Your Questions About Recycling

The Expert answers:

Yes they are recyclable. Just take a look on the bag if they have the recycle symbol on them, than they are. Some may not have the recycle symbol on , but may have a plastic code rather than the symbol.
1 PETE, polyethyl tetraethylenei
2 HDPE, high density polyethylene
3 V, vinyl
4 LDPE, low density polyethylene
5 PP, polypropylene
6 PS, polystyrene

most cities are only equipped to recycle polyethylene, codes 2 and 4. (probably the source of the idea that most of them aren’t recyclable)
the reason many things aren’t recyclable, is because the expense to ship them to a facility that is equipped to recycle them would be too great.
Another reason, is that many plastic containers, even though recyclable, may contain hazardous chemicals that recycling centers may have problems dealing with, or may cause injury.

And of course, biodegradable plastic isn’t recyclable at all.
But the biggest problem with plastic grocery bags not being recycled, is people would rather think of them as non-recyclable, because it is easier to throw them in the garbage can than recycle them.(see a common belief structure arising from habits that aren’t environmentally friendly?)

in the past, plastic grocery bags were not biodegradable and likewise couldn’t be recycled, because no one was equipped to recycle them.
Now more and more facilities are being built that can recycle more plastics, since we have become aware that plastic does pose a real threat to the speed at which landfills fill up.(wouldn’t doubt prior to current knowledge there were those skeptics that argued that there was no credible evidence to prove this would happen)

also, research is currently being done to make plastic bags out of sugar polymers so they will degrade much quicker. But the only problem with that, is if you bury even organic matter, without turning the refuse so it will be able to be degraded aerobically, it takes far longer for it to decompose.
There have been instances where even bananna peals have been dug up from landfills years later, showing very little signs of degradation. Does that mean they aren’t biodegradable? No, it just means better disposal practices need implemented to make sure degradation occurs much quicker.

But it always a better practice to use objects, whether they are bags or anything else, that you don’t have to recycle or throw away, but can use over and over again.

The Expert answers:

Municipal recycling is when the city or munipality takes the initiative in managing recyclables. The City of Edmonton, in Alberta is a pioneer in this area. It runs a free- to-participants recycling program involving blue bags, where consumers put a wide variety of plastic, glass and paper items out for pick-up at the same time as their garbage. It is collected separately by special trucks that come around behind the gabage trucks. If you go to the link below, you can check out all manner of city of Edmonton initiatives for reducing garbage. They have initiatives such as re-use fairs, master composter/recycler volunteer training and numerous other initiatives that reduce garbage going to our landfills. I’m proud of my city for doing this.

Some cities such as Calgary and Winnipeg, charge individuals extra if they want to reduce their garbage by recycling. In fact they penalize those who are the most concious of their waste. Edmonton incorporates it in a universal fee that is part of the utility bill. We also have city composting of all garbage waste that is compostable, but we also encourage people to take their compostables out ahead of time and compost them in backyard composters. It helps that Alberta is mostly rat-free.

The Expert answers:

Every place handles it just a little differently, but I can give you a general overview.

In most places, after the garbage truck has collected it and crushed it together, it’s taken to a transfer station. At the transfer station, it’s loaded onto trucks that are especially for transportation, because these hold more and it may be quite a long way to the nearest landfill.

Often, these trucks first take the waste to a materials recovery facility (MRF). At an MRF, magnets and the like are used to collect easily recyclable materials, like metals. Unlike plastics, recycling metals is often profitable. The process done at an MRF is not nearly as efficient at recycling materials as collecting recyclables separately, of course, but it is a lot cheaper. After the MRF, it’s taken to its final destination, usually either a waste-to-energy plant or a landfill.

At a waste-to-energy plant, garbage is burned at high temperatures to decrease the amount of it, and to generate energy. The downside to this is that it can heavily pollute the air, and you are still left with a mass of nonburnable waste, which is often toxic. These left-overs are taken to a landfill.

At a landfill, trucks are weighed, so that the owner can charge the garbage company depending on how much garbage they bring in. The trucks then dump their loads onto a big pile, and bulldozers run over it to flatten it and push it into hills, before covering it with soil (and often a protective covering, as well).

After this, bacteria will cause the decomposition of organic substances like food and yard waste. This goes slowly under the hot and sealed-off environment of the landfill; it would go faster out in the open. Eventually, though, the organic substances rot, releasing methane in the process. To prevent methane from forming a bubble and eventually exploding, landfills have ways to siphon off this methane, and often burn it for energy. (Methane is 20 times a stronger greenhouse gas than CO2, but burning one molecule of methane only produces 2 CO2 molecules, so burning methane is actually good for the environment.)

