pollution and recycling essay

Essay on Recycling for Students and Children

500+ words essay on recycling.

Recycling is a method of procedure that includes the collection and breaking down of waste material to create something new out of it. The process was introduced sot that the non-biodegradable materials can be melted or break down to create something useful. After the effects of global warming and pollution have become known to men the process of recycling has become more important.

Why We Need Recycling?

We need recycling for many reasons. But most importantly, it will help us to save our planet. Besides, recycling saves the earth by facilitating the reprocess of paper which will save millions of trees.

Also, recycling saves a lot of energy because many things that we recycle can easily be converted into virgin materials. In addition, it saves a lot of resources too.

Moreover, recycling reduces the burden of the environment. As we save energy the number of greenhouse gases and oxides are produced in less quantity. Because most of the toxic gases are produced by factories.

In addition, recycling reduces the amount of waste, that takes years to decompose. Also, the recycled material can be sold. We use this recycled material for the manufacturing of many new products. So, ultimately recycling saves money.

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The Process of Recycling

The various materials that we recycle have to go through a process that refines and purifies them. Besides, different materials go through a different process and in this topic we will discuss the recycling process of various materials.

Paper- It is the most used material on the earth. Paper is made up of two materials water and wood. For recycling paper firstly they break it down in small pieces and dissolve it into water. After that, they add chemicals that filter out the ink and dirt from it. In addition after filtering the paper takes the form of a mush called the pulp and this pulp is later converted into clean paper.

Metals- The metals are first shredded into small pieces and then they were melted and after that remolded into new shapes.

Glass- The recycling of glass is the easier they just break it into pieces and then they melt it and recast them.

Plastic- They also follow the same process as plastic. But, the process of plastic recycling is a little bit complex because they have to sort out the different types of plastics. As there is a diverse variety of plastic with different properties.

How Can We Contribute to Recycling?

Almost everything that we use can be recycled whether it is household materials like paper, plastic, metal, glass, furniture, toys, artifacts, vehicles, etc. Besides, opt for things from the market that can easily be recycled. Also, try to use merchandise that is made up of recycled products.

In addition, sort your waste and dump your recyclable waste in the recycle bin so that the authorities can recycle it.

To Sum it up, recycling is a small step by humans to save the environment . But this small step is very effective in the long run. Also, before throwing away the waste we should check it to see if there is a recyclable product in it or not.

FAQs about Essay on Recycling

Q.1 List some benefits of recycling. A.1 There are many benefits to recycling like:

It reduces the amount of waste produced by us.
Conserves natural resources such as water, wood, and minerals.
It prevents the overuse of resources and helps in preserving them.
In addition, it saves energy.

Q.2 Give an important fact related to recycling. A.2 An important fact can be that recycling reduces the amount of waste which goes to landfills. Also, lesser density in landfill means less amount of methane and other gases is released into the air.

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Recycling Essay

Essay on Recycling

The process of converting waste materials into a new material or object that is useful is known as recycling. It prevents the wastage of some useful materials and is responsible for reducing the consumption of the new material. Recycling is a process that acts as an excellent help for the earth's environment as it reduces energy usage, air pollution, and water pollution. In order to have a clear overview of recycling, one should give a read to the below-recycling essay.

A Long Essay on Recycling

With the increase in pollution every day, the world should develop different ways of securing the earth's environment for future generations. Recycling can be considered as one of the ways to control pollution because recycling is the key to reducing the wastage of some useful materials. Recycling aims at environmental sustainability by substituting raw material inputs into and by redirecting waste outputs out of the ecosystem. This paragraph was meant for giving a recycling essay introduction to the readers. While reading this article, one will understand the importance of recycling essays in the process of gaining knowledge.

Recyclable Materials

Recyclable materials are those materials that can be recycled easily. Recyclable material is an important topic in the essay on the recycling of waste. Some of the recyclable materials are many kinds of glass, paper, cardboard, metal, plastic, tires, textiles, batteries, and electronics. The process of composting or reusing biodegradable waste like food and garden waste can also be termed recycling. Material that is meant to be recycled is either given to a recycling center or is picked up from the garbage bins. The recyclable material is then sorted, cleaned, or reprocessed and transferred into a new material, which is then used for manufacturing new products. These materials that are used for manufacturing new products are also known as recyclates.

Recycling Consumer Waste

Different governments have established a number of systems around the globe for collecting the recyclates from the general waste team. One can gain knowledge on these different systems through this essay on recycling. The three main systems for collecting recyclates are drop-off centers, buy-back centers, and curbside collection.

Curbside collection is a service provided by the government to different households to collect their household waste and other recyclables. This type of recycling collection is mostly seen in urban and suburban areas. One may have learned about this in recycling at school essays.

Drop-off centers are collection sites where the recyclates are collected by a person and are delivered into designated containers. This is some extra knowledge that you can gain from this recycling essay in English.

An essay about recycling also describes buy-back centers. It is a center where recyclates are purchased from the customer and are sent for recycling. These centers buy materials like aluminum cans, glass, and paper.

Recycling Industrial Waste

Most of the waste that is generated all around the globe comes from industries. It is said that almost 64% of waste in the United Kingdom comes from industrial waste. Many industries try to perform recycling in a cost-effective way through different recycling programs. One of the most recycled products in industries is cardboard, as it is used in a huge quantity for packaging. Manufacturers that use materials like glass, lumber, wood pulp, and paper directly deal with recyclates. This is some new knowledge that one has gained from this recycling essay. Recycling industrial waste has become a necessary need for today's world in order to save the environment from deteriorating.

A Short Essay on Recycling

A Short Paragraph on Recycling in English

In this short essay about recycling, a person will be able to gain the required amount of knowledge about recycling. Recycling, in simple words, means converting waste materials into useful materials. The objective of recycling is to reduce wastage in the world and bring pollution under control. The materials that can be recycled are known as recyclates. This short paragraph on recycling is enough for understanding the concept of recycling.

Industrial waste holds the maximum part of the total earth's waste. So, industries should plan how to reduce it, and the best way to do that is by using materials that can be recycled. Governments are also taking initiatives to recycle a massive number of consumer waste.

The above recycling essay talks about recycling in short. Recycling is very important because it is the only way that can restrict pollution to some extent. In order to have a better future, it is very crucial to understand the impact of recycling on the environment.

How to prepare for Exams with This Topic?

Exam preparation is not complete without Vedantu. One simply needs to register with Vedantu or download the Vedantu app. At Vedantu one can find notes and other practice questions with solutions that are some of the best resources available to ace exams. The learning resources provide a thorough understanding of the topic.

Recycling is the need of the hour as pollution is at a peak, and it is very much important to control it as soon as possible. Recycling is one of the ways to minimize pollution, so it should be implemented in every country by creating proper awareness among the people and industries. The above article is the best recycling essay example to understand what recycling is and how it can affect us. New policies should be incorporated to accelerate the recycling process in every country. Governments of many countries have already started it, the faster, the better.

FAQs on Recycling Essay

1. What are the three types of Recycling?

Recycling is the conversion of waste materials into a usable material that can be utilized for manufacturing a new product. Recycling is of three types: primary recycling, secondary recycling, and tertiary recycling. These three types are involved in performing the same function, but the way of doing that differs in each case, and that is what makes them different from each other. This means, in the case of primary recycling, the same material, and the same product is recycled such as paper made of recycled paper. In the case of secondary recycling, a product is manufactured out of recycled paper which is not paper. Finally, in the case of tertiary recycling, the recycled paper is broken down chemically into such an ingredient that it is no longer paper but still can be used for a product.

2. What are the five things that can be Recycled?

The process of transforming waste material into new material and products is known as recycling. The five things that can be recycled are rigid plastics, paper or cardboard, metals, glass, and polystyrene foam cups. These are the materials that are recycled in massive amounts all over the world. These types of materials are mostly recycled by industries because they use recyclates in their operations. Other examples of recyclates are fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) recyclates which are predominantly used for construction purposes.

3. How does recycling reduce pollution?

Recycling is the incorporation of waste materials into daily practices. The reuse of waste materials avoids the further generation of pollutants from the manufacturing factories. These pollutants may be either air- or water-borne. The majority of such waste is discharged into water bodies such as lakes, rivers, oceans, and harmful landfills. Such an approach is cost-effective and supplies commodities made of recycled materials among different economic groups within the society. A classic example is the manufacture of textile apparel from recycled plastics.

4. What are the three main systems of collecting recyclates?

The government around the globe has three main systems of collecting recyclates- curbside collection, drop-off centers, and buy-back centers. The government has provided curbside collection to gather household waste in urban and suburban areas. Drop-off centers employ a person to collect recyclates and deliver to designated containers. Buy-back centers purchase from customers and send for recycling of items such as aluminum cans, glass items, and paper. These systems of recycling collection boost awareness among the citizens to support the cause and reduce the waste collectively.

5. What is the benefit of recycling cardboard and paper?

Cardboard and paper are made from the bark of trees through a series of sophisticated engineering. The trees are cut over a large scale in plantations. The bark is extracted and undergoes chemical processes such as bleaching. Such processes generate toxic waste and reduce the green cover, whenever there is a need for paper. Thus, recycling previously used cardboard and paper protects deforestation and wildlife habitat. As a result, the flora and fauna are maintained, leading to possible control of global warming.

Thus, recycling is an important process that can help us to save our environment. It is an important topic for the students as they can write different topics related to this topic for writing an essay in the exam. Students can prepare on other topics related to this topic such as the benefits of recycling, how recycling can help to save the environment etc. Students can get suitable information on the topic from Vedantu. Vedantu provides detailed information on Recycling in a simple and easy language. Students can read the essay given on Vedantu and can prepare similar points for writing an essay.

Ensuring Healthy and Clean Environment: Importance of Recycling Essay (Speech)

Attention grabbing sentence, thesis statement.

General Purpose: Recycling is an issue which the world realized the importance of decades of. However, so much still needs to be done. And this speech would outline some of the pressing needs of the world and their relation to recycling.

Specific: this speech would entail some of the measures which are most important in ensuring that at least some of the goals outlined by the environmentalists are achieved while at the same time would act as an important reminder to all those who have been slacking off in their duties in ensuring a healthier, cleaner environment.

Recycle one can and you can save 3 hrs of television energy. Imagine the scope that the word recycling entails! My speech would act as a wakeup call for all those who wish to remain committed to one of the most important activities facing the entire human race. Bonnie DeSimone’s book regarding Rewarding Recyclers, and Finding Gold in the Garbage is a must read for all those who would want to understand the different ways we are rewarded via recycling.

This speech is not about merely dictating what recycling is. We might be aware of but what this speech is about ensuring that we have a future tomorrow. Ensuring that we have air to breathe, water to drink and that we do not create a planet which becomes the very cause for the end of the human race. Seems bleak? Think about that while I take you further down on the road to a better life. There are basic steps that we must all take such as use recycled materials, compost organic material, support recycling activities. But why? Why must we. What can you and I gain from something which does not really seem to affect us. We get clean water, we can breathe and the roads seem clean and whoever said that trees were getting less? The actual picture is as simple as the fact that there simply isn’t any more land area for waste such as in the case of UK whereby 2011 almost all the landfills would be used up, it costs more to use raw materials than recycled materials, and in order to even have a future for the future generations steps need to be taken TODAY.

