Your Questions About Recycling

The Expert answers:

When your at a job interview, you want to give that person eye contact, shake hand firmly, sit right in the chair, talk clearly, don’t show attitude, dress in a suit, no chewing gum, no curssing, be nice, tell him/her why you really want to be a HGV driver at a recycling. Tell him/her that you love to get along with a lot of people or love to meet new people…

The Expert answers:

Recycling saves trees.

This critical fact, one of the first environmental lessons many children learn, cannot be overstated. Half the Earth’s forests are gone, and up to 95 percent of the original forest area in the U.S. Has been cut down.

2. Recycling protects wildlife habitat and biodiversity.

Using recycled materials reduces the need to chop down, extract, process, refine and transport natural resources such as timber, crude petroleum and mineral ores. As a result, destruction of forests, wetlands, rivers and other places essential to wildlife is also reduced.

3. Recycling lowers the use of toxic chemicals.

Making products from already refined waste materials reduces — and often avoids altogether — the need for manufacturers to use toxic chemicals, essential when using virgin materials.

4. Recycling helps curb global warming.

Using recycled materials cuts down on the energy used in the manufacturing process, dramatically reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants. For example, recycling one ton of glass results in energy savings of more than 300% and lowers carbon dioxide emissions by 3.46 tons.

5. Recycling stems the flow of water pollution.

Making goods from recycled materials generates far less water pollution than manufacturing from virgin materials. Turning trees into paper uses more water than any other industrial process in the U.S., dumping billions of gallons of wastewater — contaminated with pollutants such as chlorinated dioxin — each year into rivers, lakes and streams. Paper recycling mills don’t pollute the water nearly as much, and almost always use less of it. In addition, some recycling plants use treated wastewater for the manufacturing process.

6. Recycling reduces the need for landfills.

Toxic pollution from landfills — including cyanide, dioxins, mercury, methane, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and lead — escapes into the air and leaches into groundwater.

7. Recycling reduces the need for incinerators.

Municipal waste incinerators spew out all kinds of air pollutants; in addition they produce contaminated ash. And they are often located in urban neighborhoods where they seriously threaten the health of the community. Keeping paper, glass, plastic and metal out of incinerators by recycling them cuts both how much incinerators pollute and how harmful the emissions are.

8. Recycling creates jobs and promotes economic development.

A recent study by the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission found that recycling added about $18.5 billion in value to the economies of 12 Southern states and Puerto Rico in 1995. A recycled newsprint mill in the Bronx, started by NRDC and a local community group, will create 600 permanent jobs and clean up an industrial site abandoned for a quarter of a century.

9. Cities may profit by selling recyclables.

While landfills are always dumping grounds for municipal money as well as garbage, cities with high recycling rates can actually make money selling recyclables when markets are good.

10. Buying recycled products contributes to the demand for more recycled products.

This will, in turn, save even more resources, reduce more pollution and protect more people’s health. On the other hand, as the size of the market grows, recycled products will cost less.

Hope that helped..

The Expert answers:

Recycling and composting diverted nearly 70 million tons of material away from landfills and incinerators in 2000, up from 34 million tons in 1990-doubling in just 10 years.

Every ton of paper that is recycled saves 17 trees.

The energy we save when we recycle one glass bottle is enough to light a light bulb for four hours.

Recycling benefits the air and water by creating a net reduction in ten major categories of air pollutants and eight major categories of water pollutants.

In the U.S., processing minerals contributes almost half of all reported toxic emissions from industry, sending 1.5 million tons of pollution into the air and water each year. Recycling can significantly reduce these emissions.

It is important to reduce our reliance on foreign oil. Recycling helps us do that by saving energy.

Manufacturing with recycled materials, with very few exceptions, saves energy and water and produces less air and water pollution than manufacturing with virgin materials.

A national recycling rate of 30% reduces greenhouse gas emissions as much as removing nearly 25 million cars from the road.
Recycling conserves natural resources, such as timber, water, and minerals.

Every bit of recycling makes a difference. For example, one year of recycling on just one college campus, Stanford University, saved the equivalent of 33,913 trees and the need for 636 tons of iron ore, coal, and limestone.

