Your Questions About Recycling
by
Filed under Recycling Q & A
Richard asks…
How should we punish people for putting their recycling in the garbage?
Putting recycling in the garbage is wrong in every conceivable way and has absolutely no redeeming qualities. It’s one of the few things that are detrimental to the environment and the economy at the same time.
How do we get people to take this seriously? People should be publicly whipped for putting their recycling in the garbage. Maybe that will get people to do it. The “please recycle” campaign is not working.
The Expert answers:
Water-boarding!
Donald asks…
Why is the recycling industry fighting a company that makes biodgradable plastic bottles?
I read in the Arizona Republic paper that they are against “Enso Bottles” a company that makes biodegradable plastic. I know recycling is a 400 billion dollar industry, but are they not still interested in saving the planet?
The Expert answers:
Very few industrial entities exist for purely altruistic reasons. I doubt it’s the entire recycling industry. And obviously a company that is manufacturing biodegradable plastic bottles is fabricating them from unrecycled plastic, which means those companies that recycle plastic can’t make money off their recycled materials. But many companies “sell” the public on their products by making claims that aren’t entirely true. It would be beneficial if the EPA ran tests on the so-called biodegradable plastics.
Thomas asks…
How does a recycling facility sort the different types of materials?
I am talking about facilities where they pick up all the paper, cans, glass, cardboard, etc. together in one container at the curbside and then have to sort them all out at the facility. The citizens do not do any sorting of the recycling materials on their own.
The Expert answers:
This is a really good question … I was excited when I found the answer in this document. The technology is so cool!
Ken asks…
How many kilowatt hours would i save by recycling one aluminum can?
Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to power a 100-watt light bulb for 3.5 hours. Using this statistic, determine how many cans you would have to recycle to save enough energy to equal last month’s electric bill.
1. Determine the number of kilowatt hours save by recycling one can. Remember kilowatt is 1000 watts per hour
This is a question i have for school, and if anyone knows the answer can you please explain how you got it? Very confused!
The Expert answers:
Heidi,
It’s not a research problem – it’s just a math problem. They give you all the information you need. Units are your friend, here.
Energy saved = 100 watts * 3.5 hours = 350 watt-hours
But you don’t want watt-hours – you want kilowatt-hours. So make the watts go away:
350 watt-hours / 1000 watts/kilowatt = 0.350 kilowatt-hours
In problems like this, all you have to do is make the units come out right. The numbers will follow them!
James asks…
I want to start up a recycling factory as a career. What degree do I need to study for this?
My dream is to start up a recycling factory that caters to paper, plastic and possibly aluminium recycling. I’m not really sure which degree I need get for this career. I’m Thinking environmental science is best but, is there something more specific that i can choose to study. If so, which University is the best place to go for this in the East coast US?
The Expert answers:
Industrial engineering is more suitable the environmental science.
Lizzie asks…
How is copper wire recycled in a recycling plant?
I am doing a recycling project and for each item we use, we have to find out how it is recycled in the actual recycling plant.
The Expert answers:
In an effort to protect the environment, the county of Santa Cruz, California, offers its residents recycling and disposal facilities. Here, you can recycle a wide variety of items, including glass, cans, paper, cardboard, batteries, used motor oil, car filters and scrap metals. Copper falls under the “scrap metals” category — and its value has increased greatly as of 2011. In Santa Cruz, there are both buy-back recycling centers — where you can make money for your copper wire — as well as other recycling centers, where you can recycle simply to protect the environment.
William asks…
How could i start an aerosol can recycling program in my town?
I just noticed at my work how much of these things we use but in a small southern town not to many people care at all about recycling. How could i get a program started so people will recycle their aerosol cans rather than just dump them in the trash. I’m just an average citizen with limited funds and no city government connections so what could i do?
The Expert answers:
You should look up your county’s solid waste authority/department. They usually have someone dedicated to recycling (the recycling coordinator) who could discuss with you the options for recycling aerosol in your town. Recycling is usually a two way street though—people have to walk to recycle something and there needs to be someone on the industry side who wants the recycled goods. Hopefully the recycled end product is useful to someone in your area!!
Good luck!
Sharon asks…
Is recycling PAPER really good for the environment?
I have to do a project on a comparison, but I have heard that it is better to grow new trees then recycling old paper? Is recycling really good or is it bad for the environment?
The Expert answers:
Recycling paper is the best option BUT……(also in response to the answer which stated that it uses less chemicals and “Im in the printing industry”) It is only better if consumers use recycled paper responsibly and with an education on “recycled”. Most paper that gets the wonderful stamp of “recycled” usually only has a fraction of post consumer content. A large portion of the “recycled” paper is paper that is recycled directly inside the paper company. If we are talking about post consumer recycling, there are some problems.
1. If we want that nice sparkling white paper, we are using a LOT of chemicals to turn pretty gross looking post consumer pulp into paper. (Basically the post consumer recycled paper that gets used for…yup you guessed it , printing. Because very few self respecting printers want their wedding invitations, funeral announcements, business cards, etc. Looking like they were printed on a combo of newspaper and dryer lint, which is what most post-consumer recycled paper looks like. Also the dispersal of ink on this type of paper is horrendous.) It is a little known fact that we use massive amounts of chemicals first to break down the post consumer paper and then turn it minty white. I would argue that we use MORE chemicals to recycle paper into printing paper than to use a virgin source. Now it becomes an argument over how badly and at what quantity we need pure white paper.
2. If we can live with paper being a little colored and/or ugly, then we have to DEMAND as consumers that anything that doesn’t need to be white (bags, packing materials, wrapping paper, etc.) ALL gets made from post consumer recycled paper. This cuts the quantity of chemicals used down considerably. Then if we need pure white paper for a special project (graduation announcements) we can use “virgin” paper for that.
3. We need to DEMAND that the government use recycled paper for everything. Imagine the cutback in tree use simply from this avenue.
Also It is nothing like recycling metal. (Which also has problems in that it uses massive amounts of energy, further increasing our reliance on our military/industrial complex and uses massive amounts of fresh water which is fast becoming scarce.) Metal can be re-smelted ad infinitum. Not so with paper. Eventually the pulp becomes unusable to the paper industry.
John asks…
How do I start recycling in a apartment complex?
I am the resident manager and would like to start a recycling program in our apartment complex. I placed small garbage cans by the mailboxes for paper products, but what else would help the tenants do their part when it comes to the laundry detergent bottles, plastic bottles and other items?
The Expert answers:
We just moved to an apartment complex and I thought the same recently. People are terrible about just leaving junk mail on the floor and I wish we had a small garbage can there too. We have a trailer thing a couple blocks from us for recycling but I doubt anyone here uses it by the look inside our dumpster. I wish they would put one next to our dumpster/ maybe you could do that. Maybe make some type of one for those plastic and cans. I think people are just too lazy to take it a few blocks. You might want to send them a flier about it.
If it directly effects your garbage pick up (money) , you might use that as incentive to help keep down costs and possibly keep their rents lower. Unfortunately our rent isn’t tied into it or the town doesn’t require recycling to hold down costs. The only thing they have for the can usage in this town is a drop off for to upkeep the parks.
Also you might want to put on that flier a web site for recycling. It would cut down on the furniture and other things being thrown in the dumpster. A great one is recycle.com and you can get it by your zip code. Check it out. I also belong to another web site. (City’s name) Sell it cheap.com. You could even start one yourself. Both are under Yahoo groups and free to join,. Everything on there is suppose to be free or under $50. They have everything from furniture, stoves, exercise equipment, pets, etc, The idea of all of them is to keep it out of land fills.
Powered by Yahoo! Answers