Recycling

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Recycling

Recycling waste is not a new idea. Throughout history, people have disposed garbage in myriad ways. They fed household garbage to domestic animals. Scavengers gleaned the waste stream for usable items that could be fixed, then sold or traded for other goods and services. Homemakers mended clothing, and children grew up in hand-me-downs. Durable goods were just that; goods that could be reused until their durability wore out. These practices were not due to a desire to reduce the waste stream, but rather a need to produce products from all available resources. Modern society has moved away from such straightforward recycling practices, choosing instead to toss out the old and buy new goods. This throwaway society now faces a trash crisis.

The volume of solid waste generated in the United States has continued to increase, along with the cost of building landfills and incineration facilities. Recycling some of this material into new uses saves existing landfill space, conserves energy and natural resources , reduces pollution , and saves tax money. Recycling can provide new jobs, create new industries, and contribute to the increase in the GNP. Instead of referring to what people discard every day as garbage, advocates of recycling emphasize the need to refer to waste products as Post Consumer Materials (PCMs) and consider them renewable resources for various manufacturing processes.

The challenge of collecting adequate volumes of recyclable materials in a form ready for manufacturing into new products is a formidable task. Unlike raw materials that are extracted from the earth or manufactured in a lab, PCMs are mixed materials, and are sometimes contaminated with toxic and non-toxic residue. PCMs must be cleaned and source-separated at the individual household and business level. Once the materials are made available at the point of generation, they must be collected and transported to a collection site, usually referred to as a Materials Recycling Facility (MRF). At this location, materials are processed to make transportation easier and increase their value. Glass is separated by color, plastics are pelletized, and paper is baled. Other materials may be cleaned and reduced in volume, depending on the equipment available. The exceptions to this rule are single materials collected and transported directly to the point of use, such as newspaper collected at a drop off site and transported to a local insulation manufacturer. The existence of an MRF enhances the recycling process because it allows large volumes of materials to be amassed at a single location, making marketing of PCMs more profitable. If manufacturers know that there are adequate volumes of high-quality raw material consistently available, they are more likely to agree to long-term purchasing contracts.

Manufacturers are being encouraged to retrofit, or retool, their manufacturing processes in order to use PCMs instead of raw materials. Many glass manufacturers now use cullet (cut glass) instead of silica and sand to make new glass containers, and some paper manufacturers have installed deinking equipment in order to manufacture paper from used newsprint instead of wood pulp. Once the initial expense of equipment change has been absorbed, such changes can reduce costs. But these are long-term investments on the part of manufacturers, and they must be ensured that recycling is a long-term commitment on the part of consumers and communities.

Recycling begins with people, and the biggest challenge for recycling lies in educating and motivating the public upon whom successful source separation depends. Except in rare circumstances recycling is a voluntary act, so the attitudes, knowledge, and feelings of the participants are the key to sustained recycling behavior. It has been found that people will change their behavior to protect the health of their families, the value of their property, and their own self-image, and recycling has often been justified in these terms. Once the rationale to begin recycling has been shared with community residents, a program for making recycling convenient and inexpensive must be institutionalized.

Curbside recycling is currently the most desirable recycling option, primarily because of its convenience. Bio-Cycle Magazine reported in April of 1999 only nine states with fewer than 10 curbside recycling programs. These are usually commingled, or mixed, systems. Residents clean and prepare glass, cans, paper, and plastic, before putting them together in a container and placing them at the curb. Most waste haulers pick up the recyclables on the same day as the rest of the waste, separating them into bins on the truck right at the curb. In more rural areas, where homes are too far apart, recycling often takes place at a drop off center. This is usually a tractor trailer with separate bins, which is hauled directly to an MRF when it is full and replaced by an empty trailer. Research has shown that the best system is one where curbside recycling is offered, but a drop-off site is also available as a backup in case residents miss their recycling day. In some communities there is a weekly or monthly drop-off. Trucks from different industries use a convenient parking lot and residents are encouraged to bring their recyclables to company representatives. Some communities also have buy-back centers where residents can sell PCMs to a broker who in turn sells the material to manufacturers.