Main Idea no 1: as the world gets more and more caught up in the pursuit of material pleasures and success, we expose ourselves to increased levels of exposure from pollution-creating activities on a scale never witnessed before as has been outlined in a book titled Why Do We Recycle?: Markets, Values, and Public Policy by Frank Ackerman.

Subordinate Idea one: As wealth has risen all over the world, the risks have risen even more from the detrimental effects of pollution. We buy more and pollute more. Ali Yacooub and Fresner Johannes’ Half is Enough – An Introduction to Cleaner Production acts as a wakeup for people like you and me who wish to act but don’t.

Subordinate idea 2: As we engaged in habits such as eating more fast food world over, we risk the environment to more products which aren’t biodegradable.

Main Idea 2: the relationship between increased population levels and pollution. A relationship which can only result in an environmental ravaged and destroyed beyond repair.

Subordinate idea 1: Increase the number of population controlling measures in developing nations

Subordinate idea 2: ensure greater environmental safe practices in pop-dense areas such as China, India.

Main Idea 3: the world has witnessed revolutions in the production processes but is it environmentally safe. It is sad to know that that is not the case. We have created systems which could deprive us of highly significant environmental resources as has been so aptly stated in Richard Porter’s “the economics of waste”.

Subordinate idea 1: introduce such packaging and technological products which could be environmentally safe.

Subordinate idea 2: by making use of recycled materials rather than new raw materials we could save thousands of trees, save millions of liters of previous water.

The paper that we read every week means a loss of 500,000 trees. Those very trees which supply us with the oxygen which I, U and we all need for survival purposes. So, why don’t we do our bit in ensuring sustainable environmentally safe growth? In order to truly understand what im saying try reading a report titled “The Future of Sustainability: Re-thinking Environment and Development in the Twenty-first Century by W.M. Adams.
Let’s recycle, make use of recycled materials, and introduce environmentally safe practices in all work areas and at home. Let’s make today the day when we really did the cycle of change.
If the US President is doing it, what is stopping u and me? Save lives ladies and gentlemen!

Adams, W.M. (2006). “The Future of Sustainability: Re-thinking Environment and Development in the Twenty-first Century.” Report of the IUCN Renowned Thinkers Meeting, 2006.

Ackerman, Frank. (1997). Why Do We Recycle?: Markets, Values, and Public Policy. Island Press. ISBN 1559635045, 9781559635042.

Porter, Richard C. (2002). The economics of waste. Resources for the Future. ISBN 1891853422, 9781891853425.

Bonnie DeSimone. (2006). Rewarding Recyclers, and Finding Gold in the Garbage. New York Times.

Yacooub, Ali; Johannes Fresner (2006). Half is Enough – An Introduction to Cleaner Production. Beirut, Lebanon: LCPC Press. ISBN 3-9501636-2-X.

Chicago (A-D)
Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, August 25). Ensuring Healthy and Clean Environment: Importance of Recycling. https://ivypanda.com/essays/speech-on-importance-of-recycling/

"Ensuring Healthy and Clean Environment: Importance of Recycling." IvyPanda , 25 Aug. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/speech-on-importance-of-recycling/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Ensuring Healthy and Clean Environment: Importance of Recycling'. 25 August.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Ensuring Healthy and Clean Environment: Importance of Recycling." August 25, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/speech-on-importance-of-recycling/.

1. IvyPanda . "Ensuring Healthy and Clean Environment: Importance of Recycling." August 25, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/speech-on-importance-of-recycling/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Ensuring Healthy and Clean Environment: Importance of Recycling." August 25, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/speech-on-importance-of-recycling/.

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How recycling prevents pollution

We have so far discussed what recycling is, its advantages and disadvantages , different kinds of recycling etc. Let us now see how recycling and pollution are linked with each other and how recycling pulls down pollution . We shall also discuss the worst polluters in the World and also how recycling prevents pollution .

We have learned the causes of pollution as well. It is a well learned fact that whatever we do or each single minute we live contributes to increase in pollution. Nobody can just hold breath to bring down the pollution rate. Lol! May be a nature lover can try it out… Jokes apart… coming back; let us deeply look into how recycling can lessen pollution.

We have already seen the 3 R’s of recycling: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. This golden rule helps in cutting down pollution considerably and thus plays a significant role in making the World a better place to live.

Before going into much details, we shall just quickly understand who are the worst polluters in the World.

Cultivation : The first and foremost can be Agriculture, can you believe that? Even though we cannot avoid this activity in any manner, we need to accept the fact. The use of pesticides and chemicals results in contaminating the soil and there by contaminating the underground water. The plants in order to give us a good yield requires great care and protection from certain pests. The chemical use kills these pests and that may affect the balance of nature as well. Read about Agricultural pollution .
Industrial waste : The gas emissions and the by products or waste materials from the industries or factories contributes to pollution to a very great extent. The manufacturing or processing of raw materials includes many toxic substances such as mercury, lead, cadmium etc. Mostly the waste from the factories or manufacturing units are expelled to the rivers or lakes nearby. Releasing them directly to the atmosphere or to the water bodies pollutes the air, soil and water directly. Read about Industrial Pollution .
Motor Vehicles : Motor vehicles contributes to around 75% of the pollution of air . Due to the incineration of fuels, carbon monoxide is being emitted to the atmosphere on a large quantity. Along with carbon monoxide, dust, lead, nitric oxides etc are also being released. These all pollutants cause smog and pulls down the air quality down considerably. As we know, use of motor vehicle is being increased day by day.
Improper waste management : Waste mismanagement have brought the entire World to a big dilemma. Waste being dumped to land over and over again had ended up in landfills and those waste decomposition releases methane, which is a green house gas . And to our understanding, this methane is three times deadly than the carbon dioxide. Plastic is yet another question mark as it doesn’t decompose even after centuries. It is also observed that many people engage in burning this plastic to get rid of them but never thinks about the pollution caused by burning them. The plastics causes all kinds of pollution along with other wastes. Proper management of waste has to be done without affecting the nature. The pollutants are not limited to this. We were discussing as to who are the foremost ones. Pin pointing the major ones was the intention that was being served.

Table of Contents

How recycling reduces pollution

Now let us see how important is recycling to prevent pollution. It is well understood for the common man that recycling of each product reduces the use of raw materials, considerably time saving and energy saving happens, cut off pollution to a considerable rate etc are the immediate consequences of recycling. We shall look into each of them in detail and recognize what are the results of recycling.

Balanced Ecosystems : whatsoever industrialization happens we need the initial raw materials from the Earth. Recycling helps in protecting earth from the extracting of raw materials and there by not disturbing the ecological balance. The ecological balance remains untouched for at least some time as recycling of goods doesn’t call in for new raw materials from the nature. Hence, we understand that our planet Earth is not disturbed for the raw materials by any means such as mining, budding, cultivating nor harvesting. When recycling is initiated, deforestation will be prevented and as a result, animals are also being saved from depriving of their shelter. There will be less contamination of air, soil and water. Rivers also remain protected from all kind of pollution. Plastic recycling prevents the plastic found in the landfills, oceans, lakes etc and thereby the threat of plastic pollution can be brought down to a great extent. Altogether, these help in non-disturbance of the ecological balance.
Natural resources preservation : As discussed earlier, pollution will be brought down considerably by recycling, thus the natural resources are being preserved. Recycling helps in making new products without any afresh raw materials. The recycling of anything, for instance, plastic, paper, metal etc. can help in reducing pollution to a very great extent than what we believe. Plastic made of hydrocarbons causes harm to the environment but when not produced again and again it is actually helping the environment. Thus, plastic recycling is the ever-best thing to do to the nature. Likewise, paper recycling prevents deforestation to a certain limit. And the same happens when metals are recycled. If that is happening then there is no mining nor extraction. A lot of money too is saved by skipping these processes.
Diminution in use of raw-materials When the recycling happens the raw-materials are not being extracted from Earth. This part has been discussed in point no.1 itself. Extraction of raw materials from Earth requires a lot of energy and the use of this energy results in pollution too. Thus, pollution is being controlled in that way too. Each step to prevent pollution in one way or the other can have direct impact on the rate of pollution that is being caused to the environment.
Hoards Energy As seen in the above points, we have seen there is a lot of energy being saved. Energy saving implies that when energy is not being burned then any kind of pollution is not happening. Manufacturing of a new product with new raw materials burns lot of energy where as manufacturing with recycled goods requires very less energy. When steel is considered around 70-80 percent of energy is saved, and in case of aluminium, 90-97 percent of energy is saved. This indicates that there is no much carbon emission taking place while recycling hence the pollution rate also comes down.

Link between pollution and recycling

It is not so necessary to draw the link between them for those who have read the article so far. Because it is well understood from the lines that recycling pulls down the pollution by several ways. Each advantage of recycling indirectly or directly reaches the point of reducing pollution. Let’s quickly look in to them and conclude this article.

Recycling reduces the waste sent to burners, there by reducing the carbon emission to the environment.
We have learned that waste in landfills produces different gases such as methane. By recycling, the waste on landfills is considerably brought down thereby preventing the methane gas emission
Raw-materials are being saved as recycling does not require new raw-materials. Thus extraction, mining etc are done on a reduced scale, hence a lot of energy is being saved. Less natural resources are being used as raw-materials demand will come down on recycling. Energy saving happens in this aspect also. Altogether this energy saved is huge. Energy saved means gas emission is not happening which directly implies reduction in pollution.
Recycling reduces the green house gas emissions. Directly to pollution reduction again

As a whole, recycling reduces pollution to a much greater extend than expected. Recycling helps in reducing pollution thus help us to live and let all other living organism live!

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Essay on Reduce Waste and Promote Recycling 1000, 500, 300 words

Essay on reduce waste and promote recycling 1000 words.

Introduction

Essay on Reduce Waste and Promote Recycling: Waste management is a global challenge that requires immediate attention. As our population continues to grow and our consumption habits evolve, the amount of waste generated has reached alarming levels. To combat this issue, reducing waste and promoting recycling have become essential pillars of sustainability. This essay will explore the significance of reducing waste and promoting recycling, the benefits they offer to the environment, economy and society, as well as practical strategies for implementation.

1.Environmental Benefits:

2.economic advantages:, 3. social benefits:, practical strategies for waste reduction and recycling, additional benefits:, challenges:, the importance of waste reduction, benefits of recycling, strategies for waste reduction and recycling, tags: essay on reduce waste and promote recycling, reduce waste and promote recycling, essay on habits to reduce waste and promote recycling, the significance of waste reduction and recycling.

a. Conservation of Resources: Recycling conserves valuable natural resources such as timber, minerals, and water. For example, recycling one ton of paper can save 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water and significant amounts of energy.

b. Energy Savings: The process of recycling often requires less energy compared to producing items from raw materials. This reduction in energy consumption helps decrease greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change.

c. Reduced Landfill Space: Reducing waste through recycling reduces the need for new landfills or incinerators, which can have negative environmental and health impacts on nearby communities.

a. Job Creation: Recycling and waste reduction programs create jobs in collection, processing, and manufacturing. The recycling industry can provide significant economic opportunities.

b. Cost Savings: Municipalities and businesses can save money on waste disposal costs by diverting materials from landfills. In the long term, this contributes to cost-effectiveness.

a. Public Health: Reducing waste and recycling can lead to cleaner environments, reducing the risks of pollution-related health issues.

b. Education and Awareness: Promoting recycling fosters environmental awareness and encourages responsible consumer behavior, leading to a more sustainable society.

