All the way through history, recycling has been around in some form or another. Even as long ago as 400 BC signs of early recycling are known to have occurred. Archaeological studies show that historical waste dumps contained less of what is known nowadays as household waste, such as pots, tools and ash, which demonstrates that people were, even in those days, keen to reuse products during a period when natural resources weren’t so freely available. Little did they know that what they were starting would play such a huge role in shaping the world 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 new things. The 60’s TV series, Steptoe and Son, brought this very much in to the public eye and greater attention.
During periods such as the World War Years, recycling and re-use were necessary as natural resources became much more difficult to find. As well as food being rationed, certain materials including metal and fibre werenormally allowed only for use by the government to support military operations, to satisfy manufacturing requirements often in the production of weaponry. There was a desperate need to support the military.
Due to rising energy costs, the need to recycle aluminium increased in the 1970’s.. As a material aluminium utilises significantly less energy in the production process than alternative materials. Plus it was much prized owing to its non rusting properties. The demand for aluminium saw the rise of scrap metal merchants who were willing to pay good money in exchange for the best quality metal. Additionally, in the 70’s 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 large bulky items such as bedsteads and old carpets.
To the late eighties, early 1990’s and as the awareness of managing the intercontinental environmental state increased amongst worldwide governments, the attention upon recycling really started to get momentum. In the UK, the authorities imposed recycling targets upon Local Authorities along with the introduction of new legislation upon the waste sector, recycling schemes really began to take off. The once widely recognised waste disposal firms, began to call themselves waste management providers and demonstrated through the offer of waste collection and recyclable material collection that waste needed to be handled more successfully. Local skip companies needed to become better at what they did.
Today, many hundreds of materials and products may be recycled, ranging from paper, card, glass and plastics, to mobile phones, electrical items, printer cartridges, textiles, clothing and concrete. The demand for different types of collection receptacles has increased dramatically.
What Exactly is Recycling?
The word recycling describes the operation of reprocessing second hand items into new or nearly new products to avoid the need for potentially useable materials or products to be thrown away.
Recycling takes on a key role in a world where climate change is high on the green agenda. It reduces the requirement to avoidably send waste products and products to landfill or other waste disposal options. As a result this diminishes the need or the reliance upon consuming fresh or new natural materials, decreases energy usage and air and drinking water pollution, all of which contribute to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Significant contributions to improving the natural environment.
Recycling is probably mostnoticeable through the recycling services now provided by local councils for domestic refuse and recycling collections and also advanced waste management firms who typically offer a full range of waste and recycling collection solutions.
There are many companies all around the united kingdom who now provide paper recycling, cardboard recycling, glass recycling, energy from waste , recycling services. But to be sure your waste is really going to be appropriately recycled is it essential to find a well known and trustworthy company.
In the waste industry, the most popular advertising activity is all around the waste materials hierarchy - ‘reduce, reuse, recycle and recover’. This four R slogan is a basic message devised for a far reaching audience. Look at how you can lessen your waste materials. Could the waste material products or materials be reused? Could the waste product or material be recycled or retrieved?
The waste materials hierarchy is often a strategy which many waste material management organisations and local bodies look at when creating new waste management procedures. The strategy is intended to focus the thoughts around preventing waste being generated to start 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 entire manufacturing process. The waste materials hierarchy extends much wider than to waste material management firms and local bodies. Working groups have been established to bring many industries together to look at the complete waste cycle. For instance, the producer of a product needs to think about how the product will be constructed. Could parts be used which could eventually be recycled or reused? Can the volume of packaging which often surrounds the product be reduced? Once the product gets to the shop, is it essential for the product to be placed within an outer package? If the retailer sells the item, what will the buyer do with the excess components of the acquisition, i.e. the packaging? How will the packaging be stored and where will it go? Could it go back to a recycling facility, for onward transfer to a reprocessing plant, in which the cycle will begin all over again? The process must be simple to manage and implement.
How are Materials Collected for Recycling?
Legislation now dictates that all waste material needs to be processed to avoid the quantity of recyclables and unnecessary waste going direct to landfill. Since 1996, the United Kingdom government has applied a landfill levy on all waste discarded within landfill. The rate of levy has increased considerably in recent years rising from the initial level of £8 per ton, to today’s rate of £40 per ton. The UK government has recently declared that this will increase further to £48 per ton by the end of 2010/11. This rate applies to all general waste streams, although there’s a lower rate for inert products. Dispatching waste materials directly to landfill is an expensive option and locating acceptable methods to divert waste out of landfill is now a priority.
Thus, the message to everyone is clear, segregate your waste material to reduce the volume of waste material going to landfill. In the past, both at home and in the office, the instant you place waste materials in the bin , it’s forgotten about. Somebody else will collect it and take it away. Nowadays, in your own home and at the office, recycling is being stimulated via the provision of containers in which to place certain recyclable materials. At home, the children are often the keen recyclers.
Perhaps the most common materials to be seen being gathered for recycling are paper, card, glass, metals and plastics. But the opportunity to recycle a vast number of materials or products continues to grow.
