What Recycling Means, explain the process. What goes where and how are the products reused?

Recycling is a process that takes items and materials that are considered to be thrown away as trash and turns them into new products. Recycling is beneficial to one’s community, the economy, and especially the environment. It’s an important process that reduces waste and helps save resources by turning them into new products. The recycling process occurs by collecting and processing materials that can be used in the manufacturing process. After processing, the recyclables are then made into new products at a recycling and processing plant. You are then able to purchase these new products that are made from recycled materials. Knowing how the recycling process works is very important due to the essential fact that it helps reduce waste, save resources, and create a more sustainable future.  

    Recycling involves taking waste materials and turning them into new products, but it is not so simple. One of the three processes must take place: mechanical recycling, chemical recycling, and organic recycling.  

Mechanical recycling, or physical recycling, is the physical transformation of trash and turning it into reusable materials. Taking items or materials like paper, metals, or plastics and making it into something you can use every day. The process includes collecting certain waste materials, sorting them, cleaning and disinfecting them, shredding, and reprocessing the materials into new products. An example of this process is the bottling of Coca-Cola products. “Earlier this year, Coca-Cola became the first sparkling-beverage brand in the U.S. to adopt recycled plastic for its 20-ounce bottles.” The mechanical/physical recycling process is how Coca-Cola was able to do this. First, they would acquire all of their main raw materials like the sweeteners, water, carbon dioxide, and their packaging materials (bottles, cans, labels, etc.) Next, each bottle would have to undergo an extremely strict cleaning, disinfection, and rinsing process before the packaging process. Then, the mixing/stirring process occurs, and the Coca-Cola is then bottled and capped. After labeling and inspection of each bottle, all of the bottles of Coca-Cola are packaged and stored in a warehouse until they are ready to be shipped out. Mechanical/Physical recycling is beneficial to companies like Coca-Cola because of its cost-effectiveness and requires less energy, unlike other recycling methods. It also allows those who partake in this process to a wide range of materials, unlike the other methods, which are limiting to the number of materials and what kind of materials you can use. However, plastic, and other materials used in this process, tend to degrade (in quality) over time, which is limiting to their usefulness. Plus, when mixing different materials, it could affect the quality of the new product.  

Chemical recycling is when waste materials are broken down to their chemical compounds so they can be reprocessed into new materials/products. Some of the common chemical recycling processes include depolymerization, pyrolysis, and gasification. An example of depolymerization would be when it is used in makeup. In this example, depolymerization would be the breaking down of polymers like silicones and plastics in makeup and other beauty products into their base monomers to be reused. Another way chemical recycling is used is through ingredient recovery. Taking cosmetic items like oils and waxes, dyes, or even alcohol-based products, and breaking them down into their chemical compounds for them to be later reprocessed into new beauty products. Unlike the mechanical recycling process, chemical recycling changes the chemical structure of the material, which allows the material to be recycled multiple times, and it won’t lose its quality. Regardless of its quality preservation, it requires a large amount of energy, which harshly impacts the environment if the energy is not coming from non-renewable sources. It is also a very expensive process and requires advanced technology.  

Organic recycling occurs through natural decomposition, which involves converting organic waste into products like compost, biofuel, or biogas. Composting is one of the most common organic recycling processes used around the globe. It happens by collecting organic materials and shredding them down, and letting them decompose, usually in controlled conditions (containers). First, microorganisms like bacteria and fungi will break down the waste, which turns it into compost that is later used as fertilizer. Another example of organic recycling is biofuel, specifically biodiesel. Biodiesel is made with animal fats and plant oils and “can reduce the greenhouse effect by 65%.”   

Being properly informed on the different recycling processes is essential to reducing waste and protecting the environment for future generations. 

The recycling process includes many steps in which we can dive into the details. This restoring process has three essential steps within the cycle which includes sorting, processing and cleaning, and manufacturing to create new products. Each step sounds simple enough but it's important to obtain knowledge of what is happening to your plastics and cardboard. Furthermore, the sorting process begins once your recycled trash is picked up from the curbside or collected from drop off centers. Once they obtain enough, they begin the sorting process by organizing cans, papers, plastics, and aluminums so they can later melt them and convert into new products. The next important step in the recycling process is removing anything that may be a contaminant in the new products. Once the products are organized, each product is sent to a processing plant designated to their specific material. The materials there are sorted by cardboard and paper, plastics, glass, and E-waste (electronic waste). Plastic is melted and transformed into new products but meanwhile for nonmeltable items such as glass, it is sorted into a container and used in fiberglass insulation. Typically, recycling plants send melted products to a papermill, and the product undergoes hot and cold water, transforming the melted substance into pulp to remove contaminants. Meanwhile, glass goes through a machine called a drum, where the glass is smashed to undergo new development. The final step in the recycling process is manufacturing new products. This is the process of the materials being reformed into new products from pulp, glass shattering's, and melted down substance. Some unique examples of recycling you may not necessarily think of is plastic bottles being transformed into clothing. Some more common ones are cans being transformed into new cans and paper into cardboard or new paper.  

