Sources Reduction And The Recycling Of Waste

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

Every year Americans collectively create approximately 208 million tons of municipal solid waste, which breaks down to 4.3 pounds of waste generated per American per day. In addition to this normal waste, the United States produces roughly 279 million tons of hazardous waste per year.1 All of this waste has to go somewhere. Two good methods of waste disposal, infrequently used, are incineration and recycling. However, any waste that is not recycled or incinerated ends up in America’s landfills. Landfills that are not in proper working order can pose a serious threat to humans and the environment, but ones that safely store all of their waste may possibly be helpful for the

The United States produces roughly 250 million tons of solid waste, or garbage, on an annual basis. This number equates to 4.4 pounds of solid waste created by every American on a daily basis (Miller, Meindl, & Caradine, 2016). The recycling rate in the U.S. is around 35%, meaning over 165 million tons of waste is placed in the nation’s landfills or incinerated each year (Mozo-Reyes, Jambeck, Reeves, & Johnsen, 2015). Landfilling recyclables contributes to a greater strain on global resources because materials that may have been reused must now be replaced (Miller, et.al. 2016). Landfilling waste also contributes to air pollution through the release of methane (Delkash, Zhou, and Singh, 2016) and poses threats to groundwater near landfills (Talalaj & Biedka, 2016). As the population of the nation (and the world) increases, strategies must be found to reuse resources rather than simply disposing of them.

Americans have yet to face the unnerving reality of the fact that “in 2008 only 7.1% of the 30.05 million tons of plastic waste in America was recycled” (Linn). This low percentage is shocking, outrageous, and should terrify the American public, but this number can change. Recycling is not just a feel good experience; it is a way to help save energy, space, and money. However, with the enormous amount of trash being thrown out each year, landfills are increasing in size creating numerous issues. The staggering amount of waste increases greenhouse gases, contributing to global warming and building up dangerous toxins that sink underground into our soil and water, overflows into wildlife habitats and oceans, and costs a large amount of money to remove. By fining residents who incorrectly dispose of recyclable goods, implementing recycling as a requirement in educational institutions and other business and residential settings, categorizing the

In Sweden, less than 1% of their trash ends up in landfills. 50% of their trash is incinerated, causing steam that spin generator turbines, creating electricity, which is distributed across the country from their WtE (Waste to Energy) facilities. One way we can reduce our amount of trash is by recycling everyday objects such as plastic water

In 2012, Americans generated about 251 million tons of trash and recycled and composted almost 87 million tons of this material (“Municipal Solid Waste”). There are many ways to end our environmental crisis, such as reducing our amount of trash, recycling items, and reusing other items.

The first reason to support recycling is it helps keep the environment clean and healthy. Just by recycling steel you can reduce 76% of the water pollutants, 86% of the air pollutants, and 97% of the mining wastes. By simply recycling, you save trees, historic statues and more, humans, ect. The author of the passage ‘Is it Possible to Create Zero Waste?’ stated, “In 2009, San Francisco, California, passed a law that called for zero waste, and made recycling and composting mandatory. By 2010 San Francisco had become the greenest city in the United States, keeping 80 percent of its waste out of landfills and incinerators.” This statement supports the fact that when San Francisco made recycling mandatory, 80 percent of waste was kept out of landfills, which keeps the environment cleaner.

Additionally, because many citizens do not understand how plastic bags are made, used, how landfills work, I had no clue, that in a dry landfill, paper bags don't degrade any faster than plastic bags, because we don't understand how things are recycled. According to Monstrous, banning plastic bags will only create hardship for consumers not only making it inconvenient for the customer, but also in the long run will cause more environmental damage. (32) There has been so much misleading information in our media culture world. But, all in all, using plastic bags impacts the environment much less than using paper ones. (32) As one partial solution to our environmental problems, could be to make recycling resources mandatory, both paper and plastic, in addition, why not add cardboard, and glass. Once established, the government agencies would ultimately be responsible for developing regulations, enforce, and reviewing the overall success through ethical sound research. At which time, adjustments could be made to improve the overall process. Secondly, the money collected at the stores from individuals, who still use plastic bags, could be used to implement this new process and higher cleanup crews picking up trash and recyclables. This could become one of the activities of the Peace Corps, Ecology Youth Corps, job corps, nonviolent inmates, and summer jobs for our youth, especially

There is also an incentive to recycle for monetary gain as well. For example, Phoenix, Arizona made over 500 million dollars selling their recyclables to the private sector. Not to mention the tax breaks from the federal and state government for installing a recycling program. It helps the city's budget while making the planet a cleaner and safer place to life in. It really is one of those rare

It is often thought that recycling isn’t very productive or effective. What this argument overlooks is that; “In the United States we generate enough trash to fill 63,000 garbage trucks that hold 9 tons of trash each. If we remove the recyclables we would need only 46,000 garbage trucks” (York 1). Since 153 tons of garbage is recycled and saved each day, it has proven to be more effective.

Plastic bag recycling would bring great benefits to our planet earth, but it takes the support of citizens to promote this. A town "Gulftowne" (Jones 1) is being persistantly serious about making it mandatory to have shoppers use reusable bags in place of plastic and or paper bags. First of all, by using "reusable shopping bags" (Jones 1) it would majorly help by avoiding some of the littering and threaten of wildlife. Second of all, the "Cutting down trees to make paper greatly dimishes our forests" (Jones 2). However, "Gulftowne rely on tourists to make a living." (Jones 7) and did not think beyond the grocery stores when considering this proposterous ordinance. In addition to this, the price and maintence needed to keep up with reusable bas would have to be taken into consideration as well.

Plastic bags can be recycled and reused, it is only a matter of updating machinery to do so. Plastic bag fees will hurt people who are struggling financially, as well as cost retailers more money to buy alternatives. The final reason presented is that plastic bag alternatives are even worse than the effect plastic bags have on the environment. To really improve the environment, we, as a society, should work harder to reduce our waste and to recycle more. Although this topic is widely debated, plastic bags should not have a fee or

The average resident produces seven and a half pounds of garbage every day that is buried down in landfills and litters lands costing a great amount of money. Nowadays, people face no more critical trouble than the need to save the weakening environment, mainly in urban areas, where solid wastes are uselessly dumped. It has been observed that cities have no controlled structure for garbage disposal. Each year, millions of dollars are spent picking up litter and more is thrown away in valuable materials that could be recycled. As humanity develops new technology and equipment, the level of waste increases every day. Due to the fact that there is a huge problem with garbage disposal, government representatives must contribute to resolving

We, humans, are producing waste every day, polluting and destroying our planet. To save the world, many people believe recycling is the obvious solution. It is the process of converting certain waste into a reusable material. Therefore, the recycle motto is “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle”. However, have you ever wondered why the word recycle is placed at the end? Well, it’s because it is not the only way to reduce waste and save the world from global warming. Recycling may have many advantages, but its disadvantages’ list is not a short one either. Recycling may look very simple and easy method, but when there is a need for a new unit of waste recycling, it takes up a lot of space. Not to mention the amount of money the building costs along with paying the staffs, buying new utility vehicles, upgrading the recycling unit and different types of chemical disposals. It is not only expensive but also, unhygienic, unsafe and unsightly with piles of waste materials on every location. These wastes spread infectious diseases putting human health at risk. Aside from recycling

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.