Re-using waste matter for future years

Published by Frank on August 29, 2010

Throughout history, recycling has been around in one 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 less of what’s known nowadays as household waste, including pots, utensils and ash, which shows that men and women were, even back then, keen to reuse materials during a period 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 the world for future generations

Indeed it could be argued how the old ‘rag-and-bone’ man was just an early recycler collecting unwanted goods on his horse and cart, before reusing or transforming the accumulated items into something new.

During periods such as the World War Years, recycling and re-use were essential as natural resources became a lot more difficult to get. In addition to food being rationed, certain materials like metal and fibre werenormally allowed just for use by the government to support military operations, to meet manufacturing requirements often in the production of weaponry.

As a result of rising power costs, the requirement to recycle aluminium increased during the seventies.. As a material aluminium utilises much less energy in the production process than various other materials. Also it was much coveted because of its non rusting properties. The need for aluminium saw the emergence of scrap metal dealers who were prepared to pay cash in return for the best quality metal. In addition, in the seventies in parts of the United States of America, the first vans were seen to be collecting waste with a separate trailer for recovery of recyclable resources being towed behind the vehicle. This was mainly for big bulky things including bedsteads and old carpets.

Into the late eighties, early nineties and as the awareness of handling the worldwide environmental state accelerated amongst worldwide authorities, the debate upon recycling really began to gather energy. In the United Kingdom, the authorities imposed recycling targets upon Local Authorities and with the introduction of fresh new legislation upon the waste products sector, recycling programmes really started to take off. The once commonly recognised waste disposal firms, began to call themselves waste management businesses and demonstrated by the offer of waste collection and recyclable materials collection that waste had to be handled more effectively.

These days, many hundreds of materials and resources tend to be recycled, ranging from paper, card, glass and plastics, to mobile phone handsets, electrical items, printer cartridges, textiles, clothing and concrete.

What Exactly is Recycling?

The term recycling identifies the process of converting second hand items into new or nearly new products and avoid the need for potentially valuable materials or products to be dumped. Essentially it is diverting waste material away from landfill.

Recycling takes on a vital role in a world where climate change is high on the environmental agenda. It reduces the need to unnecessarily send waste materials and products to landfill or other waste disposal options. As a result this lessens the need and the reliance upon consuming fresh or new natural resources, lowers energy usage and air and water pollution, all of which contribute to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Recycling would probably be most evident through the recycling assistance now provided by local councils for household refuse and recycling collections and by modern waste management companies who generally offer a full range of waste and recycling collection solutions. Some companies, that have traditionally focused solely on the collection of recyclable products, are now increasing their operations offering to collect general waste at the same time.

Some factories will release into the water dangerous waste, so visit www.biffa.co.uk and bring in the experts to be sure of safe disposal and compliance with the regulations.

In the waste materials sector, the normal marketing activity is all around the waste hierarchy – ‘reduce, reuse, recycle and recover’. This 4 R slogan is a straightforward message made for a far reaching crowd. Consider ways to reduce your waste material. Could the waste materials products or materials be reused? Could the waste product or material be recycled or recovered? Many questions to consider.

The waste materials hierarchy is a strategy which various waste material management companies and local bodies consider when establishing new waste management approaches. The plan is designed to concentrate the thought process around preventing waste being generated to start with. Think about the options for reuse and recycling but ultimately minimise the amount of waste produced at the end of the cycle.

And so the emphasis is very much on the entire production process. The waste material hierarchy extends much wider than to waste materials management firms and local authorities. Working groups have been set up to bring many industries together to consider the whole waste cycle. By way of example, the producer of a product must think about the way the product will be constructed. Could parts be used that can eventually be recycled or reused? Can the quantity of packaging which often surrounds the item be reduced? When the product reaches the retailer, is it essential for the product to be located inside an outer box? Once the retailer sells the item, what will the buyer do with the unwanted components of the purchase, i.e. the packaging? How will the packaging be stored and where will it go? Will it return to a recycling plant, for onward transfer to a reprocessing facility, in which the cycle starts yet again?

How are Materials Collected for Recycling?

Legislation now dictates that most waste must be processed to divert the volume of recyclables and unnecessary waste materials heading direct to landfill. Since 1996, the UK government has applied a landfill tax on all waste material 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 recently announced that this will increase further to £48 per ton by the end of 2010/11. This cost applies to all general waste materials streams, although there’s a lesser rate for inert materials. Sending waste material straight to landfill is an expensive option and locating acceptable solutions to divert waste away from landfill has become a priority.

So, the message to everybody is obvious, sort your waste to reduce the amount of waste materials going to landfill. Ordinarily, at home or in the office, the instant you place waste materials into the container , it is forgotten about. Another individual will collect it and take it away. Today, in the home and at the office, recycling is being encouraged with the supply of bins in which to place certain recyclable materials. At home, the children are often the keen recyclers.