Recycling trash plays an essential role in waste management and the preservation of the environment; therefore, it is vital to know where recyclable waste is placed during the recycling process in order to educate society on various ways recycling facilities and markets exert effort to aid the global endeavor of their goal to take care of the environment. After you choose to recycle your materials, they are transported to commodity markets, they may be exported to other countries, relocated to a local processing organization, or delivered to recycling centers. Foremost, when moving the waste, it is expected to categorize the recyclables to properly recycle each type of recyclable material diligently and safely, given that one of the main purposes of recycling is to ensure that recycled products are properly refurbished or used for efficient purposes. Many materials disposed from communities can be recycled to go green; some examples include paper and cardboard, plastic, glass, metals, electronics and e-waste, and batteries. Some materials that are not able to be recycled include hazardous waste and contaminated items, like greasy pizza boxes or used paper towels, due to the dangers it can cause to society, amplifying the necessity to know which items are recyclable.  

After recognizing which products are eligible to be recycled, it is important to recognize the three main types of recycling processes that are decided by the type of materials being recycled: Primary Recycling, Secondary recycling, and Tertiary recycling.  

Primary Recycling includes materials that can be reused without making any alterations to the current state of the item, such materials are usually sanitized and used for the same first purpose, and such products are usually recycled by oneself, sold, or donated. Items that are usually categorized in Primary Recycling include glassware - jars, dishes, etc.; toys that may be donated by family, charities, and friends; and electronics recovered in a different area of your business or sold to recover some cost or donated for a noble cause.  

Secondary Recycling includes reusing materials without having to refurbish or reprocess them, which often happens in DIY crafts, while also ensuring trash is not sent to landfills. Secondary materials are items such as cut up plastic bottles, cut up cartons, reused plastic, wood, paper and metals used in the DIY process.  

Lastly, Tertiary recycling involves chemical alterations to the materials or products to allow them to be reused, such alterations can be done externally or internally. When items are altered externally “the recyclables are recovered and reprocessed through a public facility” this process involves the organization of the recyclables by sorting them and placing them in different bins to be transported by a reprocessing facility. Internal recycling involves “no public service…concerned.” Tertiary Recycling involves materials such as: paper, cartons, metals, aluminum, copper, plastics, batteries, and composite materials. Composite materials are items made from two or more materials that can be recovered such as old household appliances like a fridge or generator.   

Recycling can give materials a second purpose, reduce waste and can help conserve what the environment supplies us with. Paper products, for example, are a widely recycled material. Cardboard can be reused for animal bedding, while newspapers can be used for packaging materials. Clothing items, for example, can be very versatile and can be refreshed in a way of being donated to shops or passed down from one person to another, reused as old rags when cleaning up around your home, tote bags, or even home decor. Glass can be turned into creative little art pieces called stained glass and put anywhere around your home for home decor. Plastic can be used to make bags, home decor, and even worn in various ways of fashion. Beyond our personal reuses, recycling plays a crucial role in preventing pollution and minimizing landfills. By having a consistent habit of recycling, we can help future generations and imprint our healthy habits onto them. Habits like picking up trash, recycling properly, and breaking down cardboard boxes can be healthy habits of recycling and can help conserve natural resources, and benefit the environment. Because recycling is such a big part of our world, betraying these habits can negatively impact our environment. On top of constant overpopulation and overconsumption, if the roles were reversed and there was no preventative caution to help with recycling, greenhouse gases could increase, meaning heat would be trapped in the atmosphere, along with water vapor and oxygen. This would result in global temperatures rising and cause negative impacts on the health of humans and animals. In conserving the Earth and taking care of it, it is statistically shown that it does clearly help. According to “The Effects Of Not Recycling”, in 2013 it was shown that recycling efforts were reduced by “87.2 million tons of waste from going into landfills, which also kept 186 million metric tons of greenhouse gases from polluting the atmosphere even more,...” highlighting how past years can still have impacts on future years and that it is viable. For example, Dunkin Donuts, a well-known brand serves the customers with good service while still promoting recycling when they choose to use paper bags and cardboard containers that are biodegradable and won't harm the economy rather than trash that is used once and can end up in the ocean.  

In an environment that struggles daily to keep the environment clean and safe, recycling plays a significant role in reducing waste and saving resources by giving them a new purpose for use. The long-term effects of recycling are much more favorable than the long-term effects of not recycling and maintaining bad habits. By repurposing materials, it can help pollution, decrease landfills, and conserve the Earth’s natural resources. Little by little, a single company or individual that promotes recycling can create a domino effect, which can influence others to embrace these positive habits resulting in humongous impacts. In doing this everyone can be part of the change that can happen. 

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