Changing waste into energy
Throughout history, recycling has been around in one guise or another. Even as long ago as 400 BC evidences of earlier recycling are recognized to have happened. Archaeological reports show that ancient waste dumps contained fewer of what is known today as household waste, including pots, tools and ash, which shows that men and women were, even in those days, keen to reuse materials during a period when natural resources were not so freely available.
Indeed it may be argued that the old 'rag-and-bone' man was just an early recycler collecting unwanted goods on his horse and cart, before reusing or turning the accumulated items into new things.
During periods such as the World War Years, recycling and re-use were common place as natural materials became a lot more difficult to get. Along with food being rationed, certain materials such as metal and fibre were largely allowed just for use by the government in support of military operations, to meet manufacturing requirements often in the production of weaponry.
As a consequence of rising energy costs, the need to recycle aluminium increased in the 1970's.. As a material aluminium uses significantly less energy during the production process than alternative materials. Plus it was much sought-after as a result of its non rusting attributes. The demand for aluminium saw the rise of scrap metal dealers who were willing to pay cash in exchange for good quality metal. In addition, in the 70's in parts of the United states, the first trucks were seen to be collecting waste with a separate trailer for collection of recyclable materials being towed behind the vehicle.
Into the late 1980's, early 1990's and as the awareness of managing the worldwide environmental state heightened amongst international governments, the focus upon recycling really started to gather momentum. In the United Kingdom, the government imposed recycling targets upon Local Authorities and with the introduction of the fresh legislation upon the waste products industry, recycling initiatives really began to take off. The once commonly knownwaste disposal corporations, began to call themselves waste management specialists and demonstrated with the offer of waste collection and recyclable materials collection that waste had to be handled more effectively.
Currently, many hundreds of materials and products can be recycled, starting from paper, card, glass and plastics, to mobile phones, electrical items, printer cartridges, textiles, clothing and concrete.
What Exactly is Recycling?
The term recycling identifies the operation of converting second-hand resources into new or nearly new products avoiding the need for potentially useable materials or products to be dumped. Essentially it is diverting waste away from landfill.
Recycling plays a key role in a world where climate change is high on the green agenda. It helps to reduce the need to unnecessarily send waste products and products to landfill or other waste disposal options. Consequently this diminishes the need and the reliance upon consuming fresh or new raw resources, cuts back energy use and air and rain water pollution, that all contribute to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Significant contributions to improving the environment.
Recycling would probably be mostnoticeable through the recycling services now provided by local authorities for domestic refuse and recycling collections and by modern waste management firms who typically provide a full range of waste and recycling collection services. Some firms, who have in the past concentrated solely on the collection of recyclable products, are now increasing their service offering to collect general waste as well.
In recent years the recovery of energy from waste company has become a major green development for the benefit of all.
Within the waste materials market, the regular promotional activity is all around the waste material hierarchy - 'reduce, reuse, recycle and recover'. This 4 R slogan is a simple message created for a far reaching crowd. Look at ways to get rid of your waste. Can the waste material products or materials be reused? Can the waste product or material be recycled or retrieved? Many questions to take into consideration.
The waste hierarchy is often a strategy which many waste management firms and local bodies think about when producing new waste management schemes. The strategy is designed to concentrate the thought process around precluding waste material being produced to begin with. Take into account the options for reuse and recycling but ultimately minimise the amount of waste produced at the end of the cycle. The slogan has been adopted particularly well in the public sector.
So the emphasis is very much on the entire manufacturing process. The waste hierarchy stretches much wider than to waste material management firms and local authorities. Working groups have already been set up to bring many industries together to consider the whole waste cycle. By way of example, the manufacturer of a product must take into account the way the product is to be constructed. Can parts be used that can eventually be recycled or reused? Could the quantity of packaging that surrounds the item be cut down? When the item gets to the shop, is it necessary for the product to be placed within an outer package? If the retailer sells the item, what will the buyer do with the unwanted elements of the acquisition, i.e. the packaging? How will the packaging be stored and where will it go? Will it return to a recycling facility, for onward transfer to a reprocessing plant, in which the cycle begins yet again?
How are Materials Collected for Recycling?
Legislation now dictates that most waste must be treated to reduce the quantity of recyclables and unnecessary waste heading direct to landfill. Since 1996, the United Kingdom government has applied a landfill levy on all waste material disposed of within landfill. The rate of tax has increased considerably lately rising from the original level of £8 per ton, to today's rate of £40 per ton. The UK government has previously announced that this will increase further to £48 per ton from the end of 2010/11. This cost applies to all general waste streams, although there exists a lesser rate for inert materials. Delivering waste directly to landfill is an expensive option and locating appropriate solutions to divert waste out of landfill is now a priority.
Therefore, the message to everyone is crystal clear, segregate your waste materials to cut back the amount of waste going to landfill. Typically, both at home and at the office, the instant you place waste into the dustbin , it is forgotten about. Another person will collect it and take it away. Nowadays, in your own home and at your workplace, recycling is being stimulated via the supply of bins in which to place specific recyclable materials.
Some common materials to be seen being recovered for recycling are paper, card, glass, metals and plastics. However the possiblity to recycle many materials or products continues to grow. Although technically not seen as recycling, food waste and garden waste collections are increasing, where the food or garden waste material is taken back to a facility for processing into a reusable or saleable compost product.
