Recycling Recovers Valuable Natural Materials and Saves Natural Resources
We are depleting our limited natural resources heavily. Particularly nowadays we increasingly exploit the disposable products and packaging for the conveniences of ourselves. Through recycling, we transformed the used materials into new products reducing the consumption of limited natural resources. Sometimes, recycling can produce products that are better than the products made from virgin materials.
Recycling Saves Energy and Indirectly Reduces the Pollution
Recycling can saves energy that consumes of scarce fossil fuels and generates various toxic polluting fluid emissions. Supplying industrial recycled materials use less energy than supplying natural raw materials. The processes of supplying recycled materials usually include collection, treatment, and transportation of the materials. Supplying the natural materials includes the processes of extraction, refining, transportation and treatment. These activities involved in supplying the natural materials require extremely intensive energy. As a result, use the recycled materials saves energy. For example, according to the city of Gainesville,
In 1996, the energy saving resulting from recycling was equal to the amount of energy used in 4 million households annually… recycling aluminum uses 95% less energy than producing aluminum from raw material. Recycling old paper instead of using new timber to produce paper uses 60% less energy. The energy saved from recycling steel each year alone is enough to power the City of Los Angeles for eight years.
Recycling Reduces the Damage to the Environment
Recycling Reduces Landfills:
Landfill is a popular and relatively cheap way of dealing with the solid wastes up to now, however landfills are infamous among the neighborhood and take up the precious space. As indicated by the City of Gainesville, “for every cubic yard of material recycled, there is one less cubic yard of landfill space required.”
Recycling Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Reduces Air Pollution:
The dramatic increase of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere over the last century is primarily due to burning fossil fuels for energy. Recycling reduces the amount of energy consumed by industry and transportation and reduced the carbon dioxide released from burning the coal, oil, natural gases, gasoline, diesel, and methane generated by landfills and other greenhouse gases. Therefore, recycling prevents the global warming and the air pollution. Moreover, the recycling effectively reduces the pollution and toxic chemicals released by the extraction, and treatment of the virgin materials.
Recycling Reduces Water Pollution:
Recycling reduces various pollutants entering surface water. Recycling reduces the wastes that produced in the extraction, refining and processing of the natural materials. Recycling especially reduces the liquid wastes produced in processing the minerals include toxic chemicals such as carbon monoxide, ammonia, and sulfur dioxides. Landfills often contain dangerous and hazardous materials disposed improperly. These landfills release toxic chemicals polluting the groundwater. Moreover, some commonly used substance can pollute the water very easily, however they are not usually taken serious but they are dangerous to the environment and human heath in long term. For instance, only one gallon of used oil can pollute one million gallons of drinking water.
[Courtesy of: WE Energies, Inc.]
Section I: Introduction
Section II: Present (YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN THIS SECTION)
Section III: Future
Complete Table of Contents
Reference