Waste Recycling

Recycling 

By: Inshal Waheed

So in my previous blog i have talked about waste minimization and segregation. Today i'm gonna talk about recycling because it also helps a lot in waste reduction. I will also share videos to recycle plastic bottles

Introduction:

Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into reusable objects to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, energy usage, air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from landfilling) by decreasing the need for "conventional" waste disposal and lowering greenhouse gas emissions compared to plastic production. Recycling is a key component of modern waste reduction.

There are some ISO standards related to recycling such as ISO 15270:2008 for plastics waste and ISO 14001:2004 for environmental management control of recycling practice.

Benefits of Recycling

• Reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators.
• Conserves natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals.
• Prevents pollution by reducing the need to collect new raw materials.
• Saves energy.
• Reduces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change
• Helps sustain the environment for future generations
• Helps create new well-paying jobs in the recycling and manufacturing industries in the United States.

Recyclates:

Recyclate is a raw material that is sent to, and processed in a waste recycling plant or materials recovery facility which will be used to form new products. The material is collected in various methods and delivered to a facility where it undergoes re-manufacturing so that it can used in the production of new materials or products. For example, plastic bottles that are collected can be re-used and made into plastic pellets, a new product.

Quality of recyclate

The quality of recyclates is recognized as one of the principal challenges that needs to be addressed for the success of a long-term vision of a green economy and achieving zero waste. Recyclate quality is generally referring to how much of the raw material is made up of target material compared to the amount of non-target material and other non-recyclable material

What Can I Recycle?

Aluminum can

On average, Americans drink one beverage from an aluminum can every day.But we recycle just over 49% of the cans we use. Since the cans are 100% recyclable, we could drastically reduce the energy needed to produce brand new cans simply by recycling our empties. An aluminum can is able to be returned to the shelf, as a new can, as quickly as 60 days after it's put into your recycling container. Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a television for three hours.
A Day in the Life of a Recycled Can

• Customer takes can to a recycling center or puts it into a recycling bin.
• The can is transported to a processing facility.
• A giant magnet lifts out cans that are made of metals such steel. Since aluminum cans aren't magnetic, they drop down to a conveyor belt and are gathered.
• The aluminum is shredded, washed and turned into aluminum chips.
• The chips are melted in a large furnace.
• The melted aluminum is poured into molds called "ingots."
• The ingots are taken to a factory where they're melted into rolls of thin, flat sheets.
• From the sheets, manufacturers make new products, including new beverage cans, pie pans, license plate frames, and aluminum foil.
• Beverage companies fill the cans and deliver them to grocery stores for customers to purchase.
• Customers take used cans to a recycling center and the process starts all over again.

Aluminium Foil and Bakeware:

During World War II, Americans saved aluminum foil and even peeled off the silver wrapping from chewing gum wrappers to contribute to the war effort. Today, we recycle the foil to conserve energy and protect the environment - two other patriotic causes. There are thousands of products made from aluminum. From food wrap to disposable cookware, to the disposable burner bibs you use to keep your stovetop clean, the list goes on and on.
Aluminum can be recycled almost infinitely. The process involves simply re-melting the metal, a process far less costly and energy-intensive than mining the minerals necessary to create new aluminum. For example, Americans discarded 460,000 tons of foil in 2010. However, Americans are far more likely to recycle aluminum soda cans than aluminum foil.

Household HintsUnlike aluminum cans, foil may have food particles attached, making it harder for recycling facilities to accept. But foil is easy to wipe clean. So reuse it as much as you can, and clean it off before putting it in the recycling bin. Consider buying 100% recycled aluminum foil. You'll be supporting a process that uses five percent less energy than the traditional aluminum foil manufacturing process.

STEEL CANS AND TIN CANS

Steel cans make up about 90% of the U.S. food can market. Americans use about 100 million steel cans every day. That's 36.5 billion cans a year.About 71% of steel cans are recycled, making them one of the most recycled packaging products in America. In addition, steel cans typically contain at least 25% recycled steel, but many are made almost entirely of recycled steel. Recycling steel saves at least 75% of the energy it would take to create steel from raw materials. That's enough energy to power 18 million homes.

