Recycling is the process of transforming discarded materials, which would otherwise be land-filled or combusted, into finished goods or raw materials that can be reutilized to make new products.
The recycling process includes the activities of collecting recyclable materials that has been discarded, separating the materials according to type, cleaning, treating and remanufacturing these collected “waste” materials into new useful materials or finished products. Many things that are considered "waste" materials (such as used paper, empty aluminum or plastic bottles, glass, etc.) are currently some of the materials that can be recycled for reuse.
According to www.dictionary.com, recycling can be defined as "extracting useful materials from garbage or waste, extracting and reusing useful substances found in waste, or reconditioning and adapting to a new use or function."
Recycling is not a new invention. The practice of recycling has started for hundreds and even thousands of years. There are two different main ways of recycling, natural and human. Our project will only focus on the human ways of recycling.
Natural Ways of Recycling:
Natural decay or composting process decompose and leaves and other dead organic matter.
Human Ways of Recycling:
The reshape and reuse of the metal product in ancient times.
In the ancient cultures, people started the making of metal products. Human were able to melt down broken items like pots or swords and make new ones.
A curbside recycling program were started in 1895 in the New York City, in which New York City residents separated their wastes into different bins divided by organic materials, papers, ashes, and general trash. In 1690, paper recycling initiated in Philadelphia in America in which people remanufactured used cotton rags into recycled paper.
The major impetus for recycling has been wars. More recently, during World War I and II, large amount of paper material and metal products were collected for the war effort, which was propagandized and encouraged by the Government. For instance, the American federal government created the Waste Reclamation Service in the World War I. The waste Reclamation Service encouraged people to save old rags and waste paper, as well as to conserve natural resources as a whole. In addition, George Washington and Paul Revere urged patriots to contribute old iron kettles and other scrap metals for reprocessing into armaments. Furthermore, during the extensive recycling programs initiated in World War II, more than 20,000 "salvage" committees staffed by volunteers mobilized millions of Americans to set aside scrap iron, rubber and even kitchen grease for the war effort. However, recycling became less popular in the 1940’s and 1950’s, when land filling as a way to dispose of trash became relatively cheap.
The modern recycling movements started in the 1970's when numerous drop-off recycling centers were set up across the country. The first bottle bill in the nation called Oregon broke ground in 1972, tacking on a deposit to the sale of beverage containers. Afterwards, the recycling with curbside collection became more popular in the late 1980’s and 1990’s.
For complete timelines of Waste and Recycling, please click on the links below.
2.) Timeline of Recycling
Section I: Introduction (YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN THIS SECTION)
Section II: Present
Section III: Future
Complete Table of Contents
Reference