Source Separation : Households and businesses can implement source separation programs to separate recyclable materials from general waste. These materials can then be sent to recycling facilities.
Single-Stream Recycling: Implementing single-stream recycling simplifies the recycling process for consumers by allowing them to place various recyclables in a single container, making recycling more convenient.
Composting: Diverting organic waste, such as food scraps and yard trimmings, from landfills through composting reduces landfill methane emissions and produces valuable soil enriching compost.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): Encouraging manufacturers to take responsibility for the entire life cycle of their products can lead to improved product design, recyclability, and reduced waste.
Education and Outreach: Public awareness campaigns and educational programs can inform individuals about the importance of recycling and waste reduction.
Government Policies and Regulations : Governments can implement policies such as recycling mandates, landfill bans, and financial incentives to promote recycling and reduce waste generation.
Deposit-Return Systems: Implementing deposit-return systems for beverage containers encourages recycling. Consumers pay a small deposit when purchasing items like bottles or cans, which they can reclaim when they return the empty containers to designated collection points.
E-Waste Recycling : Electronic waste or e-waste, is a growing concern due to the rapid advancement of technology. Encouraging the recycling and responsible disposal of electronic devices reduces the environmental impact of hazardous materials in electronics.
Product Design : Companies can design products with recyclability in mind. Using materials that are easy to recycle, reducing packaging, and avoiding single-use plastics are examples of sustainable design practices.
Community Recycling Centers : Establishing accessible recycling centers in communities encourages residents to participate in recycling programs, especially for those who may not have curbside recycling pickup.
Research and Innovation: Investing in research and innovation can lead to breakthroughs in recycling technology, making it more efficient and cost-effective. For example, advancements in recycling plastics into high-quality materials are reducing the demand for new plastics.

a. Resource Security: Recycling reduces our dependence on finite resources, making economies more resilient in the face of resource scarcity.

b. Circular Economy: Recycling plays a crucial role in transitioning from a linear economy (take-make-dispose) to a circular economy (reduce-reuse-recycle), where products and materials are continuously reused or regenerated.

c. Biodiversity Conservation: Reduced waste and recycling efforts can minimize habitat destruction associated with resource extraction, contributing to biodiversity conservation.

a. Contamination: Contamination of recyclables with non-recyclable materials can reduce the efficiency of recycling processes and increase costs.

b. Infrastructure: Developing and maintaining recycling infrastructure, such as recycling plants and collection systems, requires significant investment.

c. Consumer Behavior: Changing consumer behavior and increasing participation in recycling programs can be challenging, requiring ongoing education and outreach.

d. Market Demand: The success of recycling relies on the existence of markets for recycled materials. Fluctuations in demand can impact the viability of recycling programs.

In conclusion, waste reduction and recycling are essential components of sustainable living. While numerous benefits are associated with these practices, including environmental preservation and economic growth, they also come with challenges that require collective efforts to overcome. As societies continue to recognize the importance of reducing waste and promoting recycling, addressing these challenges and implementing effective strategies will be critical to achieving a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future.

Reducing waste and promoting recycling are crucial steps towards a sustainable future. These practices offer a multitude of environmental, economic and societal benefits, ranging from resource conservation to job creation and improved public health. To achieve meaningful progress, it requires a collaborative effort from individuals, businesses, governments, and communities worldwide. By embracing waste reduction and recycling, we can mitigate the environmental challenges of our time and pave the way for a more sustainable and prosperous future.

Essay on Reduce Waste and Promote Recycling 500 words

Reduce Waste and Promote Recycling: A Path Towards Sustainability

Waste generation has become a global concern, with its adverse environmental and social impacts becoming increasingly evident. As the world grapples with the consequences of overconsumption and resource depletion, it is imperative that we adopt sustainable practices to reduce waste and promote recycling. This essay explores the importance of waste reduction and recycling, their benefits and strategies for implementing them on an individual and societal level.

Waste reduction is the first and foremost step in tackling the growing waste crisis. By consuming less and making mindful choices, we can significantly decrease the amount of waste we generate. This not only conserves valuable resources but also reduces the strain on landfills and incineration facilities, which are major contributors to air and soil pollution.

One of the key aspects of waste reduction is minimizing single-use plastics. These ubiquitous materials have become symbols of our throwaway culture, causing severe harm to marine life and ecosystems. By opting for reusable alternatives, such as cloth bags and stainless steel water bottles, we can dramatically cut down our plastic waste.

Recycling is a crucial component of sustainable waste management. It involves processing used materials to create new products, thereby conserving resources and reducing energy consumption. The benefits of recycling are multifaceted:

Resource Conservation: Recycling helps preserve finite resources like metals, paper and plastics. For instance, recycling aluminum can saves up to 95% of the energy required to produce new aluminum.
Energy Savings: Manufacturing products from recycled materials typically requires less energy compared to using virgin resources. This reduces greenhouse gas emissions and mitigates climate change.
Economic Opportunities : Recycling creates jobs in collection, processing and manufacturing, contributing to local economies and fostering sustainable growth.
Reduced Landfill Use : Recycling diverts waste from landfills, extending their lifespan and decreasing the environmental impact of waste disposal.
Preservation of Ecosystems: Reduced resource extraction through recycling helps protect natural ecosystems from degradation and destruction.
Education and Awareness: Public awareness campaigns and educational programs are essential for promoting waste reduction and recycling. Citizens need to understand the environmental consequences of waste and the benefits of recycling.
Legislation and Regulations: Governments should enact and enforce policies that incentivize recycling and penalize excessive waste generation. Mandatory recycling programs and landfill diversion targets are effective tools.
Infrastructure Investment : Adequate recycling infrastructure, including collection and processing facilities, is critical to support recycling efforts. Investment in such infrastructure can boost recycling rates.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): EPR programs hold manufacturers responsible for the entire life cycle of their products, encouraging them to design products that are easier to recycle and manage at the end of their life.
Community Engagement : Local communities can play a significant role in waste reduction and recycling by organizing clean-up events, promoting composting and establishing community recycling centers.
Individual Actions : Every individual can contribute to waste reduction and recycling by practicing the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Reducing consumption, reusing items and properly sorting and recycling materials are simple yet impactful actions.

Reducing waste and promoting recycling are integral components of a sustainable and environmentally responsible future. By embracing these practices at the individual, community, and societal levels, we can conserve resources, reduce pollution, and mitigate the impacts of climate change. It is imperative that we all take proactive steps to minimize waste and maximize recycling to ensure a healthier planet for future generations.

Essay on Reduce Waste and Promote Recycling 300 words:

Introduction: Waste management is a pressing global concern, with overflowing landfills and environmental degradation posing significant threats. One effective strategy to combat this issue is to reduce waste at its source and promote recycling. This essay explores the importance of waste reduction and recycling, their benefits and practical ways to implement these practices in our daily lives.

Reducing Waste: Reducing waste begins with conscious consumption. Purchasing products with minimal packaging or choosing reusable items can significantly decrease the amount of waste generated. For example, opting for a reusable water bottle instead of single-use plastic bottles saves both money and resources while reducing plastic pollution.

Recycling Benefits: Recycling conserves valuable resources like metals, paper and plastics. It reduces the energy required to produce new items, leading to a lower carbon footprint. Recycling also decreases the pressure on natural ecosystems, as it reduces the need for extracting raw materials. Furthermore, recycling generates employment opportunities in the recycling industry, contributing to economic growth.

Practical Recycling Tips:

Separate Waste: Start at home by separating recyclables from non-recyclables. Most communities have recycling programs that accept paper, cardboard, glass, and various plastics.
Composting: Organic waste, such as food scraps and yard trimmings, can be composted to create nutrient-rich soil for gardening.
Donate and Reuse: Items like clothing, furniture and electronics can often be donated or sold to others who can use them, extending their lifespan.
E-waste Recycling : Dispose of electronic waste responsibly by taking old devices to e-waste collection centres.

Conclusion: Reducing waste and promoting recycling are crucial steps in the fight against environmental degradation. By making informed choices in our daily lives and supporting recycling initiatives, we not only minimize the negative impact on our planet but also contribute to a more sustainable and greener future for generations to come. It’s our responsibility to act now to preserve the environment for tomorrow.

Essay on Reduce Waste and Promote Recycling for a Sustainable Future 200 words

In today’s world, environmental concerns have taken center stage, with the need to reduce waste and promote recycling becoming increasingly urgent. This essay explores the critical importance of these practices, highlighting their benefits and the role they play in building a sustainable future.

Reducing waste is not merely an environmental aspiration; it’s an economic necessity. Excessive waste places a burden on landfill space and resources, leading to increased costs for disposal and potential pollution. By adopting a culture of waste reduction, individuals and businesses can save money through decreased disposal expenses and by reusing materials efficiently.

Recycling stands as a powerful ally in the battle against waste. Recycling not only conserves valuable resources but also reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. It transforms discarded materials into new products, decreasing the demand for virgin resources and mitigating environmental degradation.

Furthermore, recycling fosters a sense of responsibility and environmental stewardship. Educating communities about recycling empowers individuals to make conscious choices about their consumption habits and waste disposal methods. Schools, governments and organizations play a crucial role in raising awareness and providing accessible recycling infrastructure.

In conclusion, reducing waste and promoting recycling are essential components of a sustainable future. By incorporating these practices into our daily lives, we can conserve resources, reduce pollution and safeguard the planet for future generations. It’s our collective duty to embrace these changes and create a more environmentally conscious and sustainable world.

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Essay on Recycling

Students are often asked to write an essay on Recycling in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Recycling

Understanding recycling.

Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into reusable objects. It helps to reduce the usage of raw materials, which can save energy and prevent pollution.

Importance of Recycling

Recycling is vital for our planet. It reduces the need for landfilling and incineration. By recycling, we can conserve natural resources like timber, water, and minerals.

Types of Recycling

There are various types of recycling, such as paper, plastic, glass, metal, and electronic waste recycling. Each type has its own recycling process.

In conclusion, recycling is an essential practice for a sustainable environment. Everyone should participate in it.

Also check:

10 Lines on Recycling
Paragraph on Recycling
Speech on Recycling

250 Words Essay on Recycling

Introduction.

Recycling, a practice that has been incorporated into our daily lives, plays a pivotal role in environmental sustainability. It is an efficient method to minimize waste, conserve resources, and mitigate environmental degradation.

The Necessity of Recycling

The increasing consumerism and rapid industrialization have led to an escalation in waste generation. The disposal of this waste, often non-biodegradable, poses severe threats to our environment. Recycling, therefore, emerges as a viable solution, transforming waste into reusable materials, reducing landfill burden and pollution.

