Your Questions About Recycling

The Expert answers:

No.

The Expert answers:

Well no one can really answer that. It helps if you pick out one that you feel strongly about. Try picking out like ten from that list then re-post this to get peoples’ opinions and the pros/cons.
I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.
Good luck.

The Expert answers:

The word ‘recycle’ means not wasting our natural resources. I feel this word has been commercially overused that it has lost it’s original meaning and purpose. We need to recycle becase our earth’s natural resources are exhausted and our rubbish are getting too much that we don’t have any space for them! Don’t be fooled by commercials mis-using the name ‘recycled products’ and make you buy unneccessarily! Think about if you really need a new item, if not, use the old one, or simply forgo buying one. As for every new product designed and produced, it has to make sure that the end product’s material can be recycled in a cost efficient way. You noticed the three arrows forming a triangle shape at the bottom or back of some products, that means those are able to be recycled. I read somewhere that Amsterdam recycles >70% of it’s waste, and it is a country worth studying. By the way, Amsterdam is also the headquarter of Greenpeace International that strives to protect our environment.

Many items can be recycled. Example, plastic comes from crude oil deep in earth. It goes through various processes (heat + chemical reactions) to form long chain of polymers call plastic. It takes 1000 over years for plastic to degrade. The long years needed for plastic to degrade is one reason why plastic is the number one product that need recycling, the other reason may be the rise in oil price, or rather the dimishing oil in our earth due to over drilling. Recycling of plastic may cost more time and money in terms of more man power needed in collecting the used plastic, and more processes are involved in breaking down the polymer and ‘re-chain’ them into usable ones. But with time and advance in technology, the processes will be improved and refined. However, the collection of used plastic requires people to have the right mind-set and throw what can be recycled and what not into the right bin.

Another example is paper and wood. They comes from trees, and trees help balance the ecosystems in terms of oxygen/carbon dioxide levels. Not only that, it is food and home for many species of animals. Ever since the commercialization of paper began, people over-cut trees to the point of extinction. Only recently human realised this mistake and begin reforesation. Sadly, the original forests can never be remake again.

Besides the above two common items, another ‘non-visible’ item is energy, which is under the world’s top most important item to conserve. Energy comes from burning of fuels, and from more ‘environmentally friendly'(depending on how the sources are extracted) sources like wind, water (hydro) and sun (solar). Again, due to increase in oil price, many countries are looking into the green sources. Recycling of energy takes the form of conservation. For end users, that means switching off whenever not in use of the electronic items. Keeping electronics in top working conditions will save the amount of energy used too.

Electronic items like computer, tv, etc can be recycled but not many companies want to do that because it is costly and not commercially viable. Hence, we the end users can play a part by prolonging our electronics’ life span. Do maintain them regularly, and repair them whenever possible instead of throwing away.

Clothes/garments are made of either man-made or natural fabrics. Examples are cotton, linen, silk and wool for natural; and polyester, acetate, and nylon for man-made fabrics. Natural ones come from plants, except for silk which is from worms. As for man-made, again, it comes from crude oil/chemicals. So, it is important to recycle clothes as well as they uses natural resources. I used to study fashion design and worked in the garment industry for many years, until it comes a time when I realise tons and tons of garments are generated and dumped, and this means so much natural resources wasted just like that. Do we really need to wear so many clothings? True beauty is in the mind and body, not the clothes. We just have to dress appropriately and suit our individual styles, but we do not need to change our dressings all the time.

Water is also important source that many countries are recycling. The one I know of is treatment of home or industrial waste water and reuse them for flushing toilets, or for some more advanced countries, drinking water! One way home users can recycle water is use a basin to wash face, a cup to brush teeth, instead of using hands to cup the water while the tap is running all the while. Property developers play a big part in making sure that the buildings or houses built come with water recycling system, whereby the used water is reuse back as flushing water at least once before going into the nation’s treatment plant.

Not sure if this is the answer you are looking for, but your question sure prompt me to think about all the above. Conclusively, whether recycling works depend on consumers and of course the individual organizations and government to work together.

The Expert answers:

You should definitely check with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. They can guide you through the permitting process for creating an “active” facility. Also, they sponsor a low interest recycling loan program. If I remember correctly (and it may have changed..) the interest rate starts at the current prime rate and goes down based on your credit rating.

Florida is a very good state for looking at increasing recycling in (I know…I live there!). Regarding the business side of things, you need to check with the Deparment of Business and Professional Regulation about getting an “official” business created. You’ll also need to check with your county for a permit as well.

In terms of getting material, you would best be served checking with the local restaurants and seeing what they are doing with their grease/oil now. If they are charging, you should look to see if you can charge less (and you should charge….garbage removal is a valid service that businesses should pay) but enough less to entice them to choose you over their current solution.

You should also check into the new energy bill that was signed by the President. Despite the negative publicity around it because it doesn’t do much (and it really doesn’t…) I believe it did re-fund certain programs through various Federal agencies (both grant & loan) that are focused on alternative fuels production/infrastructure.

