Your Questions About Recycling

The Expert answers:

First, I’d ask myself what makes Florida unique in their approach to waste management. One thing pops to mind – the depth to groundwater. I think Florida generally has groundwater very close to the surface in much of the state. Therefore, any kind of land disposal practices, or recycling activities that could potentially release to the ground can have a dramatic impact on water quality.

Another thing about Florida that comes to mind, is that it has a lot of shoreline, hence many boaters. One little known aspect of this – at least to many people, is that boats of a certain size are required to carry safety flares. Safety flares, by law, have a shelf life, after which the flares must be replaced. Often the flares being replaced are ok to use as flares, but many boaters dispose of them inappropriately. That’s why many many thousands of flares wind up dumped in the water. Florida is one state that has developed on a county-by-county basis a way to manage these out of date flares. They get collected and burned in burn units, which just vent the emissions to the air. This can be an air problem.

The Expert answers:

They pay a rate for their garbage to be removed. If you reduce this then you can discuss a lower rate. Get a metal dumpster and put all scrap in it and another for cardboard and aluminium. Even oil that is kept seperate from other fluids can be sold for a few dollars a drum instead of paying for it to be took off. Can even use the oil in waste oil heaters. It is just a matter of collecting these things in a way that is effecent to take to the salvage yards that take them. Most of the hard part is to get people to start doing these things.

Rd

The Expert answers:

While i recognize the need for it, when i bought my house, it’s not near a recycling plant, or an oil refinery, or a dump, or high tension electric wires, or busy streets, or any of lots of other things i don’t like.

Yes, i would be concerned.
Is my concern justified?
I’m not sure.
I think it likely that most of those things wouldn’t be exceedingly harmful.
But not knowing which will eventually turn out to be bad, it seems prudent to me to avoid them all.

The Expert answers:

A single paper towel with a touch of oil on it isn’t quite hazardous waste. However if you had a lot oily towels then there is reason for concern.

Oily paper does not recycle well, so I usually place my oily paper towels in the solid waste. I typically use a used paper towel to check the oil level. When I say “used” that means I’ve already used the towel to clean windows or something not too dirty.

The Expert answers:

Are you talking about collection or acutal re-maunfacturing? With either, I envision all of the issues that go with increased traffic, noise, smell, and air pollution. Typically, we place these types of activities outside of neighborhoods and residential areas.

Due to the costs involved with most honest recycling and/or re-manufacturing facilities, they are larger and specialized by type of material. This means that any one facility will undoubtedly become a regional or world-wide handling facility for which recylcing refuge will be shipped, trained, and trucked in. In addition, if you are thinking in terms of a “one stop shopping” type of recycling and remanufacturing center, you are in actuallity speaking of multiple manufacturing facilities. And, you’re speaking of closer to a square mile or more of manufacturing and composting facilities/processes/plants. Every process has waste and in particular, manufacturing even if it is a re-manufacturing plant for recycled items. Lastly, full recycling and re-manufacturing is still in its infancy in terms of making re-useable product and, the types of items that compose our waste are still in flux (i.e. Types of plastics for example). Once this plant/or set of plants are built, they could just as likely become unusable or so costly to operate that they are then abandoned. Manufcturing ghost towns are negatively impressive if you’ve ever seen them.

Placing a waste recycling facility within a residential neighborhood, community, or even an abandonned plot of land has a lot of drawbacks and considerations that go beyond the simple NIMBY considerations.

The Expert answers:

Pressure wash the green wheelie after it’s next emptied so that you start with a clean bin, then make certain that any food leftovers that might attract flies are firmly wrapped in newspaper – several layers if necessary – before putting them in the bin. If the bin’s clean to start with, you might consider bringing it back into the garage, as at least then you’re likely to get less flies in it. Lakeland stores sell a biodegradeable powder to put in your wheelie to cut down on odour, but the key is in that wrapping. In South Cambridgeshire we’ve a fortnightly green bin collection, which is fine in winter, but when people complained about both maggots & rats in the summer, the council advised that meat products could be put in the general household ‘black’ wheelie collection in the summer months.

The Expert answers:

Here’s an older article on point but you’d need to sign up tyo read it

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-15277399.html

I’m not sure if you have a budget for your research but here is a link for ESP experts

http://www.intota.com/experts.asp?strSearchType=all&strQuery=electrostatic+precipitator

A great idea would be search a patent database to see what has been developed over the years.

In addition, this site may help if dig deep enough

http://www.neundorfer.com/knowledge_base/electrostatic_precipitators.aspx#pi4

Good luck!

The Expert answers:

A local gas station should have an answer for you. Try your local town hall officials, or call the EPA “Environmental Protection Agency”, they can assist you also. Good luck, thanks for caring about your environment.

The Expert answers:

Always recycle things that can be recycled. Food and stuff if you can be bothered have a compost heap. Landfill could be a problem, but burning certain things does as much harm sometimes.