Your Questions About Recycling

The Expert answers:

It can be mixed with waste motor oil.

The Expert answers:

Recycling is good but not perfect. Energy is used to convert less than 100% of the original product into a new one. Recycling helps reduces the RATE at which resources are being used up but only ABSTINANCE will stop the resource being used up.

Saying that, we could always mine the asteroids and have plentiful resources (except oil!) Just a couple of those Trillions of bail out bucks and the solar system would be our oyster.

The Expert answers:

Cold climate? Waste oil heater of course. See http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/me4.html for that.

Filters go in the crusher, the oil reclaimed of course. See http://www.oberg-crusher.com/automotive_filter_crusher.html

If the climate isn’t such that you would use your output in the heater, talk to a recycler about them putting in a tank for you. They will come and collect your oil where it will be cleaned up and recycled.

The Expert answers:

You reset it manually look for a slot to push your key into next to the odometor

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:

Plastics are used in wide range of things. So it is produced in a very huge amount and its convenience is undeniable. Recycling of plastic is very important because it is made from the oil which will cause the regular depletion of this limited resource. With the recycling of plastic we can save oil and can use it for longer time. Moreover recycling do not cause harm to the quality of plastics.
European community has recognized this problem of environment and plastic. So they have adopted Beverage Container Directive to save the raw materials and its affect on environment.

Plastics are found lying as wastes on the roadsides, beaches, hedgerows etc. They are not biodegradable so they do not decompose on their own and can harm environment. Moreover they affect the beauty of the place because of their visibility. So to deal with these problems there are two ways one is to use less plastics and other is to give the plastics in the recycling markets.

The most common type of plastic packaging we come across is large plastic bottles of soft drinks. These bottles cannot be refilled and used so the one way to use this plastic is to recycle. One more thing the plastic manufacturer can do is to make those qualities of plastic that can be easily recycled. Disposal of plastic is causing landfill and nearly 114000 tones of plastic packaging is disposed every year by local authorities

The Expert answers:

Phone whatever the waste management facility is in your area, they’ll have more detailed info. Burying it will only attract pests. All municipalities will have some sort of plan for dealing with oils since they don’t want it clogging up the sewers.

The Expert answers:

Here;s the first 7

1 – PETE Polyethylene Terephthalate : PET is one of the easiest plastics to recycle and also one of the most common plastics used by consumers. It is inexpensive, lightweight, and in high demand. PET is used in soda bottles, medicine containers, water bottles and many common food packages. It can be recycled back into bottles and containers or manufactured into polyester fibers, and can be picked up in curbside recycling programs.

2 – HDPE High density Polyethylene : HDPE is also a readily recyclable plastic that can be found in numerous household products and is recycled in most curbside programs. It is primarily used for heavier packaging such as detergents, bleach, milk containers, hair care products and motor oil. It can be recycled into more bottles or bags, recycled into toys, piping, plastic lumber, rope, pens, and drainage pipe.

3 – PVC Polyvinyl Chloride: PVC is an abundant yet difficult plastic to recycle, and can be a major environmental and health hazard. The production of PVC releases toxins and other persistent organic pollutants into the air and when burned releases hydrogen chloride gas that is fatal when inhaled. PVC is used in pipes, toys, furniture, packaging, wire jacketing, and windows.

4 – LDPE Low-density Polyethylene: LDPE lacks the stiffness, hardness and strength of HDPE do to its lower density, yet it is very ductile. LDPE is used for many different kinds of wrapping, squeezable bottles, grocery bags, sandwich bags and clothing, LDPE can be recycled back into many its original products and is commonly used in curbside recycling programs.

5 – PP Polypropylene: PP can be used in bottles, tubs, caps, straws, rigid containers like Tupperware and fabric for clothing. It can be recycled into fibers, bins, pallets, and trays.

6 – PS Polystyrene: PS (Styrofoam) can be used in cups, foam food trays, packing peanuts. Polystyrene can be a real problem as it’s bulky yet very lightweight and not always cost effective to recyclers. Discarded polystyrene does not biodegrade, and its low scrap value does not lend itself to widespread use in curbside pickup programs.

7 – Other: These could be a mixture of any and all of the above, or plastics not readily recyclable such as polyurethane. Compostable plastic made from corn, bagasse, or potatoes is also labeled as number 7 as it doesn’t fall into any other categories. Many recyclers avoid plastics labeled as #7 and deem them destined for the waste stream. Other types of #7 plastics include acrylic, PLA, polycarbonate, nylon, fiberglass, and others. This category contains many thermoset plastics that cannot be melted down once they have been cured.

The Expert answers:

Hi Kari,

In general there is far less energy needed to recycle products than is required to manufacture them from raw materials.

For example… anything made from metal starts out having to be extracted from the ground. This involves massive mining and quarrying operations and almost all the material that is extracted is spoil, only a small proportion is the required metal. More than 90% of the energy used simply produces waste material.

Next comes the extraction of the metal from the ore, and this uses massive amounts of energy. To produce just one tonne of aluminium requires as much energy as a family uses in 20 years [1], a single aluminium drinks can requires the same amount of energy to make as you use in 9 hours [1 and 2]. These plants use so much energy that most of them have their own power stations [3].

Recycling aluminium uses 95% less energy than is needed to produce it in the first place. When you take into account the mineral extraction and transportation that is originally required, then the overall energy saving is in excess of 98% [4].

By recycling there are not only massive savings in the amount of energy, and therefore significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, but it’s also preserving dwindling resources and significantly cutting costs.

Other products aren’t as energy saving when they’re recycled. Glass for example is made up primarily of silica and there’s a smaller saving in energy requirements when recycling as compared to original production.

When plastics are recycled they are often turned into something completely different, a lot of insulation products, carpet underlay and fleece jackets come from recycled plastics. Unlike metal and glass, plastic can’t be reused in it’s original form quite so easily.

Plastic products start out as oil, another industry that produces huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions during the extraction and processing stages. By turning plastics into another product there are large energy savings to be made and it helps to preserve oil supplies. Recycled tyres often end up in bitumastic products such as road dressings and again cut down on the use of oil.

Recycled food also has environmental benefits as it ends up being used as fertilisers on farmers fields and so cuts down on the use of chemical fertilisers and greenhouse gas emitting nitrogen based fertilisers.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcan_Lynemouth_Aluminium_Smelter
[2] http://www.cancentral.com/gacr/ffacts.htm
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aluminium_smelters
[4] http://www.world-aluminium.org/cache/fl0000181.pdf

The Expert answers:

We recycle so that we dont fill our earth with more waste because eventually our earth will be nothing but trash. Most plastics are made of oil so it is good to recycle them so we dont waste oil on making more plastic, we need the oil for our cars. Paper is important to recycle because the more paper we recycle the less trees we have to cut down. Trees help us to breath by putting out oxygen that we breath in(or inhale) and by taking in the carbon dioxide we breath out (or exhale).