Herrie's Blog

RECYCLE

Recycling is a process to convert waste materials into reusable material to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from landfilling)

BACKGROUND STUDY

Recycling basic

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (3R)

REDUCE
The best way to manage waste is to not produce it. This can be done by shopping carefully and being aware of a few guidelines:
Buy products in bulk. Larger, economy-size products or ones in concentrated form use less packaging and usually cost less per ounce.
Avoid over-packaged goods, especially ones packed with several materials such as foil, paper, and plastic. They are difficult to recycle, plus you pay more for the package.
Avoid disposable goods, such as paper plates, cups, napkins, razors, and lighters. Throwaways contribute to the problem, and cost more because they must be replaced again and again.
Buy durable goods - ones that are well-built or that carry good warranties. They will last longer, save money in the long run and save landfill space.
At work, make two-sided copies when ever possible.
Maintain central files rather than using several files for individuals.
Use electronic mail or main bulletin board.
Use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins.
Use a dish cloth instead of paper towels.

REUSE
It makes economic and environmental sense to reuse products. Sometimes it takes creativity:
Reuse products for the same purpose. Save paper and plastic bags, and repair broken appliances, furniture and toys.
Reuse products in different ways. Use a coffee can to pack a lunch; use plastic microwave dinner trays as picnic dishes.
Sell old clothes, appliances, toys, and furniture in garage sales or ads, or donate them to charities.
Use resealable containers rather than plastic wrap.
Use a ceramic coffee mug instead of paper cups.
Reuse grocery bags or bring your own cloth bags to the store. Do not take a bag from the store unless you need one.

RECYCLE
Recycling is a series of steps that takes a used material and processes, remanufactures, and sells it as a new product. Begin recycling at home and at work:
Buy products made from recycled material. Look for the recycling symbol or ask store managers or salesmen. The recycling symbol means one of two things - either the product is made of recycled material, or the item can be recycled. For instance, many plastic containers have a recycling symbol with a numbered code the identifies what type of plastic resin it is made from. However, just because the container has this code does not mean it can be easily recycled locally.
Check collection centers and curbside pickup services to see what they accept, and begin collecting those materials. These can include metal cans, newspapers, paper products, glass, plastics and oil.
Consider purchasing recycled materials at work when purchasing material for office supply, office equipment or manufacturing.
Speak to store managers and ask for products and packaging that help cut down on waste, such as recycled products and products that are not over packaged.
Buy products made from material that is collected for recycling in your community.

Use recycled paper for letterhead, copier paper and newsletters.

UPCYCLING

“Upcycling is the process by which waste materials are used to provide new, high quality products.” Basically, it’s a kind of refashioning or redesigning to make an old or non-useful object useful and new again! Many upcycled products are DIY projects, like the fashioning of pallets into tables, benches, bike racks, and other types of furniture. “The goal of upcycling is to prevent wasting potentially useful materials by making use of existing ones.” It’s creative and can be really fun. Next time you are about to throw something away, especially large objects like tires or pallets, think about potential ways to upcycle it instead!

RECYCLING

Simple recycling is exactly what you think of when you imagine recycling- a piece of material is broken down into parts and fashioned into something new of equal quality. Most metals can be broken down into parts without degrading and can thus be recycled an infinite number of times, making them a prime recycling example!

DOWNCYCLING

Downcycling is a type of recycling where the original product is broken down into parts and made into something new, but loses some of its original quality in the process and is often made into a product of lesser quality.

RESEARCH

What is PET ?

PET is polyethylene terephthalate.

It's a plastic resin and the most common type of polyester. Two monomers—modified ethylene glycol and purified terephthalic acid—are combined to form the polymer called polyethylene terephthalate. PET was discovered and patented in England in 1941.

PET is the plastic labeled with the #1 code.

Many beverages, food items and other consumer products are delivered in bottles or packages made from PET. The #1 code is usually found on or near the bottom of the container.

PET makes good packages for food and non-food items.

Manufacturers like it because it's safe, strong, transparent and versatile. Customers choose it for its safety, light weight, resealability, shatter-resistance and recyclability. Up to 100% of a PET package can be made from recycled PET, and the material can be recycled again and again.

PET can be recycled into many new products.

It's used to make new bottles, but recycled PET can also be made into fiber for carpets; fabric for t-shirts or fleece jackets; fiberfill for sleeping bags, winter coats, and dog beds; industrial strapping; sheet and thermoformed (clam shell) packaging; and automotive parts such as headliners, bumpers, and door panels.

Did you know that recycled plastic bottles can make a t-shirt ?

Green Stokes is one of the first companies in Australia to bring a collection of clothes and accessories made the from newly fashioned environmental material Rpet (recycled polyethylene terephtalate) which comes from plastic that has already been used for packaging, such as the plastic bottles.

The process of recycling PET material involves retrieving plastic bottles and shredding them, twisting the shreds into yarn, and knitting the yarn into RPET material.

After retrieving PET bottles, They make then into yarn of different specifications. The RPET yarn can replace the common yarn, which can reduce 80% of the CO2 consumption level. For example, 3000 pieces of RPET T-shirts reduces CO2 amounts equal to 228 trees absorbing CO2 for one year. Recycled PET yarn can also reduce petroleum usage. One ton of yarn could save 6 tons of petroleum, which greatly contributes to reducing air pollution and reducing the amount of greenhouse gasses connected to global warming.

A wide range of garments, caps, backpacks, satchels, iPhone cases, luggage linings, fashion bags, shopping bags and many others can be made from the Rpet.

Every bottle counts, lets keep our ocean blue.

Facts about rPET:

- Recycling 1 ton of rPET containers saves 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space

- Every pound of rPET used, reduces energy use by 84% and greenhouse gases by 71%

- When you recycle 1 plastic bottle you save 6 hours of energy from a 60 watt light bulb

- 90% less water is used in making recycled polyester versus virgin polyester

- 51 billion plastic bottles go to the landfills annually

- It will take 700 years before plastic bottles in landfills start to decompose.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

When plastic is not recycled it ends up in the landfill with garbage or becomes waste in the environment. Without recycling, this "wasted" plastic cannot be reworked and reused. Instead, "new" plastic must be made, requiring the use of natural resources.

Landfills

Plastics are a fast growing part of the municipal solid waste in the United States. The APC reports that in 1960 plastic contributed less than one percent of the municipal waste. By 2007 almost 31 million tons of plastic became municipal waste, representing about 12 percent of the waste in landfills.

Much of the plastic in landfills is unrecycled plastic bottles and bags. About 38 billion water bottles end up in landfills each year along with billions of plastic bags. It is estimated that it will take up to 1000 years for a plastic bottle or bag to decompose after it is buried in a landfill.

Litter

Unrecycled plastics often end up as litter, causing increased costs to clean up and dispose of properly. Besides being an eyesore, plastic bags can also be a hazard to the health of animals. Discarded plastic bags frequently end up being the cause of death each year of hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales, cows and goats who eat the bags mistaking them for food.

Use of Natural Resources

If a plastic item is thrown away it cannot be reused or remade into another plastic item. The base plastic in the item becomes a total waste. Raw materials, manufacturing, natural resources such as water and energy must be used to create new plastics. If the plastic item had been recycled, the base plastic can be reused to create a new plastic item, frequently using less natural resources in the manufacturing process.

WHY ME MUST RECYCLE BOTTLE ?

Reduced Waste

Resource Conservation

Energy Conservation

Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Decreased Pollution