How To Recycle Waste Efficiently

When something is recycled, waste materials get converted into new products, which in turn reduces the need to mine natural resources.

Apart from conserving vital resources for future generations, recycling minimizes energy consumption.  As Grease-Cycle.com explains, it has been said that the usage of recycled materials has a lot less energy requirement than the amount used in the extraction of new raw materials. This is, however, subjected to change based on the said product.

The considerable reduction in a landfill is also an important plus point that we should keep in mind while understanding why we need recycling in general. During recycling, recyclable materials are reprocessed to form new products, considerably reducing the total amount of garbage and trash that is being sent to the landfills. This, in turn, reduces methane emission, which is one of the chief gases contributing to the greenhouse effect, and consequently, global warming.

Here, I list some of the basic methods you can apply to recycle day to day waste that you encounter in your everyday life.

1. Paper:

In our household, one of the most generated waste is paper. It makes up a staggering 25 percent of metropolitan solid junk that is generated each year. In most countries, paper recycling is very common, partially because it's feasible for the general public. Americans recycled nearly 66 percent of the paper they used in 2017.

Most of the recycled paper is used in making cardboard boxes, newspaper materials, paper products, and so forth. There are large scale community or office programs that accept papers that can be recycled.

2. E-waste:

Americans generate two million tons of e-waste each year. Avoid adding to that waste by recycling your old technology.

Electronics donation and recycling is a great way to help conserve resources and natural materials. It is important to make sure you are donating and/or recycling electronics safely and correctly.

3. Glass:

Glass can be recycled many times over without it degrading, so this infinite usage means that no further raw materials need to be used in order to create more. ... Save energy and reduce carbon emissions by using recycled glass – every 1000 tonnes of recycled glass that gets melted down saves 314 tonnes of CO2.

The UK currently recycles around 50% of container glass. For Switzerland and Finland, the numbers reach as high as 90%.

Recycled glass is used to make an array of new products, which often includes new bottles and jars, as well as glass wool insulation for homes. This helps in energy preservation.

What you can do is, not throw away your glass bottles, and instead give them away to your local municipality when they come to collect the garbage. You can also reuse the glass bottles and make floral designs on them, turning them into flower vases.

4. Plastics:

Recycling takes 88% less energy than making plastic from raw materials while helping in the reduction in fossil fuel consumption. They take centuries to break down in landfill or in the ocean by natural bacteria.

Most plastics can only be recycled once or twice before they are downcycled.

Don't throw away your plastic waste into landfills. Keep them stored. Reuse coffee creamer containers for snack storage. You could also make a DIY plastic bottle planter! Reuse laundry detergent bottles, turning them into a watering can for plants.

CONCLUSION:

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”

– Robert Swan, Author.

Remember, you can be the change that drives everyone around you. We understand that work and life pressures might just not permit you to take on creative measures in handling all your domestic waste. If that is the case, perform the basic duties of junk removal from your house, and rest the waste collection duties on the local municipality. And remember! Don't pollute.