Hope this helps!

The Expert answers:

Go to college for four years, become a chemical engineer and then pony up about a million or so dollars for the hardware and raw materials to build the world’s smallest cat cracker that might produce a cup of gasoline per day. Oh, and don’t forget to tell the EPA and the other regulatory agencies so they can inspect your facility for safety and environmental control.

There’s a reason that catalytic crackers are huge (and very expensive) affairs. They wouldn’t make any money if they were small.

But, basically, they are stills, using special materials as surfactants. They also require a great deal of maintenance and waste disposal.

If you want to do something useful with used motor oil, send it to the oil-change place for recycling – you’ll be doing everyone a favor.

The Expert answers:

One common waste stream includes plastic quart containers from do-it-yourself (DIY) oil changes. When DIYers do not drain these containers sufficiently, there remains an ounce or so of oil inside the container after the DIYer empties the container into their crankcase.

Then, because most municipalities cannot recycle these containers – the residual oil contaminates the batch of recyled plastics, the only alternative is for DIYers is to throw the containers into the trash. Then if the trash is landfilled, the oil can potentially reach ground water, if the liner is breached.

To reduce the amount of oil in the containers (and therefore the amount going to a landfill) would be to invert them and allow them to more fully drain – this might take 12 hours – there are actually devices that are designed to hold 4 or 5 inverted containers that conveys the drained oil to a collection vessel.

Another solution is for municipalities to adopt recycling pre-processing that can separate oil from the plastic container – some are cryogenic-type processes.

The Expert answers:

The 3,000 Mile Oil Change MythBy Bill Siuru, Greencar.com provided by: According to a recent study by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, 73 percent of California drivers change their oil more frequently than required. This same scenario no doubt repeats itself across the country. Besides wasting money, this translates into unnecessary consumption of $100-a-barrel oil, much of it imported.
Using 2005 data, the Board estimates that Californians alone generate about 153.5 million gallons of waste oil annually, of which only about 60 percent is recycled. Used motor oil poses the greatest environmental risk of all automotive fluids because it is insoluble, persistent, and contains heavy metal and toxic chemicals. One gallon of used oil can foul the taste of one million gallons of water.
» Article provided by GreenCar.com
It’s been a misconception for years that engine oil should be changed every 3000 miles, even though most auto manufacturers now recommend oil changes at 5,000, 7,000, or even 10,000 mile intervals under normal driving conditions.
Greatly improved oils, including synthetic oils, coupled with better engines mean longer spans between oil changes without harming an engine. The 3000 mile interval is a carryover from days when engines used single-grade, non-detergent oils.
For several years, automakers like General Motors, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz have installed computerized systems that alert drivers via an instrument panel light when it’s time to change oil. As an example, the General Motor Oil Life System (GMOLS) analyzes the engine temperature, rpms, vehicle speeds, and other driving conditions to calculate the rate of engine oil degradation. Then, software calculates when the oil needs to be changed. Other systems work similarly.
Because of the many external conditions and parameters that have to be taken into account, calculating the precise maximum service interval using mathematical models alone is difficult. Now, Daimler AG has developed a more direct and precise way to monitor oil quality directly on board a vehicle.
Daimler uses a special sensor integrated into the oil circuit to monitor engine oil directly. Oil doesn’t wear out, but rather dirt and impurities cause oil to lose its ability to lubricate properly, dictating the need for a change. Daimler uses the oil’s “permittivity,” that is, the ability to polarize in response to the electric field. If the engine oil is contaminated by water or soot particles, it polarizes to a greater extent and its permittivity increases.
To evaluate the quality of the oil, permittivity is measured by applying an AC potential between the interior and exterior pipes of an oil-filled sensor to determine how well the oil transmits the applied electric field.
Because not all impurities can be measured with sufficient precision via the electric field method, Daimler also measures the oil’s viscosity to detect any fuel that may have seeped into the oil. Daimler researchers measure viscosity while the vehicle is in motion by observing the oil’s side-to-side motion in the oil sump. The slower the oil moves, the higher its viscosity. This movement is registered by a sensor and the viscosity is calculated on this basis.
A single sensor, along with the information already monitored by on-board computers, is sufficient to determine the various parameters of the engine oil. Daimler will likely use the technology first on its commercial vehicles. Here, large oil reservoirs mean larger quantities of oil can be saved. Plus, a predicted 25 percent increase between service intervals and reduced downtime will be of interest to fleets, and thus justify the added cost of installation.

The Expert answers:

That`s what you mean? Waste vegetable oil ( WVO ) :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetable_oil_used_as_fuel
and some more links:
http://www.wvofuels.com/
http://www.oilskim.com/skimmer_ad.asp?src=Google_recycle_waste_oil

The Expert answers:

Build a waste oil burner that you can use to melt aluminum cans with
http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/oilburners03.html