Recycling

Recycling

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Recycling

Containers for dispensing plastic waste (yellow container), glass (green container) and paper or paperboard (blue container), for subsequent recycling. Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Recycling is a process which aims to turn waste into new products or materials for further use.

By recycling the disuse of potentially useful materials it prevents the consumption of new raw materials and reduce energy use, air pollution is reduced (by incineration) and water (through landfills) as well as reduce emissions of greenhouse gases compared to the production of plastics.

Recycling is a key component in reducing waste and contemporary is the third component of the 3Rs ( "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle").

Recyclable materials are many, and include all paper and cardboard, glass, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, some plastics, fabrics and textiles, wood and electronic components. In other cases it is not possible to carry out a recycling due to the technical difficulty and high cost of the process so often reused materials or products to produce other materials and are used for other purposes, such as energy use.

It is also possible to perform a salvage certain components of complex products, either for their intrinsic value or its dangerous nature.

What for recycling

The environmental benefits are so great that the effort to recycle, both in quantity and quality, it is worth.

Separate containers and place them in your container for recycling may seem a futile effort if its benefits to the environment are not known. In this sense, every time a container is recycled, it is avoiding filling landfills and the extraction of new raw materials and reduce energy consumption and emission of greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Also, with the recycled materials you can make new products, sometimes with curious results. recycling figures continue to increase, both in quantity and quality, consumers are critical.

Recycling is a very useful and simple gesture thanks to the environment in several ways. The need for new raw materials to create products and the whole process of extraction, transportation, processing and energy expenditure decreases to reuse recycled waste. It also prevents these containers end up in landfills, increasingly saturated and environmental impact problems. Therefore, recycling also contributes to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.

The figures provided by organizations management recycling speak for themselves. Recycling glass bottles prevents 3,000 1,000 kilos of trash and saves more than one ton of raw materials, according Ecovidrio, the non-profit association that manages the recycling of glass in Spain. Thus, he adds, air pollution is reduced by 20%, burning less fuel for the manufacture of new containers.

Ecovidrio makers stress that glass is one of the easiest materials to recycle. In addition, the melt and reshape save 93% of material and 23% of energy, since the manufacture of new glass containers with raw materials needs more energy use than those made with recycled glass (cullet). For example, each bottle recycled avoid consuming electricity would need a 100-watt bulb for four hours, while four recycled bottles electricity to keep on a cold all day is saved.

PET recycling is being projected as a fundamental part of the environmental boom currently lives and, with this, is becoming one of the biggest business opportunities for the entire plastics industry. However, you still face a number of challenges before expanding its scope.

The collection of material, price volatility and change the perception of consumers against products made from these materials constitute the main challenges is the union throughout Latin America to consolidate this business.

Collection and recovery of used material

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