As resources become more scarce energy recovery from our waste may be the only sensible way forward to get the vast demand for energy in this community.
The methods of collecting materials or waste material to be recycled is also growing and becoming more noticeable within local communities. Dedicated collection sites, known as bring bank sites, are cropping up in supermarket car parks to encourage customers of the store to return such objects as bottles, newspapers or card to the containers on their way into the store. Shoppers are therefore encouraged to return with their recyclables.
Local Authority waste collection crews or their appointed personnel will collect refuse and recyclables from the kerbside normally in front of your home. Collection from household premises generally continues to be the responsibility of the local council and many have employed the supply of bins in which to gather specified recyclable materials or products.
In the industrial and commercial category, waste material management companies offer different storage units where the customer deposits the correct waste materials stream or recyclable material ready for collection. The particular containers will usually be clearly tagged as to which recyclable product need to be put inside that container or bin. Alternatively, the bins will probably be colour coded to identify which recyclable wastes should be placed within which bins. Waste management companies also may have to deal with special requests from the customer.
One of the keys to a successful recycling initiative is homeowners about what can be recycled and how. In the commercial world getting the co-operation of shop floor employees is crucial. The introduction of any recycling scheme must ensure that in asking staff to separate waste for recycling, it does not become time consuming and affect the productivity of what employees should be doing in their work. The introduction of any recycling scheme should be kept simple.
The Recycling Process
Several collection solutions exist for the collection of the recyclable products . Whichever collection method is employed , the resources are taken to a drop off point where they'll be segregated from other waste products.
To begin the recycling process from a collection perspective, the more recyclable material which can be separated at source, i.e. at home or in the workplace, the more useful it will be for the waste collector. That's the reason separate storage units are provided to the waste producer to encourage segregation at source. If card can be collected on a vehicle, which will collect no other waste material, the card will be kept clean and for that reason will have an increased value when it reaches the processing plant. Likewise, specialist glass collection vehicles are used to collect solely glass. In addition to the obvious health and safety reasons and the weight of collected glass, it'll have a greater value if the collected glass load is not contaminated with other waste material.
Once collected, the recyclable resources are generally taken direct to a reprocessing plant, if the load contains only that particular type of material. So a dedicated glass collection truck could take the load directly to a glass processing plant.
If mixed recyclables are being collected like paper and card within the same container, it may be required for the collector to take the load to a recycling centre to unload and permit the load to be segregated into distinct paper and card bundles for onward transport to a paper or card processing plant. Whatever technique is used, the recyclable material collected will usually be segregated or washed before proceeding through to a reprocessing facility to be processed to a new useful resource and eventually used as something new or in manufacturing.
Recycling has now develop into a way of life and it is pretty straightforward to set up waste recycling systems at home or in fact in a organisation or work environment.
The Increasing Importance of Recycling
In the UK close to 35% of waste material collected from households is recycled or composted. Whilst in the commercial and industrial community, the volume of waste material sent to landfill has dropped considerably recently and the volume of waste material now being diverted for recycling or reuse by this market has increased above the amounts going to landfill. But there is still much to be done to boost rates even more within this sector.
Landfill continues to play a vital role in the control of waste across the UK as not all waste items are able to be recycled and some are more suited to landfill disposal than by any other means. Nevertheless, it's not just the increasing costs of getting rid of waste directly in landfill that is making recycling a far more appealing option for companies. Landfill is becoming scarce, with certain authorities hinting that the quantity of void available across all UK landfill sites, has less than ten years existence remaining before all sites are deemed to be full.
In recent years, waste management firms have had to change their focus, and start to consider and invest in technology, like energy from waste facilities, anaerobic digestion plants and mechanical biological treatment plants, as alternatives to landfill. Local Authorities have also adapted their attitudes by commencing comprehensive strategic reviews as to how waste under their jurisdiction must be taken care of. In some cases this has meant that unitary authorities are implementing plans to introduce long term deals, usually around 25 years in length, through which to regulate their entire waste material management demands. These deals will often include the need to build a facility through which to take care of all waste produced across the region by sorting all waste streams. The deals may also include the collection of all waste and recyclables from homes across the region. So the face of waste management has been evolving rapidly. The days of simply throwing every little thing in the dustbin have vanished and the development of new technologies are upon us. The introduction of new technologies will play a huge role in the future of waste management.
Summary
Recycling is now a lifestyle and is here to stay. It has evolved over the years from something that was undertaken without any real thought behind it. The trusty rag and bone man was just trying to make a living. Today, many blue chip companies are setting out plans for a 'zero to landfill' waste plan, where the objective is very obvious - reduce waste, reuse waste and recycle waste, but no waste must finish up in landfill. Some companies have announced ambitious target dates by which to accomplish such plans.
Many homes across the country now have some kind of container in which to isolate waste for recycling. The decision to split up newspapers, aluminium cans and plastic bottles are almost common place. Whilst in industrial and commercial areas, there is an increasing list of items to take into account for recycling such as printer cartridges, office paper, metal and electrical equipment. Even on street corners and airports you see bins to recycle such items as newspapers and drink cans.
Ideally the whole process would be a complete cycle such as it was in the days of the horse. However the advent of new technology will increase further the way in which our waste is to be managed in the future, but it is highly improbable that we will ever reach the ultimate waste free society.