This document discusses recycling goals, terminology, advantages, and challenges. It aims to define waste reduction terms, discuss recycling specific materials like aluminum, glass, paper, plastic, and steel. The key advantages of recycling are preventing greenhouse gas emissions, saving energy, supplying industry with raw materials, and conserving resources for future generations. However, recycling faces challenges such as location of wastes, uncertain supply and markets, and technical issues associated with different materials.

1. Material
Extraction
Material
Processing
Manufacturing Use Waste
Management
Recycle Remanufacture
Reuse
Repair
Reduce Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
Rethink

3.  Waste Recycling
○ Goals
○ Terminology
○ Recycling Advantage
○ Recycling Challenges
○ Examples of Recycling
- Aluminum Recycling
- Glass Recycling
- Paper Recycling
- Plastic Recycling
- Steel Recycling

4. Goals
Define terms related to waste reduction
Hazardous waste recycling
Discuss advantages associated with
waste reduction and recycling.
Discuss recycling of specific MSW
(Municipal Solid Waste) components
Discuss ways to increase recycling

5. TERMINOLOGY
 Reduction: Reduction in generation, reduction in amount of
material, increase lifetime, or eliminate the need
 Recycle - used, reused, or reclaimed, use of the material as
a source raw material, involves physical transformation
 Reused: The direct use or reuse of a secondary material
without prior reclamation
 Reclaimed: regeneration of wastes or recovery of
usable materials from wastes (e.g., regenerating spent
solvents in a solvent still). Wastes are regenerated when
they are processed to remove contaminants in a way
that restores them to their usable condition materials that
must be reclaimed/recycled prior to use or reuse
 Recovery - Process to recover useful material from mixed
waste (energy is an example)

6. Recycling Advantages
 Prevents the emission of many greenhouse
gases and water pollutants,
 Saves energy,
 Supplies valuable raw materials to industry,
 Creates jobs,
 Stimulates the development of greener
technologies,
 Conserves resources for our children’s future,
and
 Reduces the need for new landfills and
combustors.

7. Recycling Challenges
 Location of wastes (9000 curbside programs)
 Uncertainty of supply
 Administrative and institutional constraints
 Legal restrictions
 Uncertain markets
 Technical challenges to recycling
 Changes in materials (i.e. light weighting)
 Too many items in waste
 Actually encourages waste production (because
recycling will take care of it)

8. Examples of
Recycling
 Aluminum Recycling
 Steel Recycling
 Glass Recycling
 Paper Recycling
 Plastic Recycling

9. Aluminum Recycling
 About 51 percent of aluminum cans is being recycled
 Twenty years ago it took 19 aluminum cans to make
one pound, but today, aluminum beverage cans are
lighter and it takes 29 cans to make a pound.
 Americans throw away enough aluminum every three
months to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet.
 Making new aluminum cans from used cans takes 95
percent less energy and 20 recycled cans can be
made with the energy needed to produce one can
using virgin ore.
 Domestic recycling has declined recently, collection is
expensive

10. Glass Recycling
 Glass always lags other recyclables
 Alternative markets needed – grind for
construction fill, “glassphalt,” fiberglass
 Transportation of heavy glass is expensive
 Raw materials are inexpensive
 Contamination is an issue
 Reuse used to be common practice; however
as manufacturing plants became larger and
decreased in number, bottles had to be
carried further for refilling.
 More colored glass is imported than used
domestically

11. Paper Recycling
 Problems
 Chlorination produces dioxins/furans
 Inks are petrochemical based
 Acid used to break fibers shortens life
 Coating of high gloss paper
 Demand for high quality paper
 Glues, laminates, plastics, inks not water soluble
 Paper can only be reused 4-12 times, always need
a virgin source

12. Plastic Recycling
 Problems
 Light weight, bulky, low density
 Wide variety of polymers
 Concerns over contamination for reuse
 Difficult to differentiate among types
PET(Polyethylene terephthalate) and HDPE(High-
density polyethylene) have high prices due to
domestic and international demand
Curbside recycling is down, driving prices up
More expensive oil prices makes virgin plastic
more expensive

13. Steel Recycling
 Expanding economy – increased steel
demands; China and India biggest markets
 36.4% of steel is recycled
 Use of plastic for automobiles is a problem
 One ton steel recycled saves 2500 lb of iron
ore, 1000 lb of coal, 40 lb of limestone, and
significant energy savings