Recycling - does it have any impact on the environment?

by Groshan Fabiola I try to cover as many topics as I can

Did you know that during your lifetime you could produce 600 times your weight in trash? Only imagine this quantity, it will fill some a few trucks. And this statistic will not be a reason to worry, but you have to understand that you are living on a relatively small planet, which lately seems to transform into an overcrowded space. This means that all the resources from Earth are limited, and once you will use them there will be no other place from which to get more. So it is a wise thing to recycle everything that can be recycled.

Recycling is essential nowadays, and even the smallest step you would do will bring a significant benefit to the environment. If you understand how important is for Earth to recycle, then you will consider something natural to make it part of your life.

Recycling reduced landfill waste

Millions of tons of solid waste is generated every year, and only a small part of it is recovered and recycled. When you throw your stuff away, you are glad that you get rid of it, but have you ever thought what happens with the things you put in the trash? Well, in the majority of the cases they are burnt in an incinerator, or bulldozed underground, in a landfill. The landfills problem is a difficult issue people have to fix, and the more waste ends there, the bigger the problem will get. The majority of products are not biodegradable, or they decompose slowly, and this means that they will remain in the landfill for centuries or even more. In this case, they will emit gases that are harmful for the environment.

Which materials can you recycle?

You can recycle the majority of things you throw away, because the materials they are made of, can be used to create new products.

Metal – the majority of metal items you throw away come from drink and food aerosols and cans. Food cans are made from steel, a metal that can be melted and transformed into new cans. Drinks cans are made from a lighter and thinner material, namely aluminium, and you will have no issues in recycling it. However, mining aluminium is an environmentally harmful and energy intensive process. This is the main reason aluminum cans have a high value on the market. And where you count that bringing them to Tal Metal is a beneficial thing for the planet.
Cardboard and paper – It is stated that nowadays people are using more paper than they have ever done. Recycling paper is more difficult, because the plant fibers from which it is made become shorter in time, and new paper will have to be added every time a new item is made.
Plastics – Plastics seem to lead to the biggest environmental problem, because the plastic objects last more than 500 years in some cases. They float because they are very light and this is why they end up on the beaches and across the oceans, and they kill wildlife so often. The problem with plastics is that they come in different ranges, and every one of them has to be recycled separately.

Recycling reduces energy consumption

The process of mining raw materials requires large amounts of energy, without counting the fact that they have to be processed and transported around the world. However, this energy can be saved if products as metals, plastics and paper are properly recycled. The amount of energy saved depends on the type of material. For example, in the glass recycling process, only 10% or 15% of energy is needed compared with the process of producing it from scratch. However, when it comes to aluminum, it can be saved up to 94% from the energy, it would be needed to manufacture it from raw materials.

Recycling decreases pollution

There are two ways in which recycling reduces pollution, by avoiding incineration, and by reducing the production of fresh materials.

Incineration leads to water and air pollution. Besides affecting the environment, incineration also affects human safety and health and it imposes financial burden on society and people.
The logging for wood and mining for raw materials have a negative impact on the environment. The surrounding water and land are polluted by contaminants as metals, dust and radionuclides. But the pollution can be avoided if people would recycle more. Studies show that air pollution is reduced with 75% if you would recycle paper. And when it comes to metals, the air emissions and water pollution will be reduced with over 70% if people would recycle more steel.

The benefits of recycling should not be analyzed only from the financial point of view, the problem should be associated with the inefficient segregation. It is important to create a healthy environment to live in, and recycling simple makes Earth a better place.