Recycling and Resource Conservation

Recycling promotes resource conservation. Natural resources, such as timber, water, and minerals, are finite. Through recycling, we can reuse materials, thereby reducing the strain on these resources. For instance, recycling paper reduces deforestation, preserving biodiversity.

Energy Efficiency

Recycling is also energy-efficient. The process of extracting and refining raw materials for production consumes more energy than recycling. Aluminum recycling, for example, uses 95% less energy than producing it from raw materials.

Challenges and Solutions

Despite its benefits, recycling faces several challenges, including economic viability and contamination issues. However, with advanced technologies, recycling processes can be made more efficient and cost-effective. Education and awareness can also play a significant role in overcoming these challenges.

In conclusion, recycling is a crucial component of sustainable living. It not only conserves resources and energy but also mitigates environmental degradation. Despite the challenges, with collective effort and technological advancements, we can make recycling a more effective and universal practice.

500 Words Essay on Recycling

Recycling, a process of converting waste materials into reusable substances, is an essential component of modern waste reduction strategies. The practice is not a mere environmental fad, but rather a crucial measure to mitigate the adverse effects of waste on our planet. This essay delves into the importance of recycling, its benefits, and the challenges that impede its full implementation.

The Importance of Recycling

The importance of recycling cannot be overstated. As our consumer society continues to produce an immense amount of waste, the need for effective waste management strategies becomes increasingly critical. Recycling offers a solution to this problem by transforming waste into useful materials, thereby reducing the volume of waste that ends up in our landfills and oceans.

Moreover, recycling conserves natural resources. By reusing materials, we reduce the demand for virgin resources, which in turn helps to preserve our natural environment. This is particularly significant in the context of non-renewable resources, such as certain metals and fossil fuels.

Benefits of Recycling

Recycling carries a multitude of benefits, both environmental and economic. Environmentally, recycling reduces the strain on our planet’s resources. It decreases the need for raw materials, which means less deforestation and less disruption to habitats. Additionally, recycling saves energy. The process of extracting, refining, and transporting raw materials is energy-intensive, and recycling can significantly cut down on these energy requirements.

Economically, recycling can create jobs and stimulate economic growth. The recycling industry requires a vast workforce for collection, transportation, processing, and manufacturing of recycled goods. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, recycling and reuse activities in the U.S. accounted for 681,000 jobs in 2017, demonstrating the potential for economic benefits.

Challenges to Recycling

Despite its obvious benefits, recycling is not without its challenges. One of the primary issues is the lack of proper recycling infrastructure in many areas. Without convenient access to recycling facilities, individuals are less likely to recycle.

Another challenge lies in the complexity of the recycling process. Not all materials are equally recyclable, and some, like certain types of plastic, can be more costly and energy-intensive to recycle than to produce anew. This complexity can lead to confusion among consumers about what can and cannot be recycled, further hindering recycling efforts.

In conclusion, recycling is a critical component of sustainable living and waste management. Its environmental and economic benefits underscore its importance in our society. However, to fully harness these benefits, we must address the challenges that stand in the way of effective recycling. This includes developing better recycling infrastructure, improving public education about recycling, and researching more efficient recycling technologies. As we continue to grapple with the realities of our waste problem, recycling remains a crucial part of the solution.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

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Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

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Essay on Environmental Pollution: 100 Words, 200 Words

Updated on
Apr 1, 2024

One of the biggest risks to life as we know it is environmental degradation. The water we drink, the air we breathe, and the ecosystems on which we depend are all impacted by pollution. People, animals, and plants will decline if pollution levels continue to rise since they won’t be able to adapt to a significantly altered environment. Are you struggling to write an essay on environmental pollution? If the answer is yes, then this blog will help you get some ideas to write an effective essay. Keep reading further to know more!

This Blog Includes:

What is environmental pollution, essay on environmental pollution – 100 words , essay on environmental pollution – 250 words , essay on environmental pollution – 500 words .

The phenomenon of undesirable changes in the surroundings that are harmful to animals and plants, and leads to environmental degradation is known as environmental pollution. These changes can occur because of the solid, liquid or gaseous pollutants. For example, DDT, plastic, and heavy materials take more time to degrade and are known as notable pollutants. For the determination of risk assessment of public health, concentration of pollutants is measured.

The presence of contaminants in the environment is referred to as pollution. Gases like Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Carbon Monoxide (CO), among others; solid pollutants like plastic, sewage, etc.; and chemicals like fertilisers, as well as those produced as byproducts in manufacturing, transportation, etc., are a few examples of polluting substances.

The immediate result of pollution is that it makes the world’s natural resources useless or toxic to use, as well as leads to the extinction of species and ecological imbalance. To stop more harm from occurring to the earth and its inhabitants due to environmental pollution, it is imperative to take proactive precautions.

Prachi Gupta

Prachi has 1.5 yrs of experience in Content & Copywriting. Her skills entail SEO, researching, brainstorming marketing campaigns, suggesting content ideas, graphic designing, Keyword research, understanding user intent etc. She thrives on a work culture that helps her unlearn redundant ways of thinking. Besides this, she always has her binoculars on looking for good books and music recommendations, cocktails and world history.

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Pollution is the introduction of harmful materials into the environment. These harmful materials are called pollutants.

Biology, Ecology, Health, Earth Science, Geography

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Pollution is the introduction of harmful materials into the environment . These harmful materials are called pollutants . Pollutants can be natural, such as volcanic ash . They can also be created by human activity, such as trash or runoff produced by factories. Pollutants damage the quality of air, water, and land. Many things that are useful to people produce pollution. Cars spew pollutants from their exhaust pipes. Burning coal to create electricity pollutes the air. Industries and homes generate garbage and sewage that can pollute the land and water. Pesticides —chemical poisons used to kill weeds and insects— seep into waterways and harm wildlife . All living things—from one-celled microbes to blue whales—depend on Earth ’s supply of air and water. When these resources are polluted, all forms of life are threatened. Pollution is a global problem. Although urban areas are usually more polluted than the countryside, pollution can spread to remote places where no people live. For example, pesticides and other chemicals have been found in the Antarctic ice sheet . In the middle of the northern Pacific Ocean, a huge collection of microscopic plastic particles forms what is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch . Air and water currents carry pollution. Ocean currents and migrating fish carry marine pollutants far and wide. Winds can pick up radioactive material accidentally released from a nuclear reactor and scatter it around the world. Smoke from a factory in one country drifts into another country. In the past, visitors to Big Bend National Park in the U.S. state of Texas could see 290 kilometers (180 miles) across the vast landscape . Now, coal-burning power plants in Texas and the neighboring state of Chihuahua, Mexico have spewed so much pollution into the air that visitors to Big Bend can sometimes see only 50 kilometers (30 miles). The three major types of pollution are air pollution , water pollution , and land pollution . Air Pollution Sometimes, air pollution is visible . A person can see dark smoke pour from the exhaust pipes of large trucks or factories, for example. More often, however, air pollution is invisible . Polluted air can be dangerous, even if the pollutants are invisible. It can make people’s eyes burn and make them have difficulty breathing. It can also increase the risk of lung cancer . Sometimes, air pollution kills quickly. In 1984, an accident at a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, released a deadly gas into the air. At least 8,000 people died within days. Hundreds of thou sands more were permanently injured. Natural disasters can also cause air pollution to increase quickly. When volcanoes erupt , they eject volcanic ash and gases into the atmosphere . Volcanic ash can discolor the sky for months. After the eruption of the Indonesian volcano of Krakatoa in 1883, ash darkened the sky around the world. The dimmer sky caused fewer crops to be harvested as far away as Europe and North America. For years, meteorologists tracked what was known as the “equatorial smoke stream .” In fact, this smoke stream was a jet stream , a wind high in Earth’s atmosphere that Krakatoa’s air pollution made visible. Volcanic gases , such as sulfur dioxide , can kill nearby residents and make the soil infertile for years. Mount Vesuvius, a volcano in Italy, famously erupted in 79, killing hundreds of residents of the nearby towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Most victims of Vesuvius were not killed by lava or landslides caused by the eruption. They were choked, or asphyxiated , by deadly volcanic gases. In 1986, a toxic cloud developed over Lake Nyos, Cameroon. Lake Nyos sits in the crater of a volcano. Though the volcano did not erupt, it did eject volcanic gases into the lake. The heated gases passed through the water of the lake and collected as a cloud that descended the slopes of the volcano and into nearby valleys . As the toxic cloud moved across the landscape, it killed birds and other organisms in their natural habitat . This air pollution also killed thousands of cattle and as many as 1,700 people. Most air pollution is not natural, however. It comes from burning fossil fuels —coal, oil , and natural gas . When gasoline is burned to power cars and trucks, it produces carbon monoxide , a colorless, odorless gas. The gas is harmful in high concentrations , or amounts. City traffic produces highly concentrated carbon monoxide. Cars and factories produce other common pollutants, including nitrogen oxide , sulfur dioxide, and hydrocarbons . These chemicals react with sunlight to produce smog , a thick fog or haze of air pollution. The smog is so thick in Linfen, China, that people can seldom see the sun. Smog can be brown or grayish blue, depending on which pollutants are in it. Smog makes breathing difficult, especially for children and older adults. Some cities that suffer from extreme smog issue air pollution warnings. The government of Hong Kong, for example, will warn people not to go outside or engage in strenuous physical activity (such as running or swimming) when smog is very thick.

