Recycling
During the early 1970s, as communities across the United States saw their landfills filling up, attention turned to alternative methods of garbage disposal, such as incineration and recycling. While incineration proved to be a thorny issue due to its toxic ash byproduct, recycling was embraced by Americans as an effective way to offset rising garbage production rates.
Today, demand for recycled products is beginning to match supply, and the percentage of waste going into landfills and incinerators is decreasing steadily. In 1970, when Americans produced 121 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW), three-quarters went directly into landfills, one-fifth was incinerated, and less
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Many if not most of the products we use on a daily basis are made of recyclable materials, including glass, aluminum, paper, steel, plastic, scrap tires and used oil. And the demand for goods made from recycled products, despite a lot of ups and downs during the 1980s, has never been higher thanks to a combination of well-conceived industrial/commercial applications and much needed government purchasing mandates. Indeed, the existence of markets for recyclables has contributed significantly to recycling's success as a waste disposal alternative.
What makes recycling especially unique is its implementation by local people for local people. In regards to MSW management, the federal government is relatively hands-off, and state governments have focused more of their attention on landfill and incineration options. As a result, local communities have come together to initiate recycling efforts; the percolation of their enthusiasm has led to the widespread acceptance and even encouragement of recycling at both the state and federal levels.
With recovered materials demanding higher market prices and curbside collection and commercial recovery on the rise, it is not unrealistic for Americans to expect to see nationwide recycling rates of thirty-five to fifty percent by the turn of
Recycling has been the environmental crusade to reducing the human footprint, with it’s spotlight shining down on in recent years. It was the noblest of causes, recycling being a great idea for the environment and society; but it is being handled poorly. Its modern descendant has turned into a corporate scheme with recycling becoming a business, instead of being about the environment because marketers are using environmentalism as a excuse for overconsumption, recycling products are only being recycled for profit, and cities & big business use inflated numbers to attain media attention. Let’s now take a look at the bread and butter of
Recycling is the process of making new products from a product that has originally served its purpose. The process of recycling starts when used products are disposed in an appropriate, environmentally friendly way. Items made from materials such as paper, tin cans, aluminum cans, plastic water bottles, and glass, which people use in everyday life, can be separated from regular trash and put in an appropriate recycling bin. The United States now realizes the importance of recycling. However, many ignorant people still think separating recyclables requires too much work. Requiring mandatory recycling would prod these individuals into action. Lack of recycling leads to dramatic consequences such as polluting the environment and raising the number of landfills. Delay is critical; time plays a significant role in waste management. The sooner American communities recycle properly the better it will be for the environment and our surroundings. People need to become conscious and take responsibility as a society to protect the earth, keep it clean and beautiful, and preserve the natural resources. The United States can achieve this goal by implementing mandatory recycling.
Many people say that recycling is a waste of time or that they just don't have the time.”Yes it’s popular in affluent neighborhoods like Park Slope in Brooklyn and in cities like San Francisco, but residents of Bryon and Houston don't have the same fervor for sorting garbage in their spare time’(“The Reign of Recycling”). The world needs more people to recycle no matter where they live. It seems that even if more people have started recycling things have not changed much.”While it’s true that the recycling message has reached more people than ever, when it come down to the bottom line,both economically and environmentally, not much has changed at all”(“The Reign of Recycling”). People need to work harder to make a change that will account to something. The goals are being set higher and higher but with little success. ”While politicians set higher and higher goals, the national rate of recycling has stagnated in recent years”(“The Reign of Recycling”). This rate has ceased to flow. If something changes how people feel about recycling then the nation may be able to meet its
The current recycling program in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana is insufficient to meet the needs of the community. Many urban populations are taking advantage of technological innovations to maximize the effectiveness of recycling programs. One issue in Vermilion Parish is that there is an insufficient number of locations in which recyclables can be dropped off. Thus, even though the recycling industry in Vermilion Parish is well-established, the availability and feasibility for recycling opportunities is quite low to much of the population. The result is that the recycling program is relatively inefficient in Vermilion Parish. With an annual population growth of around 2% (Prakken & White, 2014), the need for increased recycling
Municipal solid wastes are leftovers made by the population such as food, plastic bottles, household wares and many more. These items referred by most as “the garage” or “trash”. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2015) In the early 1900’s, incinerators were used to burn waste however by the Mid-20th century, lawmakers enacted the first government regulations in an attempt to address increasing concerns about the environmental impact of unregulated waste management practices. With the first waste management legislation being passed in 1965, brought along the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, thus bringing us into a new world of waste management.(Vault, n.d.)