Recycled paper supplies more than 37% of the raw materials used to make new paper products in the U.S. Without recycling, this material would come from trees. Every ton of newsprint or mixed paper recycled is the equivalent of 12 trees. Every ton of office paper recycled is the equivalent of 24 trees.

When one ton of steel is recycled, 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal and 120 pounds of limestone are conserved.

Brutal wars over natural resources, including timber and minerals, have killed or displaced more than 20 million people and are raising at least $12 billion a year for rebels, warlords, and repressive governments. Recycling eases the demand for the resources.
Mining is the world’s most deadly occupation. On average, 40 mine workers are killed on the job each day, and many more are injured. Recycling reduces the need for mining.

Tree farms and reclaimed mines are not ecologically equivalent to natural forests and ecosystems.

Recycling prevents habitat destruction, loss of biodiversity, and soil erosion associated with logging and mining.

The Expert answers:

The cost of collecting, transporting and removing impurities from recycled items before re-use can be significant. These pre-production costs contribute to the final consumer cost of recycled items. This is why you currently pay more for most recycled items. Also keep in mind that the sellers you originally buy items from are not the same businesses who collect and sell your recycling, and neither of these businesses are the same as the producer of the recycled goods, which may differ from the distributor and the end-seller of the recycled items. Each of the above steps needs to make a profit, or the associated businesses would not remain in business. In short, you are not giving recycling back to the original seller, in most cases. Typically, the recycled goods seller does not simply jack up prices for no good reason. The real question is if it is worth an extra 5-10% in cost to reduce the pressure on natural resources when obtaining products. When you pay for recycled goods, they are often re-produced domestically; so your American money stays in American pockets. You are actually helping the existence of the different businesses I listed above. This creates or at least maintains American jobs. If you buy something that is made from non-recycled materials, it has a greater chance of being imported, or the raw materials to make it were more likely imported. Like you, I would like to see the price of recycled materials reduced. It would be great to receive a more competitive price, reduce pressure on the environment and keep cash in domestic circles. If recycled goods were household products rather than specialty items, the price would likely drop. Of course, if the price would drop, they might become household items…lol. As the demand for raw materials continues to increase globally, most recycled materials will become cheaper relative to new raw materials, making recycled goods less expensive to consumers in the long run. You may think I am crazy, but my prediction is that land fills and dumps will someday be mined for all of the plastic and perhaps the metals buried there. This may not occur in the next 10-20 years, but sometime during most of our lifetimes. The natural resources will become reduced and/or become very costly and it will be cheaper to sift through old garbage for certain local raw materials….

In answer to your car question, new technology (such as hybrid vehicles) have very high development costs. These costs must be passed on to the consumer. The technology will become cheaper as time goes by, unless replaced by another technology – fuel cell technology perhaps. The other question is if a more fuel efficient vehicle is worth more to the public. Is a compact fluorescent bulb worth more than a standard bulb? Ultimately companies charge what the public is willing to pay – and they do their “homework” in this region before releasing most products to the market. For some items, the public is smart and for others, they get taken…. You don’t mind paying $1.50 for a soft drink at a fast food restaurant that costs the company a few nickels total (cup, straw, lid and liquid), but you won’t pay 5 or 10% more for recycled goods? Most recycling industries do not have anywhere near the profit margin when compared to the beverage industry.

Ultimately you pay the amount for an item equal to what other people in your same area are willing to pay for that item, which is not always relative to what the item costs to make. Recycled goods are reasonably priced when you consider what is necessary for their production. If you are worried about getting ripped off by an industry or paying too much, think about what you drink and how little the ingredients cost relative to the price. Going green takes a relatively small percentage of your money in most cases when you think about it. You pay more for the car now and save on gas later, or you pay more for the c.f. Light bulb now and save on electricity later. “Green” is a new choice so we consumers scrutinize it heavily, while accepting other ridiculously high profit-making businesses that have been in existence for extended periods of time. I do think we could pay less for recycled goods, but there are many other industries where we should pay far less than the current prices.