When air pollutants such as nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide mix with moisture, they change into acids . They then fall back to earth as acid rain . Wind often carries acid rain far from the pollution source. Pollutants produced by factories and power plants in Spain can fall as acid rain in Norway. Acid rain can kill all the trees in a forest . It can also devastate lakes, streams, and other waterways. When lakes become acidic, fish can’t survive . In Sweden, acid rain created thousands of “ dead lakes ,” where fish no longer live. Acid rain also wears away marble and other kinds of stone . It has erased the words on gravestones and damaged many historic buildings and monuments . The Taj Mahal , in Agra, India, was once gleaming white. Years of exposure to acid rain has left it pale. Governments have tried to prevent acid rain by limiting the amount of pollutants released into the air. In Europe and North America, they have had some success, but acid rain remains a major problem in the developing world , especially Asia. Greenhouse gases are another source of air pollution. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane occur naturally in the atmosphere. In fact, they are necessary for life on Earth. They absorb sunlight reflected from Earth, preventing it from escaping into space. By trapping heat in the atmosphere, they keep Earth warm enough for people to live. This is called the greenhouse effect . But human activities such as burning fossil fuels and destroying forests have increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This has increased the greenhouse effect, and average temperatures across the globe are rising. The decade that began in the year 2000 was the warmest on record. This increase in worldwide average temperatures, caused in part by human activity, is called global warming . Global warming is causing ice sheets and glaciers to melt. The melting ice is causing sea levels to rise at a rate of two millimeters (0.09 inches) per year. The rising seas will eventually flood low-lying coastal regions . Entire nations, such as the islands of Maldives, are threatened by this climate change . Global warming also contributes to the phenomenon of ocean acidification . Ocean acidification is the process of ocean waters absorbing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Fewer organisms can survive in warmer, less salty waters. The ocean food web is threatened as plants and animals such as coral fail to adapt to more acidic oceans. Scientists have predicted that global warming will cause an increase in severe storms . It will also cause more droughts in some regions and more flooding in others. The change in average temperatures is already shrinking some habitats, the regions where plants and animals naturally live. Polar bears hunt seals from sea ice in the Arctic. The melting ice is forcing polar bears to travel farther to find food , and their numbers are shrinking. People and governments can respond quickly and effectively to reduce air pollution. Chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are a dangerous form of air pollution that governments worked to reduce in the 1980s and 1990s. CFCs are found in gases that cool refrigerators, in foam products, and in aerosol cans . CFCs damage the ozone layer , a region in Earth’s upper atmosphere. The ozone layer protects Earth by absorbing much of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation . When people are exposed to more ultraviolet radiation, they are more likely to develop skin cancer, eye diseases, and other illnesses. In the 1980s, scientists noticed that the ozone layer over Antarctica was thinning. This is often called the “ ozone hole .” No one lives permanently in Antarctica. But Australia, the home of more than 22 million people, lies at the edge of the hole. In the 1990s, the Australian government began an effort to warn people of the dangers of too much sun. Many countries, including the United States, now severely limit the production of CFCs. Water Pollution Some polluted water looks muddy, smells bad, and has garbage floating in it. Some polluted water looks clean, but is filled with harmful chemicals you can’t see or smell. Polluted water is unsafe for drinking and swimming. Some people who drink polluted water are exposed to hazardous chemicals that may make them sick years later. Others consume bacteria and other tiny aquatic organisms that cause disease. The United Nations estimates that 4,000 children die every day from drinking dirty water. Sometimes, polluted water harms people indirectly. They get sick because the fish that live in polluted water are unsafe to eat. They have too many pollutants in their flesh. There are some natural sources of water pollution. Oil and natural gas, for example, can leak into oceans and lakes from natural underground sources. These sites are called petroleum seeps . The world’s largest petroleum seep is the Coal Oil Point Seep, off the coast of the U.S. state of California. The Coal Oil Point Seep releases so much oil that tar balls wash up on nearby beaches . Tar balls are small, sticky pieces of pollution that eventually decompose in the ocean.

Human activity also contributes to water pollution. Chemicals and oils from factories are sometimes dumped or seep into waterways. These chemicals are called runoff. Chemicals in runoff can create a toxic environment for aquatic life. Runoff can also help create a fertile environment for cyanobacteria , also called blue-green algae . Cyanobacteria reproduce rapidly, creating a harmful algal bloom (HAB) . Harmful algal blooms prevent organisms such as plants and fish from living in the ocean. They are associated with “ dead zones ” in the world’s lakes and rivers, places where little life exists below surface water. Mining and drilling can also contribute to water pollution. Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a major contributor to pollution of rivers and streams near coal mines . Acid helps miners remove coal from the surrounding rocks . The acid is washed into streams and rivers, where it reacts with rocks and sand. It releases chemical sulfur from the rocks and sand, creating a river rich in sulfuric acid . Sulfuric acid is toxic to plants, fish, and other aquatic organisms. Sulfuric acid is also toxic to people, making rivers polluted by AMD dangerous sources of water for drinking and hygiene . Oil spills are another source of water pollution. In April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, causing oil to gush from the ocean floor. In the following months, hundreds of millions of gallons of oil spewed into the gulf waters. The spill produced large plumes of oil under the sea and an oil slick on the surface as large as 24,000 square kilometers (9,100 square miles). The oil slick coated wetlands in the U.S. states of Louisiana and Mississippi, killing marsh plants and aquatic organisms such as crabs and fish. Birds, such as pelicans , became coated in oil and were unable to fly or access food. More than two million animals died as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Buried chemical waste can also pollute water supplies. For many years, people disposed of chemical wastes carelessly, not realizing its dangers. In the 1970s, people living in the Love Canal area in Niagara Falls, New York, suffered from extremely high rates of cancer and birth defects . It was discovered that a chemical waste dump had poisoned the area’s water. In 1978, 800 families living in Love Canal had to a bandon their homes. If not disposed of properly, radioactive waste from nuclear power plants can escape into the environment. Radioactive waste can harm living things and pollute the water. Sewage that has not been properly treated is a common source of water pollution. Many cities around the world have poor sewage systems and sewage treatment plants. Delhi, the capital of India, is home to more than 21 million people. More than half the sewage and other waste produced in the city are dumped into the Yamuna River. This pollution makes the river dangerous to use as a source of water for drinking or hygiene. It also reduces the river’s fishery , resulting in less food for the local community. A major source of water pollution is fertilizer used in agriculture . Fertilizer is material added to soil to make plants grow larger and faster. Fertilizers usually contain large amounts of the elements nitrogen and phosphorus , which help plants grow. Rainwater washes fertilizer into streams and lakes. There, the nitrogen and phosphorus cause cyanobacteria to form harmful algal blooms. Rain washes other pollutants into streams and lakes. It picks up animal waste from cattle ranches. Cars drip oil onto the street, and rain carries it into storm drains , which lead to waterways such as rivers and seas. Rain sometimes washes chemical pesticides off of plants and into streams. Pesticides can also seep into groundwater , the water beneath the surface of the Earth. Heat can pollute water. Power plants, for example, produce a huge amount of heat. Power plants are often located on rivers so they can use the water as a coolant . Cool water circulates through the plant, absorbing heat. The heated water is then returned to the river. Aquatic creatures are sensitive to changes in temperature. Some fish, for example, can only live in cold water. Warmer river temperatures prevent fish eggs from hatching. Warmer river water also contributes to harmful algal blooms. Another type of water pollution is simple garbage. The Citarum River in Indonesia, for example, has so much garbage floating in it that you cannot see the water. Floating trash makes the river difficult to fish in. Aquatic animals such as fish and turtles mistake trash, such as plastic bags, for food. Plastic bags and twine can kill many ocean creatures. Chemical pollutants in trash can also pollute the water, making it toxic for fish and people who use the river as a source of drinking water. The fish that are caught in a polluted river often have high levels of chemical toxins in their flesh. People absorb these toxins as they eat the fish. Garbage also fouls the ocean. Many plastic bottles and other pieces of trash are thrown overboard from boats. The wind blows trash out to sea. Ocean currents carry plastics and other floating trash to certain places on the globe, where it cannot escape. The largest of these areas, called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean. According to some estimates, this garbage patch is the size of Texas. The trash is a threat to fish and seabirds, which mistake the plastic for food. Many of the plastics are covered with chemical pollutants. Land Pollution Many of the same pollutants that foul the water also harm the land. Mining sometimes leaves the soil contaminated with dangerous chemicals. Pesticides and fertilizers from agricultural fields are blown by the wind. They can harm plants, animals, and sometimes people. Some fruits and vegetables absorb the pesticides that help them grow. When people consume the fruits and vegetables, the pesticides enter their bodies. Some pesticides can cause cancer and other diseases. A pesticide called DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) was once commonly used to kill insects, especially mosquitoes. In many parts of the world, mosquitoes carry a disease called malaria , which kills a million people every year. Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Muller was awarded the Nobel Prize for his understanding of how DDT can control insects and other pests. DDT is responsible for reducing malaria in places such as Taiwan and Sri Lanka. In 1962, American biologist Rachel Carson wrote a book called Silent Spring , which discussed the dangers of DDT. She argued that it could contribute to cancer in humans. She also explained how it was destroying bird eggs, which caused the number of bald eagles, brown pelicans, and ospreys to drop. In 1972, the United States banned the use of DDT. Many other countries also banned it. But DDT didn’t disappear entirely. Today, many governments support the use of DDT because it remains the most effective way to combat malaria. Trash is another form of land pollution. Around the world, paper, cans, glass jars, plastic products, and junked cars and appliances mar the landscape. Litter makes it difficult for plants and other producers in the food web to create nutrients . Animals can die if they mistakenly eat plastic. Garbage often contains dangerous pollutants such as oils, chemicals, and ink. These pollutants can leech into the soil and harm plants, animals, and people. Inefficient garbage collection systems contribute to land pollution. Often, the garbage is picked up and brought to a dump, or landfill . Garbage is buried in landfills. Sometimes, communities produce so much garbage that their landfills are filling up. They are running out of places to dump their trash. A massive landfill near Quezon City, Philippines, was the site of a land pollution tragedy in 2000. Hundreds of people lived on the slopes of the Quezon City landfill. These people made their living from recycling and selling items found in the landfill. However, the landfill was not secure. Heavy rains caused a trash landslide, killing 218 people. Sometimes, landfills are not completely sealed off from the land around them. Pollutants from the landfill leak into the earth in which they are buried. Plants that grow in the earth may be contaminated, and the herbivores that eat the plants also become contaminated. So do the predators that consume the herbivores. This process, where a chemical builds up in each level of the food web, is called bioaccumulation . Pollutants leaked from landfills also leak into local groundwater supplies. There, the aquatic food web (from microscopic algae to fish to predators such as sharks or eagles) can suffer from bioaccumulation of toxic chemicals. Some communities do not have adequate garbage collection systems, and trash lines the side of roads. In other places, garbage washes up on beaches. Kamilo Beach, in the U.S. state of Hawai'i, is littered with plastic bags and bottles carried in by the tide . The trash is dangerous to ocean life and reduces economic activity in the area. Tourism is Hawai'i’s largest industry . Polluted beaches discourage tourists from investing in the area’s hotels, restaurants, and recreational activities. Some cities incinerate , or burn, their garbage. Incinerating trash gets rid of it, but it can release dangerous heavy metals and chemicals into the air. So while trash incinerators can help with the problem of land pollution, they sometimes add to the problem of air pollution. Reducing Pollution Around the world, people and governments are making efforts to combat pollution. Recycling, for instance, is becoming more common. In recycling, trash is processed so its useful materials can be used again. Glass, aluminum cans, and many types of plastic can be melted and reused . Paper can be broken down and turned into new paper. Recycling reduces the amount of garbage that ends up in landfills, incinerators, and waterways. Austria and Switzerland have the highest recycling rates. These nations recycle between 50 and 60 percent of their garbage. The United States recycles about 30 percent of its garbage. Governments can combat pollution by passing laws that limit the amount and types of chemicals factories and agribusinesses are allowed to use. The smoke from coal-burning power plants can be filtered. People and businesses that illegally dump pollutants into the land, water, and air can be fined for millions of dollars. Some government programs, such as the Superfund program in the United States, can force polluters to clean up the sites they polluted. International agreements can also reduce pollution. The Kyoto Protocol , a United Nations agreement to limit the emission of greenhouse gases, has been signed by 191 countries. The United States, the world’s second-largest producer of greenhouse gases, did not sign the agreement. Other countries, such as China, the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases, have not met their goals. Still, many gains have been made. In 1969, the Cuyahoga River, in the U.S. state of Ohio, was so clogged with oil and trash that it caught on fire. The fire helped spur the Clean Water Act of 1972. This law limited what pollutants could be released into water and set standards for how clean water should be. Today, the Cuyahoga River is much cleaner. Fish have returned to regions of the river where they once could not survive. But even as some rivers are becoming cleaner, others are becoming more polluted. As countries around the world become wealthier, some forms of pollution increase. Countries with growing economies usually need more power plants, which produce more pollutants. Reducing pollution requires environmental, political, and economic leadership. Developed nations must work to reduce and recycle their materials, while developing nations must work to strengthen their economies without destroying the environment. Developed and developing countries must work together toward the common goal of protecting the environment for future use.

