ER0107WA22 Recycling Case Studies

This report discusses the estimate of the quantity of garbage that the community could prevent sending to the landfill about the entire community population. Also, the report will explain how the US government can place more importance on recycling to the society. Further, the report will examine the process of recycling that communities.

Introduction

Ecology and environmental sustainability systems get significantly impacted by the built environment.  Most communities across America trust waste management to customize programs that fit their environmental needs and the set budgets. Recycling efforts in the local areas offer measurable environmental benefits by waste disposal from landfills (Mergel, 2013). The United States has recovered 40% of the total wastes generated in the year 2013. The recycling industry has been boosted by the implementation of public space recycling programs in all cities.

Recyclable Items

1. Week one identified the following items as recyclable:
2. Plastic bottles
3. Aluminium cans
4. Glass jars and bottles
5. Corrugated cardboards
6. Steel cans
7. Paper products such as newspapers, catalogs, third class mail, magazines, and telephone books.

Total Population

According to the American Community Survey (ACS) 2010 census, the community of Towaoc (Colorado) was approximately 1087 people. In this regard, the total population in the community that participated in the waste recycling program was 1000 people. This means that not every member of the community participated in the recycling process. Hazardous impacts of waste effluent significantly amount to 20 times greenhouse effect compared to carbon dioxide (Zhou & Qiu, 2010). These were the findings by the participants in the community.

Amount of Garbage Recyclable by the Community

Suppose the 1187 people in the Tawaoc community participated in the garbage recycling program, the area could recycle approximately 100 percent of the current wastes disposed to the landfill. This is as shown below:

1187 persons/1187 persons*100%

= 100%

However, due to lack of 100 percent participation in the community recycling, the community recycled approximately 84 percent of the emitted garbage. This is as shown in the calculation below:

1000 people/1187 people*100%

= 84.25%

Amount of Trash Saveable in 2017

The community of Towaoc, Colorado has the potential to save a significant amount of trash before this year (2017) ends. The people of America do not recycle garbage to the expected amount. Based on the past data, 289 million tons of waste was sent to the landfill, and this figure rose to 294 million tons in 2013. The Towaoc community seems not to generate more trash than the other US communities. The one-week recyclable data shown that approximately 6 million tons of trash are saveable per week. Therefore, by the end of 2017, the community would have saved 312 million tons of recyclable garbage as shown below:

6 million tons*52 weeks = 312 million tons

Whether Community Recycles Enough or Not

According to the National Recycling Coalition in the US, recycling is on the run. This means that the Tawaoc community is considerably recycling enough. In attempts to bridge the gap and lower landfill effect, the community uses public recycling bins and keeps canvas bags to ensure that these recyclable materials are available for reuse (Lehmann & Joseph, 2015).

Paper products have always been recovered in the recycling programs of the community. In the one week’s investigation, the community recycles all beverage containers and detergent bottles. Further, grocery stores collect the used plastic grocery bags for recycling (Melville, 2010). Further, the community has established excellent programs of recycling aluminum, glass,  and steel cans.

How the US Government Can Emphasize Recycling Importance

Having gone through community calculations of waste recycling and waste disposal and savings amounts, the study of how the government can place more significance on recycling to the community is essential in the following ways:

Launch New Recycling Centres

The US government needs to start new recycling centers and proper separation bins to enhance efficient garbage collection. The US government should budget sufficient funds to ensure that trash recycling is more resourceful. The government needs to provide the community with recycling bins at a low cost as possible (Merrild, Larsen, & Christensen, 2012). This would encourage the community to recycle more waste products.

Education and Research

Further, the US government must conduct extensive research on the best techniques that the community can apply to recycle waste products. Furthermore, the government needs to educate the community on the importance of recycling and assist the community to understand how much waste ends up in the landfills from people who do not recycle (Yang et al., 2012).

Recycling Process

How Recycled Material is Reused

The recycled materials by the community are reused in several ways. The recycled plastic materials get reused in packaging by the local retailers and owners of grocery stores in the community. Further, recycled plastic is reused in the construction of drainage pipes, ducting, and damp proof membrane (Saeed, Hassan, & Mujeebu, 2009). Also, recycled plastics make textile fiber clothing and street furniture.

Recycled glass gets reused by the community in making new containers and glass sand to purify water to fit human consumption. Recycled cartons and juice boxes are reused in making office paper and tissues (Sinha, Patel, & Patel, 2010). Approximately 80 percent of original package get recycled in the community hence being diverted from trash.

What Happens to Recycled Products

Once sorted, recycled products become valuable commodities in the global market hence benefiting the community as a whole. All recyclable materials get sorted. Recycled products are not disposed to landfill. After recycling, these items get sold to the community and exported to other countries that use the given product (Nie & Zepeda, 2011). The US exports recycled products to the readily available markets in the world.

Impact on Creating Renewed Resources

Renewable resources are less polluting to the environment. Creating renewable resources affects greatly to the environment. Creating renewable resources energizes the rural communities to ensure proper waste disposal to the installed disposal bins. Also, Creating renewable resources encourage local investment and regional benefits through the establishment of recycling projects (Buchert et al., 2012). Further, there is reduced landfill pollution and hence increased soil fertility and enhanced water safety.

Conclusion

Communities need to improve the current resource management policies to prevent the potential ecological challenges in the future. Recycling, reducing, and reusing scrap materials is essential to human ecology and the sustainability of the natural environment. Recycled items get reused in the manufacture of new products, and this contributes to both economic and environmental sustainability. Therefore, the government should encourage and educate the society on the importances of recycling the recyclable materials.

References

Buchert, M., Manhart, A., Bleher, D., & Pingel, D. (2012). Recycling critical raw materials from electronic waste equipment. Freiburg: Öko-Institut eV, 49(0), 30-40.

Lehmann, J., & Joseph, S. (Eds.). (2015). Biochar for environmental management: science, technology and implementation. Routledge.

Melville, N. P. (2010). Information systems innovation for environmental sustainability. MIS quarterly, 34(1), 1-21.

Mergel, I. (2013). A framework for interpreting social media interactions in the public sector. Government Information Quarterly, 30(4), 327-334.

Merrild, H., Larsen, A. W., & Christensen, T. H. (2012). Assessing recycling versus incineration of key materials in municipal waste: the importance of efficient energy recovery and transport distances. Waste Management, 32(5), 1009-1018.

Nie, C., & Zepeda, L. (2011). Lifestyle segmentation of US food shoppers to examine organic and local food consumption. Appetite, 57(1), 28-37.

Saeed, M. O., Hassan, M. N., & Mujeebu, M. A. (2009). Assessment of municipal solid waste generation and recyclable materials potential in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Waste Management, 29(7), 2209-2213.

Sinha, V., Patel, M. R., & Patel, J. V. (2010). PET waste management by chemical recycling: a review. Journal of Polymers and the Environment, 18(1), 8-25.

Yang, Y., Boom, R., Irion, B., van Heerden, D. J., Kuiper, P., & de Wit, H. (2012). Recycling of composite materials. Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification, 51, 53-68.

Zhou, Y., & Qiu, K. (2010). A new technology for recycling materials from waste printed circuit boards. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 175(1), 823-828.