In addition to residential recycling there is office or business recycling. Office paper recycling programs are usually set up so office workers separate the paper at their desks. The paper is taken regularly to a location where it is either baled or picked up loose and transported to a manufacturing plant. Offices that generate a large amount of white office paper can collect and market the paper directly to paper manufacturers. Smaller offices can cooperate with other businesses, contracting with paper manufacturers to pick up paper at a central location. Another example of business recycling is the recycling of corrugated cardboard by groceries and clothing stores. These businesses have been breaking down boxes and baling them on site for pickup by collection trucks. Dry cleaning establishments are currently taking back hangers and plastic bags from their customers for recycling. Businesses of many kinds have begun to realize that positive publicity can be achieved through their recycling efforts, and they have been increasingly inclined to participate.

One of the biggest challenges to recycling in the future is market development. For communities near to cities that have major manufacturers taking PCMs, marketing is not a problem. For smaller more rural communities, however, different strategies must be developed. In some cases a well run MRF that brokers recycled materials is adequate. In other cases, it may be necessary to search for local markets to utilize PCMs, such as the use of newspaper as animal bedding. Newspaper collected and processed within the community can be sold to local farmers at a lower cost less than straw or sawdust. Another approach is encouraging a niche industry to locate nearby, such as a small insulation contractor who is promised all the post-consumer newsprint from the community. Ultimately, recycling will not be successful unless consumers buy products made from PCMs. Products made from these materials are becoming easier to find, and they are more clearly marked than in the past, though some green or earth-friendly product labeling has been controversial. Recycling advocates have argued that such labeling should not only say that the product is made from recycled material, it should also note what percentage of the material is post consumer waste, as opposed to manufacturing waste.

Many states are encouraging recycling through legislation. According to the Container Recycling Institute in 1999 10 states had bottle bills requiring stores to take back beer and soft drink bottles and cans, giving consumers a refund. Certain states have banned all compostable materials from landfills in order to force composting . In some states, daily newspapers are required to use a certain percentage of recycled paper in order to publish. These and other legislative steps have enhanced the recycling movement nationwide. States with the highest recycling rate of 40% or higher include Maine, Minnesota, New York, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Virginia according to a report in BioCycle magazine in 1999. Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming have the lowest recycle rate of 9% or less according to the report. The majority of states (40) recycle between 10 and 39% of materials. No data was available for Idaho.

According the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2002, U.S. consumers recycle approximately 28% of all waste. The highest recycle rate is for steel packaging, with 57% being recycled. Aluminum drinking cans are recycled at a rate of 55%, compared to 40% of plastic soft drink bottles. The paper recycling rate is 42%, and 52% of appliances meet with the recycler. The EPA sponsors a free voluntary program to all U.S. organizations, called WasteWise, to encourage and track the results of corporate recycling programs.

The growing tonnage of computers, computer monitors, and television sets that overpower municipal landfills is an increasing problem that demands resolution. An estimated 70% of heavy metals found in third millennium landfills comes from digital hardware. Eight pounds (3.6 kg) of lead are contained in a single cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor, contributing to the threats of lead contamination. In May of 2002 the EPA proposed a recycling program to control this high-tech waste, including a provision to classify CRT computer monitors as reusable waste products. The necessity for these measures is evident in consideration of the 500 million computers in use worldwide, which contain an estimated 1.58 billion lb (716 million kg) of lead and 632,000 lb (287,000 kg) of mercury . According to EPA estimates the number of discarded computers between 2002 and 2007 might reach 250 million units in the United States alone.

Equally critical is the problem of battery recycling . Growing concerns over poor battery recycling practices by consumers are well founded because they are classified as toxic waste, with mercury and lead contamination the most serious problems caused by improper battery disposal. Yet rarely are batteries disposed of accordingly. Most nonrechargeable batteries are tossed in the trash where they end up in the landfills. The use of rechargeable batteries offers a very effective solution to alleviate much of this problem, because each rechargeable battery has a life cycle equal to hundreds of nonrechargeable batteries; some rechargeables have a life cycle of 1,000 recharges. Because of poor disposal practices, every rechargeable battery protects the landfill from potential contamination by hundreds of batteries.

The National Recycling Coalition is a nonprofit organization that provides leadership and coordination at the national level, sponsoring events, scholarships, and educational programs to encourage effective recycling practices.

[Cynthia Fridgen ]