Inside sizeable organisations, different recycling schemes can easily be created to gather used or unwanted recyclable items.
The systems of collecting resources or waste material to be recycled is also increasing and becoming more visible within local communities. Specialist collection sites, known as bring bank sites, are springing up in supermarket car parks to motivate clientele of the store to return such items as bottles, newspapers or card to the containers 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 roadside commonly at the front of your house. Collection from household premises generally remains the duty of the local council and many have employed the provision of bins in which to collect specified recyclable materials or products. The services do vary from council to council.
In the industrial and commercial field, waste management businesses offer separate containers in which the customer deposits the applicable waste material stream or recyclable materials ready for collection. The bins will often be plainly labeled as to which recyclable product should be put inside that container or bin. Otherwise, the bins will probably be colour coded to distinguish which recyclable products should be placed within which bins. Waste management companies also may have to deal with special requests from the customer.
The real key to a successful recycling initiative is homeowners about what can be recycled and how. In the commercial world getting the co-operation of shop floor employees is crucial. The introduction of any recycling scheme must ensure that in asking staff to separate waste for recycling, it does not become time consuming and affect the efficiency of what employees should be doing in their work. The introduction of any recycling scheme should be kept simple.
The Recycling Process
A variety of collection solutions exist for the collection of the recyclable products . Regardless of what collection method is utilised , the materials are taken to a drop off point where they will be segregated from other waste materials.
To start the recycling process from the collection point of view, the more recyclable material which can be segregated at source, i.e. at home or in the work place, the more useful it will be for the waste collector. That is why individual containers are supplied to the waste producer to stimulate separation at source. If card could be collected on a vehicle, which will collect no other waste materials, the card will be kept clean and as a consequence could have a higher value when it reaches the processing plant. Similarly, specialist glass collection vehicles are used to collect just glass. In addition to the obvious health and safety factors and the weight of collected glass, it will have a much higher value if the collected glass load is not mixed with other waste.
Once collected, the recyclable materials are generally taken direct to the reprocessing plant, if the load contains only that specific type of material. So a separate glass collection truck could take the load directly to a glass processing plant.
If mixed recyclables are being collected such as 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 sorted into distinct paper and card bundles for onward transfer to a paper or card processing plant. Whatever method is employed, the recyclable material obtained will most likely be segregated or cleaned before proceeding through to a reprocessing facility to be converted to a new resource and eventually used as a new product or in manufacturing.
During serious financial situations similar to today, reducing food waste will make a considerable impact to the finances on a personal as well as a nationwide level.
The Increasing Importance of Recycling
In the UK close to 35% of waste collected from households is recycled or composted. While within the commercial and industrial area, the amount of waste material sent to landfill has dropped significantly recently as well as the amount of waste now being diverted for recycling or reuse by this sector has increased over the amounts going to landfill.
Landfill continues to play a necessary role in the control of waste across the UK as not all waste materials are able to be recycled and some are more suited to landfill disposal than by any other method. Nonetheless, it’s not only the increasing costs of getting rid of waste directly in landfill that is making recycling a more attractive option for businesses. Landfill is becoming scarce, with certain experts indicating that the volume of void in existence across all UK landfill sites, has under ten years existence remaining before all sites are reckoned to be filled.
In recent times, waste material management firms have had to change their focal point, and begin to think about and put money into new technologies, such as energy from waste facilities, anaerobic digestion plants and mechanical biological treatment plants, as alternatives to landfill. Local Authorities have also adapted their views by commencing comprehensive strategic reviews as to how waste material under their jurisdiction must be dealt with. In some cases this means unitary authorities are implementing plans to introduce extended agreements, usually around two-and-a-half decades in length, through which to manage their entire waste materials management needs. These contracts will most likely include the need to develop a facility through which to take care of all waste material created throughout the county by sorting all waste materials streams. The contracts could also incorporate the collection of waste and recyclables from homes throughout the region. So the face of waste management is beginning to change quickly. The days of just throwing everything in the dustbin have gone and the advent of new technologies are upon us. The introduction of new technologies will play a huge role in the future of waste management.
Conclusion
Recycling is now a way of life and is here to stay. It has evolved over time from something that was carried out with no real thought behind it. The trusty rag and bone man was just working to make a living. Today, many blue chip firms are setting out plans for a ‘zero to landfill’ waste plan, where the objective is very obvious - reduce waste, reuse waste and recycle waste, but no waste must end up in landfill. Some companies have announced ambitious target dates by which to realize such policies.
Many houses across the country now have some kind of container in which to keep separate waste materials for recycling. The need to split up newspapers, aluminium cans and plastic bottles are almost common place. Whilst in industrial and commercial sectors, there is an increasing selection of items to think about for recycling such as printer cartridges, office paper, metal and electrical equipment.
Ideally the whole process would be a complete cycle such as it was in the days of the horse. However the advent of new technologies will accelerate further the way in which our waste is to be managed in the future, but it is highly improbable that we will ever reach the ultimate waste free society.