Changing waste into power
Right through history, recycling has existed in some way or another. Even as long ago as 400 BC signs of early recycling are recognized to have occurred. Archaeological studies show that ancient waste dumps contained fewer of what’s known nowadays as household waste, such as pots, tools and ash, which demonstrates that men and women were, even back then, keen to reuse products at a time when natural resources were not so freely available. Little did they know that the things they were starting would play a huge role in shaping society for future generations
Indeed it may be argued that the old ‘rag-and-bone’ man was just an early recycler collecting unwanted goods on his horse and cart, before reusing or turning the recovered items into something new. The 60′s TV series, Steptoe and Son, brought this very much to the public eye and greater attention.
During periods such as the World War Years, recycling and re-use were common place as natural materials became much more difficult to come by. In addition to food being rationed, certain materials like metal and fibre were largely allowed just for use by the government in support of military operations, to satisfy manufacturing requirements often in the production of weaponry. There was a desperate need to support the military.
As a result of rising energy costs, the requirement to recycle aluminium increased during the 1970′s.. As a material aluminium uses a reduced amount of energy during the production process than various other materials. Also it was much sought after owing to its non rusting properties. The demand for aluminium saw the emergence of scrap metal merchants who were prepared to pay cash in return for the best quality metal. In addition, in the seventies in areas of the USA, the first vans were seen to be collecting waste with a separate trailer for recovery of recyclable materials being towed behind the vehicle. This was mainly for big bulky objects like bedsteads and old carpets.
Into the late eighties, early 1990′s and as the importance of managing the intercontinental environmental state heightened amongst worldwide governing bodies, the debate upon recycling really started to get impetus. In the United Kingdom, the authorities imposed recycling targets upon Local Authorities along with the introduction of the fresh new legal guidelines upon the waste materials community, recycling programmes really began to take off. The once widely recognised waste disposal businesses, began to call themselves waste management companies and demonstrated through the offer of waste collection and recyclable material collection that waste needed to be handled more effectively.
These days, many hundreds of materials and products are easily recycled, which range from paper, card, glass and plastics, to mobile phone handsets, electrical items, printer cartridges, textiles, clothing and concrete.
What is Recycling?
The word recycling describes the process of reprocessing second-hand materials into new or nearly new products and avoid the need for potentially valuable materials or products to be thrown away.
Recycling plays a key role in a modern world where climate change is high on the environmental agenda. It reduces the requirement to unnecessarily send waste materials and products to landfill or other waste disposal options. As a result this lessens the demand and the reliance upon the consumption of fresh or new raw materials, decreases energy use and air and drinking water pollution, all of which contribute to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Recycling is probably mostnoticeable through the recycling assistance now provided by local councils for household refuse and recycling collections and by innovative waste management organisations who typically offer a full range of waste and recycling collection services.
In recent years the recovery of energy from waste company is becoming an essential green process for the advantage of all of us.
In the waste materials sector, the most popular marketing activity is all around the waste hierarchy – ‘reduce, reuse, recycle and recover’. This four R slogan is a basic message devised for a far reaching target audience. Look at how you can reduce your waste materials. Can the waste materials products or materials be reused? Can the waste product or material be recycled or recovered? Many questions to think about.
The waste materials hierarchy is a strategy which various waste management firms and local bodies look at when producing new waste management strategies. The system is meant to concentrate the thought process around preventing waste materials being produced 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.
So the focus is very much on the overall production process. The waste material hierarchy expands much wider than to waste material management firms and local authorities. Working groups have been established to bring many industries together to consider the whole waste cycle. By way of example, the producer of a product needs to consider the way the product will be fabricated. Could components be used which could eventually be recycled or reused? Can the volume of packaging which surrounds the product be cut down? Once the product reaches the retailer, is it necessary for the product to be left inside an outer box? Once the retailer sells the item, what will the consumer do with the excess elements of the purchase, i.e. the packaging? How will the packaging be collected and where will it go? Could it return to a recycling facility, for onward shipment to a reprocessing facility, in which the cycle will begin yet again?
How are Materials Collected for Recycling?
Legislation now dictates that most waste needs to be treated to reduce 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 materials dumped within landfill. The rate of duty has increased considerably in recent years rising from the original level of £8 per ton, to the current rate of £40 per ton. The UK government has previously declared that this will increase further to £48 per ton from the end of 2010/11. This fee applies to all general waste streams, although there is a lower rate for inert materials. Sending waste materials directly to landfill is an expensive choice and locating acceptable processes to divert waste away from landfill has become important. For inert materials the rate is £2.50 per ton.
Therefore, the message to everybody is clear, segregate your waste material to reduce the amount of waste materials going to landfill. Traditionally, at home or in the office, the instant you place waste materials into the bin , it’s forgotten about. Another person will collect it and take it away. Today, in the home and at work, recycling is being stimulated via the supply of bins in which to place specific recyclable materials. At home, the children are often the keen recyclers.
Some common resources to be seen being gathered for recycling are paper, card, glass, metals and plastics. However the possiblity to recycle many materials or products keep increasing. Although technically not seen as recycling, food waste and garden waste collections are increasing, where the food or garden waste is taken back to a facility for processing into a reusable or saleable compost product.