How Long Does It Last? Different materials decompose at different rates. How long does it take for these common types of trash to break down?

Paper: 2-4 weeks
Orange peel: 6 months
Milk carton: 5 years
Plastic bag: 15 years
Tin can: 100 years
Plastic bottle: 450 years
Glass bottle: 500 years
Styrofoam: Never

Indoor Air Pollution The air inside your house can be polluted. Air and carpet cleaners, insect sprays, and cigarettes are all sources of indoor air pollution.

Light Pollution Light pollution is the excess amount of light in the night sky. Light pollution, also called photopollution, is almost always found in urban areas. Light pollution can disrupt ecosystems by confusing the distinction between night and day. Nocturnal animals, those that are active at night, may venture out during the day, while diurnal animals, which are active during daylight hours, may remain active well into the night. Feeding and sleep patterns may be confused. Light pollution also indicates an excess use of energy. The dark-sky movement is a campaign by people to reduce light pollution. This would reduce energy use, allow ecosystems to function more normally, and allow scientists and stargazers to observe the atmosphere.

Noise Pollution Noise pollution is the constant presence of loud, disruptive noises in an area. Usually, noise pollution is caused by construction or nearby transportation facilities, such as airports. Noise pollution is unpleasant, and can be dangerous. Some songbirds, such as robins, are unable to communicate or find food in the presence of heavy noise pollution. The sound waves produced by some noise pollutants can disrupt the sonar used by marine animals to communicate or locate food.

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Recycling — The Advantages of Recycling and Its Impact on the Environment

The Advantages of Recycling and Its Impact on The Environment

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The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop (2001)

Chapter: 14 problems of waste management in the moscow region, problems of waste management in the moscow region.

Department of Natural Resources of the Central Region of Russia

The scientific and technological revolution of the twentieth century has turned the world over, transformed it, and presented humankind with new knowledge and innovative technologies that previously seemed to be fantasies. Man, made in the Creator’s own image, has indeed become in many respects similar to the Creator. Primitive thinking and consumerism as to nature and natural resources seem to be in contrast to this background. Drastic deterioration of the environment has become the other side of the coin that gave the possibility, so pleasant for the average person, to buy practically everything that is needed.

A vivid example of man’s impact as “a geological force” (as Academician V. I. Vernadsky described contemporary mankind) is poisoning of the soil, surface and underground waters, and atmosphere with floods of waste that threaten to sweep over the Earth. Ecosystems of our planet are no longer capable of “digesting” ever-increasing volumes of waste and new synthetic chemicals alien to nature.

One of the most important principles in achieving sustainable development is to limit the appetite of public consumption. A logical corollary of this principle suggests that the notion “waste” or “refuse” should be excluded not only from professional terminology, but also from the minds of people, with “secondary material resources” as a substitute concept for them. In my presentation I would like to dwell on a number of aspects of waste disposal. It is an ecological, economic, and social problem for the Moscow megalopolis in present-day conditions.

PRESENT SITUATION WITH WASTE IN MOSCOW

Tens of thousand of enterprises and research organizations of practically all branches of the economy are amassed over the territory of 100,000 hectares: facilities of energy, chemistry and petrochemistry; metallurgical and machine-building works; and light industrial and food processing plants. Moscow is occupying one of the leading places in the Russian Federation for the level of industrial production. The city is the greatest traffic center and bears a heavy load in a broad spectrum of responsibilities as capital of the State. The burden of technogenesis on the environment of the city of Moscow and the Moscow region is very considerable, and it is caused by all those factors mentioned above. One of the most acute problems is the adverse effect of the huge volumes of industrial and consumer wastes. Industrial waste has a great variety of chemical components.

For the last ten years we witnessed mainly negative trends in industrial production in Moscow due to the economic crisis in the country. In Moscow the largest industrial works came practically to a standstill, and production of manufactured goods declined sharply. At the same time, a comparative analysis in 1998–99 of the indexes of goods and services output and of resource potential showed that the coefficient of the practical use of natural resources per unit of product, which had been by all means rather low in previous years, proceeded gradually to decrease further. At present we have only 25 percent of the industrial output that we had in 1990, but the volume of water intake remains at the same level. Fuel consumption has come down only by 18 percent, and the amassed production waste diminished by only 50 percent. These figures indicate the growing indexes of resource consumption and increases in wastes from industrial production.

Every year about 13 million tons of different kinds of waste are accumulated in Moscow: 42 percent from water preparation and sewage treatment, 25 percent from industry, 13 percent from the construction sector, and 20 percent from the municipal economy.

The main problem of waste management in Moscow city comes from the existing situation whereby a number of sites for recycling and disposal of certain types of industrial waste and facilities for storage of inert industrial and building wastes are situated outside the city in Moscow Region, which is subject to other laws of the Russian Federation. Management of inert industrial and building wastes, which make up the largest part of the general volume of wastes and of solid domestic wastes (SDW), simply means in everyday practice their disposal at 46 sites (polygons) in Moscow Region and at 200 disposal locations that are completely unsuitable from the ecological point of view.

The volume of recycled waste is less than 10–15 percent of the volume that is needed. Only 8 percent of solid domestic refuse is destroyed (by incineration). If we group industrial waste according to risk factor classes, refuse that is not

dangerous makes up 80 percent of the total volume, 4th class low-hazard wastes 14 percent, and 1st-3rd classes of dangerous wastes amount to 3.5 percent. The largest part of the waste is not dangerous—up to 32 percent. Construction refuse, iron and steel scrap, and non-ferrous metal scrap are 15 percent. Paper is 12 percent, and scrap lumber is 4 percent. Metal scrap under the 4th class of risk factor makes up 37 percent; wood, paper, and polymers more than 8 percent; and all-rubber scrap 15 percent. So, most refuse can be successfully recycled and brought back into manufacturing.

This is related to SDW too. The morphological composition of SDW in Moscow is characterized by a high proportion of utilizable waste: 37.6 percent in paper refuse, 35.2 percent in food waste, 10 percent in polymeric materials, 7 percent in glass scrap, and about 5 percent in iron, steel, and non-ferrous metal scrap. The paper portion in commercial wastes amounts to 70 percent of the SDW volume.

A number of programs initiated by the Government of Moscow are underway for the collection and utilization of refuse and for neutralization of industrial and domestic waste. A waste-recycling industry is being developed in the city of Moscow, mostly for manufacturing recycled products and goods. One of the most important ecological problems is the establishment in the region of ecologically safe facilities for the disposal of dangerous wastes of 1st and 2nd class risk factors.

Pre-planned industrial capacities for thermal neutralization of SDW will be able to take 30 percent of domestic waste and dangerous industrial waste. Construction of rubbish-burning works according to the old traditional approach is not worthwhile and should come to an end. Waste-handling stations have been under construction in the city for the last five years. In two years there will be six such stations which will make it possible to reduce the number of garbage trucks from 1,156 to 379 and to reduce the amount of atmospheric pollution they produce. In addition the switch to building stations with capacity of briquetting one ton of waste into a cubic meter will decrease the burden on waste disposal sites and prolong their life span by 4–5 fold. Trash hauling enterprises will also make profit because of lower transportation costs.

Putting into operation waste-segregation complexes (10–12 sites) would reduce volumes of refuse to disposal sites by 40 percent—that is 1,200,000 tons per year. The total volume of burned or recycled SDW would reach 2,770,000 tons a year. A total of 210,000 tons of waste per year would be buried. So, in the course of a five year period, full industrial recycling of SDW could be achieved in practice.

Collection of segregated waste is one of the important elements in effective disposal and utilization of SDW. It facilitates recycling of waste and return of secondary material into the manufacturing process. Future trends in segregation and collection of SDW will demand wide popularization and improvement of the ecological culture and everyday behavior of people.

In recent years the high increase in the number of cars in Moscow has brought about not only higher pollution of the atmosphere, but also an avalanche-like accumulation of refuse from vehicles. Besides littering residential and recreation areas, cars represent a source for toxic pollution of land and reservoirs. At the same time, automobile wastes are a good source for recycled products. In the short-term outlook, Moscow has to resolve the problem of collection and utilization of decommissioned vehicles and automobile wastes with particular emphasis on activities of the private sector. Setting up a system for collection and utilization of bulky domestic waste and electronic equipment refuse is also on the priority list.

In 1999 in Moscow the following volumes of secondary raw materials were produced or used in the city or were recycled: 300,000 tons of construction waste, 296,000 tons of metal scrap, 265 tons of car battery lead, 21,000 tons of glass, 62,500 tons of paper waste, 4,328 tons of oil-bearing waste, and 306 tons of refuse from galvanizing plants.

Such traditional secondary materials as metal scrap and paper waste are not recycled in Moscow but are shipped to other regions of Russia.

The worldwide practice of sorting and recycling industrial and domestic wastes demands the establishment of an industry for secondary recycling. Otherwise segregation of waste becomes ineffective.

There are restraining factors for the development of an effective system of assorted selection, segregation, and use of secondary raw resources, namely lack of sufficient manufacturing capacities and of suitable technologies for secondary recycling.

The problem of utilization of wastes is closely linked with the problem of modernization and sometimes even demands fundamental restructuring of industries. The practical use of equipment for less energy consumption and a smaller volume of wastes and a transition to the use of alternative raw materials are needed. Large enterprises—the main producers of dangerous wastes—are in a difficult financial situation now, which is an impediment for proceeding along these lines.

Private and medium-size enterprises are becoming gradually aware of the economic profitability in rational use of waste. For example, the firm Satory started as a transportation organization specialized in removal of scrap from demolished buildings and those undergoing reconstruction. It now benefits from recycling of waste, having developed an appropriate technology for the dismantling of buildings with segregation of building waste. So, as it has been already mentioned above, the first task for Moscow is to establish a basis for waste recycling.

HOW TO CHANGE THE SITUATION WITH WASTE

Transition to modern technologies in the utilization of wastes requires either sufficient investments or a considerable increase in repayment for waste on the part of the population. Obviously, these two approaches are not likely to be realized in the near future.

The recovery of one ton of SDW with the use of ecologically acceptable technology requires not less than $70–100.

Given the average per capita income in 1999 and the likely increase up to the year of 2005, in 2005 it will be possible to receive from a citizen not more than $14 per year. This means that the cost of technology should not exceed $40 per ton of recycled waste. Unfortunately, this requirement can fit only unsegregated waste disposal at the polygons (taking into account an increase in transportation costs by the year 2005).