Perhaps the most common products to be seen being collected for recycling are paper, card, glass, metals and plastics. But the possiblity to recycle a large amount 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.

Inside large buildings, many recycling schemes can simply be created to gather used or unwanted recyclable materials.

The methods of collecting items or waste material to be recycled is also growing and becoming more visible within local communities. Specialist collection sites, often referred to as bring bank sites, are springing up in superstore car parks to inspire clientele of the store to return such objects as bottles, newspapers or cardboard to the bins on their way into the supermarket. 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 house. Collection from domestic premises generally continues to be the responsibility of the local council and several have employed the supply of bins in which to collect particular recyclable materials or products.

In the business and commercial category, waste management businesses offer different storage units in which the customer deposits the applicable waste materials stream or recyclable material ready for collection. The particular containers will usually be plainly branded as to which recyclable product should be put within that container or bin. Alternatively, the bins will probably be colour coded to identify which recyclable products need to be placed within which bins. Waste management companies also may have to deal with special requests from the customer.

The key to a successful recycling initiative is residents 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 productivity of what employees should be doing in their work. The introduction of any recycling scheme should be kept simple.

The Recycling Process

Various collection systems exist for the collection of the recyclable products . Regardless of what collection system is employed , the resources are taken to a recycling centre where they’ll be segregated from other waste products.

To begin the recycling process from the collection viewpoint, the more recyclable materials that can be separated at source, i.e. at home or in the workplace, the more useful it will be for the waste collector. That is why individual containers are supplied to the waste producer to inspire separation at source. If card can be collected on a vehicle, that will collect no other waste material, the card is going to be kept uncontaminated and for that reason will have a higher value when it reaches the processing plant. Similarly, specialist glass collection vehicles are employed to collect just glass. Aside from the obvious health and safety reasons and the weight of collected glass, it will have a much higher value if the collected glass load is not mixed with other waste.

When collected, the recyclable resources may be 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 straight to a glass processing plant.

If mixed recyclables have been collected like paper and card within the same compartment, it might be required for the collector to take the load to a drop off point to unload and permit the load to be segregated into distinct paper and card bundles for onward transfer to a paper or card processing plant. No matter which process is used, the recyclable material obtained will most likely be segregated or cleaned before proceeding through to a reprocessing facility to be converted to a new useful resource and eventually used as something new or in manufacturing.

Recycling has now become a way of life and it is comparatively simple to establish waste recycling systems at home or indeed in a business or work place.

The Increasing Significance of Recycling

In the UK close to 35% of waste material collected from homes is recycled or composted. Whilst in the commercial and industrial area, the amount of waste materials delivered to landfill has dropped significantly in recent years and also the volume of waste now being diverted for recycling or reuse by this sector has grown above the volumes going to landfill.

Landfill continues to play a significant role in the management of waste across the UK as not all waste products can be recycled plus some are more suited to landfill disposal than by any other means. Nevertheless, it is not just the increasing expense of getting rid of waste directly in landfill which is making recycling a far more attractive option for companies. Landfill is becoming scarce, with many specialists suggesting that the volume of space accessible across all UK landfill sites, has under 10 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 country.

In recent times, waste materials management companies have had to switch their focal point, and start to consider and spend money on technology, such as energy from waste facilities, anaerobic digestion facilities and mechanised biological treatment plants, as alternate options to landfill. Local Authorities also have adapted their attitudes by undertaking comprehensive strategic reviews as to how waste under their jurisdiction should be taken care of. In some instances this means unitary authorities are progressing plans to bring in long-term contracts, usually around two-and-a-half decades in length, through which to manage all of their waste material management demands. These deals will most likely include the need to build a facility through which to take care of all waste created throughout the region by sorting all waste material streams. The deals could also include the collection of all waste and recyclables from homes throughout the region. So the issue of waste management is beginning to change rapidly. The times of merely throwing every little thing in the dustbin have disappeared and the advent of new technologies are upon us.

Conclusion

Recycling is now a way of life and is not going anywhere soon. It has evolved through the years from a thing that was carried out without any real thought behind it. The trusty rag and bone man was just trying to make a living. Today, many blue chip companies are setting out plans for a ‘zero to landfill’ waste policy, where the objective is very clear – reduce waste, reuse waste and recycle waste, but no waste must end up in landfill.

Many homes across the country now have some form of container in which to separate waste materials for recycling. The need to separate newspapers, aluminium cans and plastic bottles are almost common place. Whilst in industrial and commercial sectors, 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 increase 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.

Just A Few Thoughts