tonnes of HHW per year.
· The average home can accumulate as much as 100 pounds of HHW in the basement and garage and in storage closets.
· During the 1980s, many communities started special collection days or permanent collection sites for handling HHW. In 1997, there were more than 3,000 HHW permanent programs and collection events throughout the United States.
A Throwaway Society
The world’s waste problem is growing. On the other hand, so is interest in reduction of waste and recycling. The expression “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” is becoming a household phrase, and it seems the idea is gaining popularity more rapidly then the sceptics would have us believe.
We live in a throwaway society, use and dump, wrap and unwrap, plastic spoons and paper plates. How much money do we waste on disposable items - why wash a dishcloth when the paper towels are on hand? In recent years the garbage we had thought was “out of sight, out of mind” is reappearing as the world’s rubbish heap grows larger and larger.
The most common form of waste disposal is in landfill sites, but in many countries space for these landfills is rapidly disappearing. In addition, the sites produce environmental problems of their own. Toxic substances occur, and are produced, in landfill. Methane gas builds up and seeps into the atmosphere, and liquid toxins leak into water courses and surrounding land. As far as global warming is concerned, methane gas is said to have 60 times the effect of carbon dioxide on
the atmosphere.
Incineration (burning) of rubbish is not a workable solution, as it releases sulphur dioxide, mercury, arsenic, lead and numerous other undesirable substances into the atmosphere. These substances are often carried by prevailing winds to other areas many miles away from the sources. Ecologically, mercury is an especially dangerous substance as it builds up within the food chain rather than disappearing in the environment.
In many cities, the problem of waste disposal is becoming very serious. In his book Earth in the Balance, US Vice President Al Gore cites a study conducted by Newsday on the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island which receives 44 million pounds of garbage from New York City every day. The study revealed that the landfill had the potential to become “the highest point on the Eastern Seaboard south of Maine.” At the time, Gore added the comment that it would “soon legally require a Federal Aviation Administration permit as a threat to aircraft”.
In 1987 in the USA, a garbage barge spent weeks trying to find somewhere to dump its cargo collected from Long Island. The event was well-publicised, and brought home to the American public the fact that not only in this area, but across the States, space for garbage was at a premium. This problem is not only experienced in the US, but in industrialised countries throughout the world.
A publication by the Open University in the United Kingdom stated that if the 50 per cent of household waste that could be recycled, was recycled, approximately £750 million worth of raw materials could be conserved.
In Australia for example, local councils supply large bins for household rubbish. They also supply a regular pick-up service for bottles, which are then taken to be recycled. Paper, aluminium cans and used items of clothing are all collected in large community bins which are conveniently placed next to supermarkets. The same system is operating throughout Europe, and has resulted in a dramatic decrease in material dumped in landfills.
In Abu Dhabi, much of our waste is recycled to create garden compost at the Abu Dhabi Compost Plant. Garbage is sorted and metal is removed by magnets. The remainder is pulverised and laid out to ferment at a high temperature to destroy bacteria and promote decomposition.
Coca-Cola recently introduced the “Lucky Can” machine to Abu Dhabi. Aluminium cans are placed in the machine and crushed: every now and then a prize of sweets or a soft drink is awarded to the lucky “recycler”. This provides an incentive to children to recycle, and so far has proved a great success.
Following the success of their in-house recycling depot, and with the support of the Abu Dhabi Environment Group (formerly the Emirates Environment Group), ADCO set up a public recycling depot outside the company property on Arabian Gulf Street last year. The depot has been upgraded and improved, and the public are encouraged to take along paper and aluminium cans for recycling.
Spinneys in Khalidiya, has a standard aluminium can recycling bin, a “Lucky Can” machine, and a large municipality skip for the recycling of paper. Despite being appropriately labelled, however, other types of rubbish continue to be dumped in this bin. This creates problems for the municipality, which collects the paper, and it also pollutes the recycling paper.
In Dubai, the Dubai Municipality and Emirates Environmental Group have been instrumental in providing facilities for the recycling of paper, aluminium cans, plastic bottles and plastic bags. Plastic bags are collected at Spinneys in Jumeirah, and are taken to Al Sameer Scrap Trading in Sharjah, where they are recycled into garbage bags. Plastic bottles are collected at all Spinneys branches around the city, notably next to larger supermarkets. These are recycled by DASCO Plastics in Dubai. Facilities are also available at all branches of Spinneys in Dubai for the collection of aluminium cans and paper.
The Dubai Municipality has recycling depots situated at Rashidiya Shopping Centre, Hamriya Shopping Centre and Safa Park for the disposal of paper, cardboard, plastic mineral water bottles and aluminium cans.
Unfortunately, because of transportation problems, it has not yet proved feasible to transport plastic bottles from Abu Dhabi to Dubai. In order to have a quantity sufficient to make the journey worthwhile, the bottles would have to be crushed prior to transportation. Aluminium cans in Dubai are collected by the Arabian Leopard Trust, which then sells them to Lucky Recycling to raise funds for their worthy project - protecting the wildlife in the region.