Such being the case, it looks like there is only one acceptable solution for Russia to solve the problem of waste in an up-to-date manner: to introduce trade-in value on packaging and on some manufactured articles.

In recent years domestic waste includes more and more beverage containers. Plastic and glass bottles, aluminium cans, and packs like Tetrapak stockpiled at disposal sites will soon reach the same volumes as in western countries. In Canada, for example, this kind of waste amounts to one-third of all domestic waste.

A characteristic feature of this kind of waste is that the packaging for beverages is extremely durable and expensive. Manufactured from polyethylene terephthalate (PTA) and aluminum, it is sometimes more expensive than the beverage it contains.

What are the ways for solving the problem? Practically all of them are well-known, but most will not work in Russia in present conditions. The first problem relates to collection of segregated waste in the urban sector and in the services sector. A number of reasons make this system unrealistic, specifically in large cities. Sorting of waste at waste-briquetting sites and at polygons is possible. But if we take into account the present cost of secondary resources, this system turns out to be economically unprofitable and cannot be widely introduced.

The introduction of deposits on containers for beverages is at present the most acceptable option for Russia. This system turned out to be most effective in a number of countries that have much in common with Russia. In fact this option is not at all new for us. Surely, all people remember the price of beer or kefir bottles. A system of deposit for glass bottles was in operation in the USSR, and waste sites were free from hundreds of millions of glass bottles and jars. We simply need to reinstate this system at present in the new economic conditions according to new types and modes of packaging. Deposits could be introduced also on glass bottles and jars, PTA and other plastic bottles, aluminium cans, and Tetrapak packing.

Let us investigate several non-ecological aspects of this problem, because the ecological impact of secondary recycling of billions of bottles, cans, and packs is quite obvious.

Most of the population in Russia lives below the poverty line. When people buy bottles of vodka, beer, or soft drinks, they will have to pay a deposit value (10–20 kopeks for a bottle). The poorest people will carry the bottles to receiving points. A system of collection of packaging will function by itself. Only receiving points are needed. Millions of rubles that are collected will be redistributed among the poorest people for their benefit, and a social problem of the poor will be solved to a certain extent not by charity, but with normal economic means.

A second point is also well-known. In a market economy one of the most important problems is that of employment. What happens when the trade-in value is introduced?

Thousands of new jobs are created at receiving points and at enterprises that recycle glass, plastics, etc. And we don’t need a single penny from the state budget. More than that, these enterprises will pay taxes and consume products of other branches of industry, thus yielding a return to the budget, not to mention income tax from new jobs.

There is another aspect of the matter. Considerable funding is needed from budgets of local governments, including communal repayments for waste collection and disposal at polygons and incinerators. Reduction of expenses for utilization of waste can be significant support for housing and communal reform in general.

It is practically impossible to evaluate in general an ecological effect when thousands of tons of waste will cease to occupy plots of land near cities as long-term disposal sites. Operation costs of receiving points and transportation costs could be covered by funds obtained from manufacturers and from returned packaging. Besides, when a waste recycling industry develops and becomes profitable, recycling factories will be able to render partial support to receiving points.

Trade-in value can be introduced on all types of packaging except milk products and products for children. It could amount to 15 or 30 kopecks per container, depending on its size. If all plastic bottles with water and beer are sold with trade-in value only in Moscow, the total sum will reach 450 million rubles a year. If we include glass bottles, aluminum cans, and packets, the sum will be one billion rubles. This sum will be redistributed at receiving points among people with scanty means when they receive the money for used packaging and jobs at receiving points and at recycling factories.

The bottleneck of the problem now is the absence in Russia of high technology industries for waste recycling. It can be resolved rather easily. At the first stage, used packaging can be sold as raw material for enterprises, including those overseas. There is unrestricted demand for PTA and aluminum on the part

of foreign firms. When waste collection mechanisms are established, there will be limited investments in this branch of industry.

With regard to the inexhaustible source of free raw material, this recycling industry will become one of the most reliable from the point of view of recoupment of investments. The Government, regional authorities, the population, and of course ecologists should all be interested in having such a law.

The same should be done with sales of cars, tires, and car batteries. Prices of every tire or battery should be higher by 30–50 rubles. These sums of money should be returned back to a buyer or credited when he buys a new tire or a new battery. For sure, such being the case we will not find used batteries thrown about the city dumps. In this case the task is even simpler because there are already a number of facilities for the recycling of tires and batteries.

In fact, a law of trade-in value can change the situation with waste in Russia in a fundamental way. Russian legislation has already been prepared, and the concept of an ecological tax has been introduced in the new Internal Revenue Code. Now it needs to be competently introduced. The outlay for waste recycling has to become a type of ecological tax. To realize this task much work has to be done among the deputies and with the Government. Public ecological organizations, including international ones, should play a leading role.

ACTIVITY OF PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS IN THE SPHERE OF WASTE MANAGEMENT IN THE MOSCOW REGION

We know examples of the ever increasing role of the general public in the solution of the problem of waste utilization, first of all in those countries that have well-developed democratic institutions. “Fight Against Waste” is one of the popular slogans of public organizations abroad. Public opinion has brought about measures of sanitary cleaning in cities, secured better work by municipal services, shut down hazardous industries, and restricted and prohibited incineration facilities. Nevertheless, the struggle against wastes in the economically developed countries, being a manifestation of an advanced attitude towards the environment, has in the long run brought about a paradoxical result. Transfer of hazardous industries to countries with lower environmental standards and inadequate public support—Russia, as an example—has made the world even more dangerous from the ecological point of view.

Russia has just embarked on the path of formation of environmental public movements by the establishment of nongovernmental organizations. Representatives of nongovernmental organizations from Russia took part in the international gathering in Bonn in March 2000 of nongovernmental organizations that are members of the International Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Elimination Network. A declaration against incineration was adopted in

Bonn by nongovernmental organizations, which called for elaboration of effective alternative technologies for utilization of waste and safe technologies for elimination of existing stockpiles of POP.

Quite a number of environmental organizations are operating now in Moscow. First to be mentioned is the All-Russia Society for the Conservation of Nature, which was established in Soviet times. There are other nongovernmental organizations: Ecosoglasiye, Ecolain, Ecological Union, and the Russian branches of Green Cross and Greenpeace. All these organizations collect and popularize environmental information and organize protest actions against policies of the Government or local administrations on ecological matters. A new political party—Russia’s Movement of the Greens—is being formed.

Laws currently in force in the Russian Federation (“On Protection of the Environment,” “On State Ecological Examination by Experts,” “On Production and Consumption of Waste”) declare the right of the public to participate in environmental examination of projects that are to be implemented, including those on the establishment of facilities for elimination and disposition of waste. Public examinations can be organized by the initiative of citizens and public associations. For example, under the law of Moscow “On Protection of the Rights of Citizens while Implementing Decisions on Construction Projects in Moscow,” public hearings are organized by the city’s boards. Decisions taken by local authorities, at referenda and public meetings, may be the very reason for carrying out public examinations. Such examinations are conducted mainly by commissions, collectives, or ad hoc groups of experts. Members of public examination panels are responsible for the accuracy and validity of their expert evaluations in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. A decision of a public environmental panel has an informative nature as a recommendation, but it becomes legally mandatory after its approval by the appropriate body of the State. Besides, the opinion of the public is taken into account when a project submitted for state environmental review has undergone public examinations and there are supporting materials.

Public environmental examination is supposed to draw the attention of state bodies to a definite site or facility and to disseminate well-grounded information about potential ecological risks. This important facet of public environmental organizations in Moscow and in Russia is very weak. To a large extent, it can be explained by an insufficient level of specific and general knowledge of ecology even on the part of the environmentalists themselves. Lack of knowledge on the part of ordinary citizens and public groups and inadequate information (for various reasons) produce alarm-motivated behavior by those who harm the organization of environmental activity in general and waste management in particular.

There are nevertheless positive examples of public participation in designing policies of local authorities in the waste management sphere.

Speaking about the Moscow region we can point to the very productive work of the Public Ecological Commission attached to the Council of Deputies in Pushchino, in Moscow Oblast.

The population of Pushchino is 21,000. The polygon for solid biological wastes (SBW) has practically exhausted its capacities. In 1996, in order to find a way out, the Administration of the town showed an interest in a proposal made by the Austrian firm FMW to support financially the construction of an electric power station in the vicinity of the town that would operate using both fuel briquettes and SBW of the town. The briquettes would be manufactured in Turkey and would contain 70 percent Austrian industrial waste with added oil sludge. It was also envisaged that during the construction period of the electric power station, 300,000 tons of briquettes would be shipped and stockpiled. The original positive decision was annulled due to an independent evaluation of the project organized by the Public Ecological Commission.

The general public of Puschino put forward a counter proposal before the Administration in order to reduce volumes of SBW disposal at the polygon and to prolong its operation—segregation of SBW (food waste, paper refuse, fabrics, metal, glass, used car batteries). As a result, a new scheme for sanitary measures in the town was worked out in 1998, which on the basis of segregation of waste provided for a considerable decrease in refuse flow to the polygon. Unfortunately, for lack of finances in the town budget, the scheme has not been introduced to the full extent. But in spite of severe shortages of special containers for segregated wastes, a network of receiving points for secondary materials was set up.

One of the pressing tasks for greater public activity is wide popularization of environmental knowledge on waste management, especially among the young generation. There is a very important role for public organizations to play in this domain when enlightenment and education are becoming a primary concern of nongovernmental organizations. Referring again to the example of the Public Ecological Commission in Pushchino, I have to underline that this organization is taking an active part in the enlightenment of the population through organizing exhibitions, placing publications in the press, and spurring school children into action to encourage cleaning of the town by means of environmental contests, seminars, and conferences. Children help the Commission organize mobile receiving points for secondary material. They even prepare announcements and post them around the town calling on the citizens to take valuable amounts of domestic wastes and car batteries to receiving points.

There are other examples of a growing influence of public organizations on the policy of administration in the sphere of waste management in the Moscow region. The Moscow Children’s Ecological Center has worked out the Program “You, He, She and I—All Together Make Moscow Clean,” which is being introduced with the support of the Moscow Government. In the framework of this program, children collect waste paper at schools, and they are taught how to

be careful about the environment and material resources. The storage facilities agreed to support the initiative. They buy waste paper at a special price for school children. Then, the schools spend the earned money for excursions, laboratory equipment, books, and plant greenery.

Another example of an enlightened activity is a project realized in 1999 by the firm Ecoconcord on producing video-clips for TV about the adverse effects of waste incineration and the illegality of unauthorized storage of waste.

The name Ecoconcord speaks for the main purpose of this organization—to achieve mutual understanding between the general public and governmental organizations, to encourage public involvement in decision-making, and to promote the formation of policy bodies that would not let public opinion be ignored.

Proceeding from the global task of integrating the activities of interested parties in lessening adverse waste pollution, public organizations have to cooperate with authorities and not stand against them. Cooperation and consensus between governmental and nongovernmental organizations in working out strategies and tactics in waste management should become a prerequisite in successful realization of state policy in this sphere in the Russian Federation.