Because resources become more scarce energy recovery from our waste products is the only prudent solution to get the vast demand for energy in our society.
The means of collecting items or waste material to be recycled is also escalating and becoming more apparent within local communities. Dedicated collection sites, often referred to as bring bank sites, are cropping up in supermarket car parks to encourage customers of the supermarket to return such objects as bottles, newspapers or card to the bins on their way into the store. Shoppers are therefore encouraged to return with their recyclables.
Local Authority waste material collection crews or their appointed personnel will collect refuse and recyclables from the kerbside typically at the front of your home. Collection from domestic premises typically continues to be the responsibility of the local council many have employed the supply of boxes in which to gather specified recyclable materials or products.
In the industrial and commercial field, waste management businesses offer different containers in which the customer deposits the applicable waste material stream or recyclable resources ready for collection. The containers will usually be plainly branded as to which recyclable product need to be put within that container or bin. Alternatively, the bins will be colour coded to identify which recyclable materials need to be placed within which bins.
One of the keys to a successful recycling initiative is homeowners about what can be recycled and how. In the commercial world getting the co-operation of office employees is crucial. The introduction of any recycling scheme must ensure that in asking employees to separate waste for recycling, it does not become time consuming and affect the effectiveness of what employees should be doing in their work. The introduction of any recycling scheme should be kept simple.
The Recycling Process
Numerous collection systems exist for the collection of the recyclable products . Whichever collection system is utilised , the materials are taken to a materials recycling facility where they’ll be segregated from other waste materials.
To begin the recycling process from a collection perspective, the more recyclable materials which can be separated at source, i.e. at home or in the workplace, the more useful it will be for the waste collector. For this reason separate containers are provided to the waste producer to promote separation at source. If card could be collected using a truck, which will collect no other waste materials, the card is going to be kept clean and for that reason could have a greater value when it reaches the processing plant. Similarly, dedicated glass collection vehicles are used to collect just glass. Aside from the obvious health and safety factors and the weight of collected glass, it will have a greater value if the collected glass load is not mixed with other waste materials. Uncontaminated recyclables will present a much higher value than contaminated materials.
When collected, the recyclable resources are generally taken direct to a reprocessing plant, if the load contains only that particular type of material. So a separate glass collection truck could take the load on to a glass processing plant. It is more likely that the glass will have to be bulked up for onward shipment to the processor.
If blended recyclables have been collected like paper and card within the same container, it could be necessary for the collector to take the load to a drop off point to unload and allow the load to be sorted into separate paper and card bundles for onward transport to a paper or card processing plant. No matter what technique is used, the recyclable material gathered will most likely be segregated or cleaned before traveling through to a reprocessing facility to be converted to a new resource and eventually used as a new product or in manufacturing.
A number of buildings all over great britain are now choosing to turn to green energy for their requirements like light and heat. Although it may be costly to install at this stage, ultimately it’ll save on money.
The Increasing Importance of Recycling
In the UK around 35% of waste collected from homes is recycled or composted. While within the commercial and industrial sector, the volume of waste materials delivered to landfill has declined substantially in recent years and also the amount of waste material now being diverted for recycling or reuse by this market has increased over the quantities going to landfill. But there is still much to be done to increase rates further within this sector.
Landfill continues to play a significant role in the management of waste throughout the UK as not all wastes can be recycled and some are more suited to landfill disposal than by some other method. Nonetheless, it is not just the increasing costs of getting rid of waste directly in landfill that is making recycling an even more appealing option for corporations. Landfill is now scarce, with certain authorities suggesting that the volume of void available across all UK landfill sites, has under 10 years existence left before all sites are considered to be filled.
In the past few years, waste materials management companies have had to change their focal point, and start to consider and put money into new technologies, like energy from waste facilities, anaerobic digestion facilities and mechanised biological treatment plants, as alternate options to landfill. Local Authorities have adapted their attitudes by undertaking detailed strategic reviews as to how waste material under their jurisdiction must be dealt with. In some cases this means unitary authorities are progressing plans to bring in long term agreements, usually around two-and-a-half decades in length, through which to regulate their waste materials management requirements. These deals will most likely include the need to develop a facility through which to handle all waste material created throughout the city by segregating all waste material streams. The contracts may also incorporate the collection of all waste and recyclables from households across the region. So the issue of waste management is beginning to change rapidly. The days of just throwing every little thing in the dustbin have gone and the arrival of new technologies are upon us. The introduction of new technologies will play a huge role in the future of waste management.
Summary
Recycling has become a way of life and is here to stay. It has evolved over the years from something that was performed without any real thought behind it. The trusty rag and bone man was just working to make a living. Today, many blue chip companies are setting out plans for a ‘zero to landfill’ waste plan, where the purpose is very straightforward – reduce waste, reuse waste and recycle waste, but no waste must wind up in landfill. Some companies have announced ambitious target dates by which to accomplish such policies.
Many properties across the country now have some type of container in which to keep separate waste materials for recycling. The decision to separate newspapers, aluminium cans and plastic bottles are almost the norm. Whilst in industrial and business sectors, there is an increasing selection of items to take into account for recycling such as 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 whole process would be a complete cycle such as it was in the days 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. There will always be a need for waste to be disposed of somewhere, somehow.
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