It is evident that the increasing amount of waste must stop, not only because of the pollution problems, but because of the depletion of the earth’s natural resources.
What is Recycling?
Recycling is collecting and treating waste products and discarded materials so that they can be used again to manufacture new products. Aluminum, glass, and paper are some commonly recycled materials. Recycling usually involves four steps:
1. Collecting: In the collecting stage, used materials like glass, paper, and plastic are collected and taken to a recycling center.
2. Sorting:This is the stage where materials are separated by type. This is necessary because each material must be recycled in a different way.
3. Reclaiming: This is the stage in which something is done to the collected materials. Materials that are reusable are separated from those that are not. For example, metals are often melted at this stage.
4. Reusing: In this stage, the reclaimed materials are used in new products.
Recycling is sometimes a synonym for reusing, especially reusing things in new ways. For example, people might talk about recycling old warehouses as condominiums, or recycling old jars as vases.
Some examples of recycling are:
· Turning used paper back into pulp and then making new paper from that pulp;
· Shredding old automobile tires and adding the pieces to asphalt;
· Melting aluminum cans, turning the metal into sheets, and using the sheets to make new cans;
· Melting discarded plastic items and using the plastic to make new furniture, toys, and videocassettes;
· Crushing glass bottles and jars into small pieces and melting them down to make new glass;
· Crushing and melting old automobiles and using the steel to make new cars.
Recycling Facts and Figures
· In 1999, recycling and composting activities prevented about 64 million tons of material from ending up in landfills and incinerators. Today, the USA recycles 28 percent of its waste, a rate that has almost doubled during the past 15 years.
· While recycling has grown in general, recycling of specific materials has grown even more drastically: 42 percent of all paper, 40 percent of all plastic soft drink bottles, 55 percent of all aluminum beer and soft drink cans, 57 percent of all steel packaging, and 52 percent of all major appliances are now recycled.
· Twenty years ago, only one curbside recycling program existed in the United States, which collected several materials at the curb. By 1998, 9,000 curbside programs and 12,000 recyclable drop-off centers had sprouted up across the nation. As of 1999, 480 materials recovery facilities had been established to process the collected materials.
What is Reusing?
Reusing simply means to use something again. In the four-step recycling process, outlined above, reusing means using reclaimed materials in new products. However, reusing can also refer to the practice of using something again—especially in a new way—without changing it in any fundamental way. For example, people might reuse an old coffee container as a planter for a small tree or as a holder for paintbrushes.
Source Reduction and Reuse Benefits
— Communities. More than 6,000 communities have instituted "pay-as-you-throw" programs where citizens pay for each can or bag of trash they set out for disposal rather than through the tax base or a flat fee. When these households reduce waste at the source, they dispose of less trash and pay lower trash bills.
— Businesses. Industry also has an economic incentive to practice source reduction. When businesses manufacture their products with less packaging, they are buying fewer raw materials. A decrease in manufacturing costs can mean a larger profit margin, with savings that can be passed on to the consumer.
— Consumers. Consumers also can share in the economic benefits of source reduction. Buying products in bulk, with less packaging, or that are reusable (not single-use) frequently means a cost savings. What is good for the environment can be good for the pocketbook as well.
How Do Recycling and Reusing Save Space?
When people recycle or reuse things that they would normally throw away, they save outdoor space. Fewer waste products and discarded materials are thrown into crowded city dumps and expanding landfills. More outdoor space is left open for nature, instead of being filled with great mountains of trash.
How Do Recycling and Reusing Save Energy?
Making new products from raw materials requires a lot of energy. Recycling used materials so that they can be used again does not require as much energy. For example, when we turn used paper into pulp to make new paper, crush old glass bottles to make new glass, and melt aluminum cans to make new cans, we save energy because the recycling process uses much less energy than it would take to make new paper, glass, or aluminum cans from raw materials. Reusing saves even more energy than recycling, since no energy is required when we simply use things again without changing them.
How Do Recycling and Reusing Save Natural Resources?
Recycling is important because fewer raw materials are used and natural resources are saved. Because the recycling process uses old materials to make new products, fewer raw materials are needed. Recycling also saves natural resources because it saves some of the coal, natural gas, wood, or water that would have been used to manufacture new products. Reusing old products instead of buying new ones also saves resources, because no raw materials are needed to create the new products they would have bought.
How Do Recycling and Reusing Help to Reduce Air and Water Pollution?
Recycling reduces air and water pollution because the recycling process requires less energy. This reduces the amount of air pollution produced by power plants and the amount of water pollution produced by chemicals used in the manufacturing process. Reusing reduces air and water pollution even more, because no energy is required to reuse items, and reusing items does not involve the manufacturing process.
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