INTRODUCTION: The act of recycling has been and is very influential around the world for the last decade, where global warming is not easily seen on news headline; strongly encouraged for all people, especially strongly advised to recycle in the United States. Recycling plastic and other reusable materials are a process that takes decades to have at least half of the world's population to get involved; however Nevada started to show advances to recycling, with investments from industries, universities or schools, and individuals. Hotels on the Las Vegas Strip and diverse population of students have promoted recycling exceedingly, which encouraged and still is encouraging out-of-state recycling industries to take a step further in recycling
A reason that recycling should not be apart of everyday american society is that over the years it has been costly and it has been causing more pollution by sending trucks to collect the recycling then the recycling process itself. Data shows
This is a crucial topic concerning the town of Arkansas City. For example, all waste mainly go to the Ark City landfill which is where all of the city trash is disposed along with at the current rate of waste the landfill has a useful life of fifty years (Broce). Through Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, the trash people, throw away can be reduced. Roughly about half of the garbage that people throw away in their trash cans can be recycling. Then to minimize waste even more in the future a town composed heap can be created in the near future from the food thrown away. Besides, the future of the city's recycling can grow much more. According to Broce, he hopes that someday in the future there will be voluntary curbside recycling. Which is very much similar to modern day trash pickup (Broce). It is always good to have a plan for the future. The idea of curbside recycling in the future is not only a great idea but also a more helpful idea for the people recycling. The more people that start recycling, the sooner this plan will be put into effect. As stated before the three R's are very important in Arkansas City and to the public works director Mr. Broce not to mention that with more time, there will be significant improvements in people's everyday environments like
She sorted through the trash of several different categories of waste, trash, paper, plastic, and aluminum. Out of what she collected, “76% was not recyclable and 23% could be recycled” (page 1). In addition, Indiana State student, Matt McColley also did a research project on the waste production in the Lincoln Quads. Jeffery Mervis 2012 states, The United States, for example, produces roughly 12 billion tons of waste each year, of which only 350 million tons are classified as municipal solid waste” (p.668).
America currently has a growing population of over 300 million people. Every day the average American produced 4.4 pounds of garbage. As a nation Americans produced over 200 million tons of waste in 2013. Only 34.4 percent of that waste was recovered. Over 65 percent of that garbage is left to rot and pollute the environment. Many other countries face the same epidemic. There are many ways Americans can reduce pollution and keep our planet cleaner, one for those ways for instance is recycling. Recycling defined is to treat or process used or waste materials, to make suitable for reuse. The process starts by knowing what to recycle and how. Understanding the effects and benefits of reprocessing can persuade people to make
One of the most prominent issues in the American society is not an economic or social problem, but the lack of recycling in America and the effect it is having on the environment and the people. This lack of recycling can be found in businesses and schools across America who could benefit from some sort of recycling program installed. The benefits of a well placed and organized recycling program can be endless from scholarships to the benefits it can have on the environment by saving trees and reducing the space need to dispose all the trash. South Caldwell High School is one of these schools across the country that is at a loss because of its lack of a recycling program and many other schools and businesses in Caldwell county are not reaping
Recycling helps reduce pollution caused by waste from landfills. We should start using more recycled materials “because using recycled materials reduces the need to extract, process, refine, and transport the timber, crude petroleum, ores, and so on that are necessary for virgin-based paper, plastics, glass, and metals, recycling lessens the toxic air emissions, effluents, and solid wastes that these manufacturing processes create” (Hershkowitz). Given that the decrease in waste ultimately helps the decrease of pollution, it’s currently not being properly put into effect as people don’t find it important or they simply don’t always remember to
A worker at a paper factory in Illinois states, “Then the issue was saving a tree. But trees are replaced. We plant them, we cut them, we plant them again” (Pendleton). The worker also said, “The problem now is the landfill situation, I think this one is going to stick” (Pendleton). By 1991 thirty-nine states and hundreds of local governments have passed laws or solutions requiring the purchase of recycled paper. According to Henry Miller, vice president of a paper mill said, “By volume, thirty-eight percent of solid waste in a landfill is paper and cardboard” (Pendleton). That paper and cardboard, if recycled could have produced that much paper or other products and it would have cleared up thirty-eight percent of many landfills across America. One major way to get people involved with recycling is the environment perspective. Not only would the landfills be cut down the environment gains a lot by having people recycle. So what do the states do to keep the environment clean? They enact laws against litter and waste. One way is the state requiring the deposit on beer and soft-drink bottles and cans (Prichard 8A). In those states, millions of bottles and cans that once were left on beaches, tossed in rivers and parks or thrown along the highways are being taken back to stores instead for a refund. A twenty-year old student from Michigan said, “Throwing away cans is like throwing away money to me” (Prichard 8A). These state laws must be working if people have this
In The Art of the Recycling we know how important is to have good relationship with our customers. For that reason the first step in our business is to have a customer profile.
Recycling is an essential part of reducing the amount of waste filling up landfills. Recycling materials cannot only reduce waste but pollution as well. Unfortunately the typical recycling programs such as curbside pick-up and recycling centers require significant commitment from the public to be successful which generally leads to low participation. However there may be a solution to the problem. The pollution prevention and reduction program suggests the use of materials recovery facilities. Materials recovery facilities sort out recyclable materials from other waste products such as compostable items. By sorting out the waste at one central location more items get recycled and waste is reduced without public participation. A recent article by Wang (2010) suggests, “The installation of materials recovery facilities (MRFs) can be an alternative solution to the problem of low participation of voluntary household and curbside recycling in fast-growing cities.” Materials recovery facilities can be a viable solution for waste management problems where public participation is an obstacle. This solution also provides less societal impact because lifestyle change is not as critical.