Recycling is a huge part of the world’s collective fight against waste, pollution, and environmental collapse. It takes many forms but is most simply understood as any process that allows for the reuse of materials being discarded. Here are five fascinating facts about recycling.
Recycling Is A Huge Industry
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Recycling is a significant player in the US economy. The recycling industry employs 1.1 million Americans and generates 236 billion dollars in annual revenue, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
All Sorts Of Specialist Technology Supports It
The recycling industry is supported by a great deal of specialist technology. Researchers have developed new chemicals to break down plastics so that they can be reused. These are known as ‘compatibilizers’, and prevent recycled plastic made from several sources from becoming brittle.
The heavy machinery used in recycling plants is also constantly being updated. Balers – one of the most important machines in the recycling process – are becoming more efficient and tying up recycling with stronger, more reliable wire. Visit balingwiredirect.com to see a range of modern baling wires that you can choose from.
It Can Be Very Efficient
Recycling isn’t just useful for preventing waste – it is also sometimes more cost and energy-effective than making new objects. Recycled paper, for instance, takes 70 percent less power to produce than paper made fresh from tree pulp. Glass can be melted down and reused any number of times without losing its properties. Recycling can help humankind reduce the carbon footprint of global production.
We Can Do A Great Deal More Of It
Recycling is generally on the increase, but we still don’t do nearly enough of it. A whopping 91 percent of all plastic is not recycled. Researchers at the University of Georgia uncovered this rather horrifying statistic by taking a deep dive into global recycling trends. Increasing the percentage of plastics that get recycled is partially down to technological developments. All sorts of plastic get put in recycling bins and sent to plants, but it cannot usually be mixed together and so often has to be sent on to a landfill site where it can take up to 400 years to decompose.
Recycling plants are starting to use infrared lasers to identify different kinds of plastic during the sorting process. Data from these lasers is fed into a computer, which instructs a device capable of separating plastics from each other. Other plants are using experimental chemicals to allow different kinds of plastics to bond together successfully.
It Is Gravely Needed
Every year, humans throw away enough plastic to circle the world five times. As a species, in fact, humans are going through a crisis of accumulation. We live in an age where humanity is impacting the environment more than any other factor.
This has been dubbed ‘the Anthropocene’ by researchers. Recycling is essential. It is one of the concrete ways in which humanity can try and ensure that the Anthropocene is not the final epoch of life on earth as we know it.
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