• During the recycling process, steel cans (in bales or loose) are fed into the furnaces of a steel mill or foundry. 
• They may be mixed with new steel.
• Some of the new "mini" steel mills manufacture their products from 100% recycled steel.

Environmental effects of recycling

Material	Energy savings	Air pollution savings
Aluminium	95%	95%
Cardboard	24%	—
Glass	5–30%	20%
Paper	40%	73%
Plastics	70%	—
Steel	60%	—

Economic Impact

Critics dispute the net economic and environmental benefits of recycling over its costs, and suggest that proponents of recycling often make matters worse and suffer from confirmation bias. Specifically, critics argue that the costs and energy used in collection and transportation detract from (and outweigh) the costs and energy saved in the production process; also that the jobs produced by the recycling industry can be a poor trade for the jobs lost in logging, mining, and other industries associated with production; and that materials such as paper pulp can only be recycled a few times before material degradation prevents further recycling.

The National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA), reported in May 2015, that recycling and waste made a $6.7 billion economic impact in Ohio, U.S., and employed 14,000 people.

Criticism:

Much of the difficulty inherent in recycling comes from the fact that most products are not designed with recycling in mind. The concept of sustainable design aims to solve this problem, and was laid out in the book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart. They suggest that every product (and all packaging they require) should have a complete "closed-loop" cycle mapped out for each component—a way in which every component will either return to the natural ecosystem through biodegradation or be recycled indefinitely.
Complete recycling is impossible from a practical standpoint. In summary, substitution and recycling strategies only delay the depletion of non-renewable stocks and therefore may buy time in the transition to true or strong sustainability, which ultimately is only guaranteed in an economy based on renewable resources.
— M. H. Huesemann, 2003

Recycling in Pakistan

Clean Pakistan: Encouraging recycling, a household at a time

“Clean Pakistan aims to target 500 urban union councils, it will create more than 15,000 jobs [social motivators and sanitary workers] whose salaries will add Rs 2 billion to the economy. In addition, an estimated Rs3 billion will be generated from recycling and waste collection activities,” Waste Busters CEO Asif Farooki told The Express Tribune. Clean Pakistan campaign workers will collect domestic waste from houses, sort them and recycle waste to be used to manufacture fertilizer and other products.

Implementation plan

Under the project, each city will be divided into zones [union councils]. Each zone will have 10 social motivators to mobilise the community and 20 sanitation workers, preferably from the city district government and town municipal authority. They will work from 10am to 4pm daily.

The sanitation workers will segregate recyclable materials like bottles, plastic, cans, lined paper packs and papers. They will be weighed every Friday and Waste Busters will purchase them on market rates [not less than Rs 5,000/metric tonne] and send it for recycling at a recycling plant on Ferozepur Road.

Organic waste and non-recyclable waste will be taken to a dump site.

Inorganic waste will be sorted and sold. Used plastic shopping bags will be recycled into plastic wood and used to manufacture chairs, huts, dustbins for parks. Approximately 60MT of recyclable waste will be collected from each union council and sold to vendors or recycling factories. This will generate an estimated Rs 3 billion for the economy and provide income to a sizeable section of the lower income strata, he said.

Islamabad opens Pakistan's first integrated recycling centre

In Islamabad, municipal waste is being harnessed as a resource to ease pressure on landfills. According to UN-Habitat, the city last week inaugurated Pakistan’s first “Integrated Resource Recovery Center.” It can handle recycling, composting and biogas production of refuse from homes and businesses, including vegetable markets.

The center is a pilot project. If successful, more of them would be added throughout Islamabad and in Rawalpindi, the article says. The plant, which debuted September 17, is expected to process three tons of garbage per day.

The project is a collaboration between Pakistan’s Ministry of Climate Change, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) and UN-Habitat, the article says. The UN helped launch similar centers in cities in Vietnam, Cambodia and Sri Lanka.