The substances that don’t rot take much longer to degrade. Let’s take a dirty diaper as an example: it contains a lot of cellulose (wood pulp), which is organic, and that part will degrade. The human waste in it will degrade as well. But the plastic parts of it will degrade only very slowly. Bacterial action can weaken it and break it apart only very slowly, meaning it will be around for thousands of years to come. Items like glass essentially never degrade, though they can break up into progressively smaller pieces.

Landfills that are “full” are sealed off with several layers of protective material, then covered in soil. Even though it still contains a lot of undegraded garbage, which may be toxic, a properly sealed-off landfill can be built on or used for other purposes. People often don’t want to live on a former landfill, and the land may be unstable (which could be dangerous in case of an earthquake), so closed-down landfills tend to be turned into parks and the like.

The Expert answers:

Where I live in CA, I get about $8 per big garbage bag full!

The Expert answers:

Use them as stuffing for other projects, like pin cushions, toys, pet beds, etc. If you can get a decent length of fabric from them, you could make glued flowers for embellishments on shirts, bags, etc.

Hope that helps!

The Expert answers:

Generally most recycling plants do not want the recyclable items in a plastic bag. In Western Australia anything in a plastic bag is automatically discarded to general rubbish from recycling plants.

The Expert answers:

Recycling involves the collection of used and discarded materials processing these materials and making them into new products. It reduces the amount of waste that is thrown into the community dustbins thereby making the environment cleaner and the air more fresh to breathe.

Surveys carried out by Government and non-government agencies in the country have all recognized the importance of recycling wastes. However, the methodology for safe recycling of waste has not been standardized. Studies have revealed that 7 %-15% of the waste is recycled. If recycling is done in a proper manner, it will solve the problems of waste or garbage. At the community level, a large number of NGOs (Non Governmental Organizations) and private sector enterprises have taken an initiative in segregation and recycling of waste (EXNORA International in Chennai recycles a large part of the waste that is collected). It is being used for composting, making pellets to be used in gasifiers, etc. Plastics are sold to the factories that reuse them.

The steps involved in the process prior to recycling include
a) Collection of waste from doorsteps, commercial places, etc.
B) Collection of waste from community dumps.
C) Collection/picking up of waste from final disposal sites.

Some items that can be recycled or reused
Paper Old copies
Old books
Paper bags
Newspapers
Old greeting cards
Cardboard box
Plastic Containers
Bottles
Bags
Sheets
Glass and ceramics Bottles
Plates
Cup
Bowls
Miscellaneous Old cans
Utensils
Clothes
Furniture
Most of the garbage generated in the household can be recycled and reused. Organic kitchen waste such as leftover foodstuff, vegetable peels, and spoilt or dried fruits and vegetables can be recycled by putting them in the compost pits that have been dug in the garden. Old newspapers, magazines and bottles can be sold to the kabadiwala the man who buys these items from homes.

In your own homes you can contribute to waste reduction and the recycling and reuse of certain items. To cover you books you can use old calendars; old greeting cards can also be reused. Paper can also be made at home through a very simple process and you can paint on them.

Waste recycling has some significant advantages.
– It leads to less utilization of raw materials.
– reduces environmental impacts arising from waste treatment and disposal.
– makes the surroundings cleaner and healthier.
– saves on landfill space.
– saves money.
– reduces the amount of energy required to manufacture new products.

In fact recycling can prevent the creation of waste at the source

The Expert answers:

Hi,

1) You should go the dump. They’ll have places for almost anything needed
for recycling.

2) If your local council offers a kerbside recycling scheme, take advantage and use it.

3) Collect all of them in another ‘recycling bin’ in your house. Once it’s all collected, or
once the bag is full you can try go to the dump and give it there.

4) Usually there are kerbside recycling bins, if not telephone and ask about recycling.

5) Start a campain in your area.

Please also take a look at this website:

http://www.recyclenow.com/

Hope it Helps 😀

The Expert answers:

We recycle:
aluminum cans,pie tins,foil
all glass containers
all paper,gift wrap,brown bags
plastic bags(ICK)
tin cans
all plastic-h2o,soda,shampoo,hairspray,cleaning bottles,etc.any plastic w/ the #1,2,3,4,5,7
eart911.org can tell you where to take cell phones,computers,& the like.
We also compost to reduce green waste.