Throughout history, recycling has been around in one form or another. Even as long ago as 400 BC signs of earlier recycling are recognized to have happened. Archaeological studies show that ancient waste dumps contained fewer of what is known today as household waste, including pots, utensils and ash, which demonstrates that individuals were, even back then, keen to reuse materials during a period when natural resources weren’t so freely available. Little did they know that what they were starting would play a huge role in shaping the world for future generations
Indeed it may be argued how the old ‘rag-and-bone’ man was just an early recycler collectingdiscarded goods on his horse and cart, before reusing or transforming the accumulated items into new things.
During periods like the World War Years, recycling and re-use were common place as natural resources became a lot more difficult to find. As well as food being rationed, certain materials like metal and fibre werenormally allowed only for use by the government in support of military operations, in order to meet manufacturing requirements often in the production of weaponry. There was a desperate need to support the military.
Due to rising power costs, the requirement to recycle aluminium increased during the seventies.. As a material aluminium utilises a lesser amount of energy in the production process than some other materials. Also it was much prized because of its non rusting qualities. The need for aluminium saw the emergence of scrap metal dealers who were willing to pay money in return for good quality metal. Additionally, in the seventies in areas of the United States of America, the first trucks were seen to be collecting waste with a separate trailer for recovery of recyclable materials being towed behind the vehicle.
Into the late eighties, early 1990’s and as the awareness of handling the worldwide environmental state heightened amongst worldwide governments, the debate upon recycling really began to gather momentum. In the UK, the government imposed recycling targets upon Local Authorities along with the introduction of the fresh legal guidelines upon the waste product sector, recycling schemes really started to take off. The once widely knownwaste disposal businesses, began to call themselves waste management specialists and demonstrated by the offer of waste collection and recyclable materials collection that waste needed to be managed more efficiently.
Today, many hundreds of materials and products may be recycled, ranging from paper, card, glass and plastics, to mobile phone handsets, electrical items, printer cartridges, textiles, clothing and concrete. The demand for different types of collection receptacles has increased dramatically.
What is Recycling?
The word recycling identifies the process of converting second hand products into new or nearly new materials avoiding the need for potentially valuable materials or products to be thrown away. Essentially it is diverting waste away from landfill.
Recycling plays a vital role in a modern world where climate change is high on the environmental agenda. It reduces the need to unnecessarily send waste material and products to landfill or other waste disposal options. Consequently this reduces the need or the reliance upon consuming fresh or new raw resources, lowers energy usage and air and rain water pollution, that all contribute to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Significant contributions to improving the environment.
Recycling is probably mostnoticeable through the recycling assistance now provided by local authorities for domestic refuse and recycling collections and by contemporary waste management companies who generally give a full range of waste and recycling collection solutions. Some firms, that have traditionally focused only on the collection of recyclable products, are now increasing their service offering to collect general waste material at the same time.
As there are now the applied science to make our waste to energy , great savings can be made on the sources that are progressively running out and therefore becoming much more pricey.
In the waste material market, the most popular promotional activity surrounds the waste hierarchy - ‘reduce, reuse, recycle and recover’. This 4 R slogan is a straightforward message devised for a far reaching target audience. Consider ways to lessen your waste. Could the waste products or materials be reused? Could the waste product or material be recycled or retrieved?
The waste material hierarchy is often a strategy which a lot of waste material management companies and local authorities think about when establishing new waste management approaches. The plan is intended to concentrate the intellect around avoiding waste materials being generated to begin with. Take into account the options for reuse and recycling but ultimately minimise the amount of waste produced at the end of the cycle. The slogan has been adopted particularly well in the public sector.
So the emphasis is very much on the whole production process. The waste material hierarchy expands much wider than to waste management businesses and local bodies. Working groups have already been set up to bring many industries together to consider the whole waste cycle. For example, the producer of a product has to think about the way the product will be constructed. Can components be used which could later be recycled or reused? Can the amount of packaging which surrounds the item be reduced? Once the item reaches the store, is it necessary for the product to be located inside an outer package? If the retailer sells the product, what will the buyer do with the excess elements of the acquisition, i.e. the packaging? How will the packaging be collected and where will it go? Should it go back to a recycling plant, for onward transfer to a reprocessing plant, in which the cycle starts once again?
How are Materials Collected for Recycling?
Legislation now dictates that most waste must be treated to divert the amount of recyclables and unnecessary waste materials heading direct to landfill. Since 1996, the United Kingdom government has applied a landfill levy on all waste dumped within landfill. The rate of duty has increased considerably recently rising from the original level of £8 per ton, to the current rate of £40 per ton. The UK government has previously announced that this will increase further to £48 per ton from the end of 2010/11. This rate applies to all general waste streams, although there is a reduced rate for inert products. Dispatching waste straight to landfill is an expensive choice and locating acceptable methods to divert waste away from landfill has become a priority. For inert materials the rate is £2.50 per ton.
Therefore, the message to everyone is clear, segregate your waste to scale back the amount of waste going to landfill. Typically, both at home and at the office, the instant you place waste materials into the container , it is forgotten about. Someone else will collect it and take it away. These days, in the home and in the office, recycling is being encouraged with the provision of containers in which to place certain recyclable materials.
Some common products to be seen being recovered for recycling are paper, card, glass, metals and plastics. But the possiblity to recycle a vast number of materials or products continues to grow. Although technically not seen as recycling, food waste and garden waste collections are increasing, where the food or garden waste material is taken back to a facility for processing into a reusable or saleable compost product.