The Expert answers:

Recycling protects wildlife habitat and biodiversity. Using recycled materials reduces the need to chop down, extract, process, refine and transport natural resources such as timber, crude petroleum and mineral ores. As a result, destruction of forests, wetlands, rivers and other places essential to wildlife is also reduced.

# Recycling lowers the use of toxic chemicals. Making products from already refined waste materials reduces — and often avoids altogether — the need for manufacturers to use toxic chemicals, essential when using virgin materials.

# Recycling helps curb global warming. Using recycled materials cuts down on the energy used in the manufacturing process, dramatically reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants. For example, recycling one ton of glass results in energy savings of more than 300 percent and lowers carbon dioxide emissions by 3.46 tons.

# Recycling stems the flow of water pollution. Making goods from recycled materials generates far less water pollution than manufacturing from virgin materials. Turning trees into paper uses more water than any other industrial process in the U.S., dumping billions of gallons of wastewater — contaminated with pollutants such as chlorinated dioxin — each year into rivers, lakes and streams. Paper recycling mills don’t pollute the water nearly as much, and almost always use less of it. In addition, some recycling plants use treated wastewater for the manufacturing process.

# Recycling reduces the need for landfills. Toxic pollution from landfills — including cyanide, dioxins, mercury, methane, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and lead — escapes into the air and leaches into groundwater.

# Recycling reduces the need for incinerators. Municipal waste incinerators spew out all kinds of air pollutants; in addition they produce contaminated ash. And they are often located in urban neighborhoods where they seriously threaten the health of the community. Keeping paper, glass, plastic and metal out of incinerators by recycling them cuts both how much incinerators pollute and how harmful the emissions are.

# Recycling creates jobs and promotes economic development. A study by the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission found that recycling added about $18.5 billion in value to the economies of 12 Southern states and Puerto Rico in 1995.

# Cities may profit by selling recyclables. While landfills are always dumping grounds for municipal money as well as garbage, cities with high recycling rates can actually make money selling recyclables when markets are good.

# Buying recycled products contributes to the demand for more recycled products. This will, in turn, save even more resources, reduce more pollution and protect more people’s health. On the other hand, as the size of the market grows, recycled products will cost less.

The Expert answers:

In south carolina they are about to open up a new coca cola recycling center which will create a little over a hundred 40 hour jobs a week

it is opening sometime next month i believe in spartanburg in South carolina (im repetitive >.<)

The Expert answers:

Odd jobs, babysitting, dog walker, landscaping, hauling, recycling.

Think out of the box!

Good luck!

The Expert answers:

Some reasons to recycle: http://www.homes-energy-efficient.com/re…

1. Creates manufacturing jobs – making stuff from recyclable materials
2. Reduces garbage volume to landfills
3. Reduces the cost of manufacturing because starting from scratch, mining raw materials and transporting them to manufacturing plant costs money.
4.conserves natural resources because less mining of natural resources required to keep up with current demand if we are manufacturing items from previously manufactured items.
5. Conserves energy because of reduced mining and transportation costs on raw materials
6. Reduces greenhouse gas emissions because the manufacturing process is shorter using recycled materials to begin with rather than starting from scratch.
7. Is earth friendly
8. Avoids the waste of just plain throwing things away that can be reused and re-manufactured for less.

Sorry I don’t have 25 reasons, but perhaps this helps a little.

The Expert answers:

Some reasons to recycle: http://www.homes-energy-efficient.com/recycle.html

1. Creates manufacturing jobs – making stuff from recyclable materials
2. Reduces garbage volume to landfills
3. Reduces the cost of manufacturing because starting from scratch, mining raw materials and transporting them to manufacturing plant costs money.
4.conserves natural resources because less mining of natural resources required to keep up with current demand if we are manufacturing items from previously manufactured items.
5. Conserves energy because of reduced mining and transportation costs on raw materials
6. Reduces greenhouse gas emissions because the manufacturing process is shorter using recycled materials to begin with rather than starting from scratch.
7. Is earth friendly
8. Avoids the waste of just plain throwing things away that can be reused and re-manufactured for less.

Sorry I don’t have 25 reasons, but perhaps this helps a little.