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Part Seven, Issue 27

Part Seven, Issue 27. The Three R’s: Reduction, Reuse, and Recycling. Objectives. After reading the assigned chapter and reviewing the materials presented the students will be able to understand: How much municipal solid waste is recycled? What materials have the highest recycling rates?

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Part Seven, Issue 27

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  1. Part Seven, Issue 27 The Three R’s: Reduction, Reuse, and Recycling

  2. Objectives After reading the assigned chapter and reviewing the materials presented the students will be able to understand: • How much municipal solid waste is recycled? • What materials have the highest recycling rates? • Is recycling consistent with the principles of sustainability?

  3. Recycling • Paying people to recycle has tripled recycling rates in Philadelphia neighborhoods. • The bins are scanned (barcode records household address) at curbside and weighed and Recycle Bank Dollars coupons are issued that can be redeemed at various businesses or donated to charity. • The waste haulers offset this cost by reduced dumping fees and revenue from some of the recyclable material. • The 72.3 million tons of MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) that was recycled represents a recycling rate of 36.6 percent. • Auto batteries (93%) have the highest recycling rate (fig 27-2, page 295) and glass containers (22%) have the lowest recycling rate.

  4. Pre-consumer versus Post-consumer • The average American consumes over 700 pounds of paper a year (9 telephone pole sized trees), 90% of which is virgin (no recycled content). • Post consumer waste (PCW) is paper that has been previously used by the end consumer. • High PCW paper diverts material from landfills. • An alternative to both virgin and recycled paper is tree-free paper made from fibers such as hemp, sisal, abaca, wheat straw, corn, and banana stalks.

  5. E-Waste • In 2005, and estimated 63 million computers in the United States became “obsolete.” • Each CRT (Cathode ray tube) replaced by a flat panel television saves about 8 pounds of lead. • Hewlett-Packard has two recycling plants that process 1.5 million pounds of electronics a month. • About 50 to 80% of US e-waste is processed in China, India, Pakistan and other countries under largely unregulated, unhealthy conditions.

  6. Reduction and Reuse • An alternative to recycling is source reduction, which is the preferred method of waste management. • Source reduction refers to buying less, buying more durable products, buying products with reduced packaging, and buying products designed to be reused.

  7. The Future of Plastic • One of the problems with plastic recycling is that it does not “close the loop.” • Unlike paper and aluminum, post consumer plastic is not remanufactured into the same product that was recycled.

  8. Aluminum • The most common ore of aluminum is bauxite. • During processing, four tins of bauxite ore yield two tons of alumina. • The two tons of alumina further reduce to one ton of aluminum metal. • Refining aluminum from ore is extremely energy intensive, so most aluminum refiners are concentrated in areas where electric rates are abnormally low. • The Sierra Club and the Competitive Enterprise Institute favor the elimination of subsidies.

  9. Summary • The 72.3 million tons of MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) that was recycled represents a recycling rate of 36.6 percent. • Auto batteries (93%) have the highest recycling rate (fig 27-2, page 295) and glass containers (22%) have the lowest recycling rate. • The average American consumes over 700 pounds of paper a year (9 telephone pole sized trees), 90% of which is virgin (no recycled content). • Post consumer waste (PCW) is paper that has been previously used by the end consumer. • An alternative to both virgin and recycled paper is tree-free paper made from fibers such as hemp, sisal, abaca, wheat straw, corn, and banana stalks. • About 50 to 80% of US e-waste is processed in China, India, Pakistan and other countries under largely unregulated, unhealthy conditions. • Source reduction refers to buying less, buying more durable products, buying products with reduced packaging, and buying products designed to be reused. • Unlike paper and aluminum, post consumer plastic is not remanufactured into the same product that was recycled. • Refining aluminum from ore is extremely energy intensive, so most aluminum refiners are concentrated in areas where electric rates are abnormally low.

  10. Home Work • 1. What materials have the highest recycle rate and lowest recycle rate? • 2. What is an alternative to both virgin and recycled paper? • 3. What is source reduction?

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