Recycling is widely regarded by many of us as an easier way to deal with the huge amount of waste we make everyday and a good choice for everyone. By putting things into a recycling bin one can think that one has lightened their environmental footprint and helped to create a cleaner world through their transformation into new things. But this is only an illusion. Misinformation and fables on recycling have given people a skewed view of where our waste really goes after it leaves the house. So let’s debunk some of these popular “recycling” myths and just let ordinary folks know what really goes on.
Myth 1: Every Single Recycled Material Ends Up on a Trash Pile Anyway
Truth: This is one of the most widely believed and depressing myths of recycling. While it is true that some of the recyclables we have thrown away are actually never processed, many others do indeed come back to life in new forms. The problem lies with sorting errors, cross-contamination and misconceptions about what items can be recycled. Contaminated waste, such as paper towels and plastic containers with traces of food left in them, are hard to process and may wind up in a landfill. However if the waste is well-separated and clean then there is a much better chance it will be recycled properly.
In modern recycling plants located in most advanced countries, high technology is used to reprocess the different kinds of materials. When it works out well, a big heap of trash is removed from landfills and turned into something new.
Myth 2: Recycling Uses More Energy Than It Savings
Reality: The truth of the matter is that recycling is energy-intensive and inconveniently large expense can’t justify it being unsustainable–or so they say. For many materials, recycling (being most probably metals) yields much greater energy savings than making an equivalent product from virgin inputs. Take aluminum: recycling it saves 95% or more of the energy needed for producing it anew. Similarly, recycling paper spares trees and costs around 40% less energy than either turning virgin raw wood pulp into paper or making gratis paper from new Forests of birch trees downwind.
While it is true that both the gathering, transporting and handling of recyclable materials consumes energy, this cost in energy terms is extremely low compared with what you receive for doing so! On the other hand, the environment benefits. By reducing energy consumption and releasing fewer greenhouse gases we are both putting ourselves in a win-win (note ‘pareto’).If you’ve seen this recycling symbol and assumed (as many do) that plastics are endlessly recyclable, then you’re laboring under a delusion. Unfortunately the lifetime of recycled plastics is actually quite short. While materials like glass and aluminum can be recycled again and again with no loss in quality, each time plastic is recycled it loses more of its original goodness than the last. Most plastics can only take one or two remakes before they’re degraded so badly that making anything useful out of them again would be impossible.
At that point, they are usually ‘downcycled’ into items like fibres for clothing which may end up in landfills later anyway! If we are to rescue what remains, it looks as though we must in part end our consumption of plastics and muster other responses. However, recycling cannot be the only response to plastic pollution because a tiny fraction of global plastics is currently being recycled. One of the biggest misconceptions about the recycling symbol is that products with it stamped on them can be put into your curbside recycle bin. That’s not true. No matter what the consumer product says, the recycling symbol (three bent arrows making a triangle) is often misunderstood as an all-purpose means to know which items will go into your local curb-side service stations for scrap-collection and processing.
It’s just that these recyclable symbols don’t actually tell you if something can be taken away or not. Some things in them can’t =EUR”it all depends upon shipping costs and manufacturers’ calculations about whether they want a reusable or disposable version to push onto consumers.” Recycling guidelines are different in each area, so find out what is acceptable on your city’s recycling program. Items such as plastic bags, styrofoam, and some kinds of plastic packaging have the recycling symbol, but are not always accepted by municipal recycling programs locally. These products can clog machines and contaminate other recyclables — as a result, more refuse piles up at landfills. E-Lab-editors – Consequently, on the one hand we should minimize use of plastic and wherever possible adopt other materials. Yet at the same time, recycling can’t be the sole answer to our plastic pollution problem because only a minuscule fraction of the world’s plastics are currently being recovered.
Myth number “five”: With Non-Recyclables In The Bin, They Will Be Sorted Out Res: “Wish cycling” is when people put non-recyclable items in the recycling bin, thinking that they will be separated, and maybe even recycled. However, the fact of the matter is that this practice creates more problems than it solves. Non-recyclables can contaminate entire batches of recyclables. Instead of being processed, they go to the landfill.
In recycling facilities, contamination is a real concern. Items like plastic bags, take-out containers and even electronics can damage sorting machinery and contaminate the quality of all recyclable materials. The best advice is to learn what can and cannot be recycled in your area, then dispose of non-recyclable items by other means instead of recycling them.
Myth number seven: Glass Is No Longer Worth Recycling Res: There is a notion in some urban areas that the recycling of glass is no longer feasible because modern curbside systems do not collect it. This assumption is mistaken. Glass is in fact one of the most recyclable materials on earth. It canbe recycled indefinitely without loss of purity or quality.
The problem is more about the cost and practicalities of collecting and shipping broken glass: it is heavy, fragile which can create a hazard for recycling workers. Neighborhoods where there is no curbside pick-up for glass may have other collection points within easy reach. The energy savings of recycling glass products is very considerable and readily available raw materials like sand are saved.
In fact to cut waste is important, but on the other hand even more essential now that recycling has become such a big part of handling our solid rubbish. Therefore, it s really only useful as an ultimate method in desperate times – after curbing consumption, reusing items and cutting down on waste being discarded for instance. But recycling provides effective means of disposal for stuff that cannot be avoided. In this way the circular flow of commodities is maintained and as a consequence a hugely significant impact is made upon both resource utilization and greenhouse gas emissions/pollution that cause global warming. It’s not just trees alone that are saved by recycling paper: the demand for forests falls. And metals need less mining if recycled.
Plastics are a byproduct of recycling oil, now that the era of crude petroleum has ended With the combination of aware waste reduction practice and recycling, the cost effectiveness and environmental friendliness of recycling efforts done by people has far outstripped any known standards so far The Road Ahead:Take Responsibility for Your Recycling and Watch What You Consume Now we do not rely on rubbishy arguments. However, if we actively promote recycling by means of better quality public education, heavy infrastructure investments more thoroughly cleaning up the recycling industry as a whole to run our own lives so that rubbish is lessened on the H-o-m and work levels further –then we give ourselves the greatest possible chance of extracting full value from scarce natural resources while causing minimal damage to nature in return.
By doing good sorting, not mixing up with trash and backing policies to grow the recycling chain, the recycling industry can do a good job too. What’s more is that recycling saves resources and energy Reduce consumption, eliminate waste and _waste when it comes to recycling Lastly, we must make our life-styles closer to Nature. The fewer people producing poison or rubbish, the fewer problems lie with garbage-smashing systems. In a circular economy, products are designed for reuse, repair and hence recycledressing the mountain of trash. Although recycling takes on great significance, it works even better in conjunction with waste prevention measures forthcoming throughout the entire life cycle of a product
In a nutshell, belief in these recyclat ion myths will merely lead to misunderstandings and unnecessary frustrations. Only when we see past this Confusing facet does the truth become clearer, and then only which we start to think clearly our role in recycling. Paired with waste reduction and mindful consumerism, recycling also shows some signs of being feasible for significantly affecting the long-term character of our planet.