One of several methods to make certain we won’t vanish below a mountain of waste products is to establish more recycling disposal services to ensure that our waste becomes a valuableresource.
The means of collecting resources or waste materials to be recycled is also growing and becoming more noticeable within local communities. Dedicated collection sites, often referred to as bring bank sites, are cropping up in supermarket car parks to inspire clientele of the superstore to return such items as bottles, newspapers or cardboard to the containers on their way into the store. Shoppers are therefore encouraged to return with their recyclables.
Local Authority waste materials collection crews or their appointed personnel will collect refuse and recyclables from the roadside typically at the front of your home. Collection from domestic premises usually continues to be the duty of the local council and several have now employed the supply of boxes in which to gather specific recyclable materials or products.
In the business and commercial market, waste materials management contractors offer separate storage containers where the customer deposits the appropriate waste stream or recyclable resources ready for collection. The containers will often be plainly tagged as to which recyclable materials need to be placed inside that container or bin. Alternatively, the bins will probably be colour coded to identify which recyclable materials ought to be placed within which bins. Waste management companies also may have to deal with special requests from the customer.
The real key to a successful recycling initiative is educating about what can be recycled and how. In the commercial world getting the co-operation of factory employees is crucial. The introduction of any recycling scheme must ensure that in asking staff to separate waste for recycling, it does not become time consuming and affect the efficiency of what employees should be doing in their work.
The Recycling Process
Numerous collection systems exist for the collection of the recyclable material . Whichever collection method is utilised , the materials are taken to a drop off point where they’ll be segregated from other waste materials.
To start the recycling process from a collection perspective, the more recyclable materials which can be separated at origin, i.e. at home or in the work place, the more effective it will be for the waste collector. For this reason individual storage units are supplied to the waste producer to promote separation at source. If card can be collected using a vehicle, that will collect no other waste material, the card can be kept clean and therefore will have an increased value when it actually reaches the processing plant. Likewise, dedicated glass collection vehicles are used to collect solely glass. Apart from the obvious health and safety factors and the weight of collected glass, it’ll have a much higher value if the collected glass load is not contaminated with other waste.
Once collected, the recyclable resources are generally taken direct to a reprocessing plant, if the load contains only that particular type of material. So a dedicated glass collection truck could take the load straight to a glass processing plant.
If mixed recyclables are collected such as paper and card within the same compartment, it could be a necessity for the collector to take the load to a materials recycling facility to unload and permit the load to be segregated into separate paper and card bundles for onward transfer to a paper or card processing plant. Whatever technique is employed, the recyclable material collected will usually be sorted or washed before proceeding through to a reprocessing facility to be converted to a new resource and eventually used as a new product or in manufacturing. Inert materials can be a useful by product at landfill, for example shredded old tyres to aid traction on access roadways.
Many households throughout great britain are now choosing to use green energy for their requirements such as light and heat. Eventhough it could be costly to install at this stage, eventually it will save on expense.
The Increasing Value of Recycling
In the UK around 35% of waste collected from households is recycled or composted. Although within the commercial and industrial community, the quantity of waste material sent to landfill has declined substantially recently and also the amount of waste materials now being diverted for recycling or reuse by this sector has increased over the amounts going to landfill.
Landfill continues to play a key role in the control of waste throughout the UK as not all wastes are able to be recycled and some are more suited to landfill disposal than by some other method. Nevertheless, it’s not just the increasing costs of disposing of waste directly in landfill which is making recycling a more appealing option for businesses. Landfill is becoming scarce, with several specialists indicating that the quantity of space in existence across all UK landfill sites, has under ten years existence left before all sites are considered to be full. Such countries as Dubai have filled parts of the coastline with their waste and created useful land area to extend the boundaries of their kingdom.
In recent times, waste material management firms have had to change their focal point, and begin to take into account and spend money on technology, such as energy from waste facilities, anaerobic digestion plants and mechanised biological treatment plants, as alternatives to landfill. Local Authorities have also adapted their approaches by undertaking detailed strategic reviews as to how waste under their jurisdiction must be taken care of. In some cases this has meant that unitary authorities are implementing plans to bring in long term agreements, usually around 25 years in length, through which to handle all of their waste management requirements. These deals will often include the need to create a facility through which to take care of all waste material created throughout the city by segregating all waste materials streams. The contracts may also incorporate the collection of waste and recyclables from households throughout the area. So the face of waste management has been evolving quickly. The times of simply throwing anything in the dustbin have gone and the development of new technologies are upon us.
Conclusion
Recycling has become a way of life and is here to stay. It has evolved through the years from something that was carried out with no real thought behind it. The trusty rag and bone man was just attempting to make a living. Today, many blue chip companies are setting out plans for a ‘zero to landfill’ waste strategy, where the purpose is very straightforward - reduce waste, reuse waste and recycle waste, but no waste must wind up in landfill.
Many properties across the country now have some kind of bin in which to keep separate waste for recycling. The requirement to separate newspapers, aluminium cans and plastic bottles are almost the norm. Whilst in industrial and business areas, there is an increasing list of items to think about for recycling like printer cartridges, office paper, metal and electrical equipment. Even on street corners and airports you see bins to recycle such items as newspapers and drink cans.
Ideally the entire process would be a complete cycle such as it was in the time of the horse. However the advent of new technology will accelerate further the way in which our waste is to be managed in the future, but it is highly unlikely that we will ever reach the ultimate waste free society.