An NRC committee was established to work with a Russian counterpart group in conducting a workshop in Moscow on the effectiveness of Russian environmental NGOs in environmental decision-making and prepared proceedings of this workshop, highlighting the successes and difficulties faced by NGOs in Russia and the United States.

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Municipal solid waste management in Russia: potentials of climate change mitigation

Original Paper
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Published: 29 July 2021
Volume 19 , pages 27–42, ( 2022 )

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The goal of this study was to assess the impact of the introduction of various waste management methods on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from these activities. The assessment was carried out on the example of the Russian waste management sector. For this purpose, three scenarios had been elaborated for the development of the Russian waste management sector: Basic scenario, Reactive scenario and Innovative scenario. For each of the scenarios, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated during waste management was calculated. The calculation was based on the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. The results of the greenhouse gas net emissions calculation are as follows: 64 Mt CO 2 -eq./a for the basic scenario, 12.8 Mt CO 2 -eq./a for the reactive scenario, and 3.7 Mt CO 2 -eq./a for the innovative scenario. An assessment was made of the impact of the introduction of various waste treatment technologies on the amounts of greenhouse gas emissions generated in the waste management sector. An important factor influencing the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from landfills is the recovery and thermal utilization of 60% of the generated landfill gas. The introduction of a separate collection system that allows to separately collect 20% of the total amount of generated municipal solid waste along with twofold increase in the share of incinerated waste leads to a more than threefold reduction in total greenhouse gas emissions from the waste management sector.

Toward sustainable waste management: estimating emissions from alternative practices in Gulf Cooperation Council countries

A. Alsulaili, F. Alshamali & A. Aldabbous

The analysis of electricity production and greenhouse-gas emission reduction from municipal solid waste sector in Oman

W. A. Qazi & M. F. M. Abushammala

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Introduction

Population growth, urbanization and changing life style have resulted in increased amounts of generated solid waste, which poses serious challenges for many cities and authorities around the world (Abu Qdais et al. 2019 ; Chen 2018 ; Dedinec et al. 2015 ). In 2011, world cities generated about 1.3 Gt of solid waste; this amount is expected to increase to 2.2 Gt by 2025 (Hoornweg and Bhada-Tata 2012 ). Unless properly managed on a national level, solid waste causes several environmental and public health problems, which is adversely reflected on the economic development of a country (Abu Qdais 2007 ; Kaza et al. 2018 ).

One of the important environmental impact of the waste management sector are the generated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These emissions come mostly from the release of methane from organic waste decomposition in landfills (Wuensch and Kocina 2019 ). The waste management sector is responsible for 1.6 Gt carbon dioxide equivalents (CO 2 -eq.) of the global GHG direct anthropogenic emissions per year (Fischedick et al. 2014 ), which accounts for approx. 4% of the global GHG emissions (Papageorgiou et al. 2009 ; Vergara and Tchobanoglous 2012 ). The disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) contributes to 0.67 Gt CO 2 -eq./a worldwide (Fischedick et al. 2014 ), which is approx. 1.4% of the global GHG emissions. Per capita emissions in developed countries are estimated to be about 500 kg CO 2 -eq./a (Wuensch and Kocina 2019 ), while in the developing and emerging countries, it is around 100 kg CO 2 -eq./a per person. This low contribution of waste management sector comparing to other sectors of the economy, such as energy and transportation, might be the reason for the small amount of research that aims to study GHG emissions from the waste management sector (Chung et al. 2018 ).

However, it is important to consider that the mitigation of GHG emissions from waste management sector is relatively simple and cost-effective as compared to other sectors of the economy. Several studies proved that separate waste collection and composting of biowaste as well as landfilling with landfill gas recovery is currently found to be one of the most effective and economically sound GHG emissions mitigation options (Chen 2018 ; EI-Fadel and Sbayti 2000 ; Yedla and Sindhu 2016 ; Yılmaz and Abdulvahitoğlu 2019 ). Metz et al. 2001 estimated that 75% of the savings of methane recovered from landfills can be achieved at net negative direct cost, and 25% at cost of about 20 US$/Mg CO 2 -eq./a. In any country of the world, the potential of the waste management sector is not yet fully utilized; the implementation of relatively simple and inexpensive waste treatment technologies might contribute to national GHG mitigation goals and convert the sector from a net emitter into a net reducer of GHG emissions (Crawford et al. 2009 ; Voigt et al. 2015 ; Wuensch and Simon 2017 ).

While there are many well-established solutions and technologies for the reduction in GHG emitted from the waste sector, there is no universal set of options that suits all the countries. When thinking to adapt certain solutions of GHG mitigation, it is important to take into account local circumstances such as waste quantities and composition, available infrastructure, economic resources and climate (Crawford et al. 2009 ).

It is expedient to assess how the introduction of modern waste management methods affects the amount of GHG emissions from the waste management process by the example of those countries in which the waste management sector is undergoing reform. These countries include the Russian Federation, where the values of targets for the waste management industry until 2030 are legally established (Government of the Russian Federation 2018 ). In addition, on February 8, 2021, Russia issued a Presidential Decree “On Measures to Implement State Scientific and Technical Policy in the Field of Ecology and Climate,” which prescribes the creation of a Federal Program for the Creation and Implementation of Science-Intensive Technologies to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Decree of the President of the Russian Federation 2021 ).

The goal of this study was to quantify the impact of the introduction of various modern waste treatment methods on the volume of GHG emissions from the waste management sector using the example of Russia. To achieve this goal, the following objectives were set and solved:

Elaborate scenarios for the development of the waste management industry, based on the established Industry Development Strategy for the period up to 2030 (Government of the Russian Federation 2018 )

Determine the weighted average morphological composition of MSW;

Select emission factors for various waste treatment methods;

Calculate GHG emissions under each scenario and analyze the calculation results.

The study was conducted from November 2019 to May 2020; the text was updated in March 2021 in connection with the changed situation, as climate change issues began to play an important role on the agenda in Russia. The study and its calculations are theoretical in nature and did not involve experimental research. It was carried out by the authors at their place of work—in Germany (Technische Universität Dresden, Merseburg University of Applied Sciences) and in Russia (Perm National Research Polytechnic University).

Greenhouse gas emissions related to municipal solid waste management sector in Russia

According to the State Report on the Status of Environmental Protection of the Russian Federation of 2018 (Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation 2019 ), the volume of generated MSW has increased by 17% from 235.4 to 275.4 m 3 (49.9 to 58.4 Mt) during the time period 2010 to 2018. With approx. 147 million inhabitants, the annual per capita generation rate is about 400 kg. Until now, MSW management in Russia has been disposal driven. More than 90% of MSW generated is transported to landfills and open dump sites; 30% of the landfills do not meet sanitary requirements (Korobova et al. 2014 ; Tulokhonova and Ulanova 2013 ). According to the State Register of the Waste Disposal Facilities in Russia, there were 1,038 MSW landfills and 2,275 unregistered dump sites at the end of 2018 (Rosprirodnadzor 2019 ). Such waste management practices are neither safe nor sustainable (Fedotkina et al. 2019 ), as they pose high public health and environmental risks and lead to the loss of valuable recyclable materials such as paper, glass, metals and plastics which account for an annual amount of about 15 Mt (Korobova et al. 2014 ).

According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) requirements, the signatory parties of the convention need to prepare and submit national communication reports that document GHG emissions and sinks in each country by conducting an inventory based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines (UNFCCC 2006 ). Being the fourth biggest global emitter of GHG emissions, Russia submitted its latest National Inventory Report (NIR) to UNFCCC in April 2019. The report documents national GHG emissions by source and removals by sink (Russian Federation 2019 ). The total emissions had been decreased from 3.2 Gt in 1990 to about 2.2 Gt of CO 2 -eq. in 2017, which implies 30% reduction over a period of 27 years. At the same time, the emissions from the disposal of solid waste increased from 33 Mt in 1990 by more than 100% to 69 Mt CO 2 -eq. in 2017. In terms of methane emissions, Russian solid waste disposal sector is the second largest emitter in the country and accounts for 18.1% of the total emitted methane mostly in the form of landfill gas, while the energy sector is responsible for 61.2% of methane emissions (Russian Federation 2019 ).

Landfill gas recovery from MSW landfills is not widely practiced in the Russian Federation. According to the statistics of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology, the share of landfill gas energy in the total renewable energy produced in Russia was 8.61%, 5.43%, 2.77% and 2.59% in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively (Arkharov et al. 2016 ). Different studies show that the potential of recovering energy from landfill gas in the Russian Federation is high (Arkharov et al. 2016 ; Sliusar and Armisheva 2013 ; Starostina et al. 2018 ; Volynkina et al. 2009 ).

Waste-to-energy technology is still in its infancy in Russia; the country is lagging in this area (Tugov 2013 ). Despite that, there is a great interest among the public as well as the private sector in the possibilities of the recovery of energy from MSW. In April 2014, the State Program “Energy Efficiency and Energy Development” was approved, which includes a subprogram on the development of renewable energy sources in the Russian Federation (Government of the Russian Federation 2014 ). In this program, MSW was considered as a source of renewable energy. Until the year 2017, there were only four waste incineration plants in Moscow region processing 655,000 Mg MSW per year, with only one incinerator recovering energy in form of heat and electricity (Dashieva 2017 ). In the nearest future, the construction of four additional incinerators in Moscow region and one in the city of Kazan is planned. The annual total combined capacity of the four new plants in Moscow will be about 2.8 Mt (Bioenergy International 2019 ). In the Kazan incinerator, 0.55 Mt of MSW will be treated annually, which eventually will allow ceasing of landfilling of solid waste in the Republic of Tatarstan (Bioenergy International 2019 ; Regnum 2017 ). The construction of these five new incineration plants is part of the Comprehensive Municipal Solid Waste Strategy adopted by the Russian government in 2013 (Plastinina et al. 2019 ). The focus of this strategy is the reduction in the amount of landfilled waste by creating an integrated management system and industrial recycling of waste.

Separate collection of MSW and the recycling of different waste fractions at the moment plays only a negligible role in the Russian Federation.

Materials and methods

Scenarios of the development of municipal solid waste management system.

To assess the current situation and the potential for reducing GHG emissions from the MSW management industry, three scenarios of the development of the Russian waste management system had been elaborated. The developed scenarios are based on the official statistics data on the amount of waste generated and treated, and also on the adopted legislative acts that determine the development directions of the Russian waste management system and set targets in these areas (Council for Strategic Development and National Projects 2018 ). That is why the developed scenarios include such measures to improve the waste management system as elimination of unauthorized dump sites, introduction of landfill gas collection and utilization systems at the landfills, incineration of waste with energy recovery, separate collection of waste, and recycling of utilizable waste fractions, and do not include other waste-to-energy technologies and waste treatment strategies contributing to climate change mitigation. Separate collection and treatment of biowaste is not applied in the national waste management strategy of the Russian Federation (Government of the Russian Federation 2018 ) and therefore was beyond the scope of the elaborated scenarios. For the purpose of the current study, three scenarios had been developed.

Scenario 1: BASIC (business as usual)

This scenario is based on the current waste management practices, under which 90% of the generated mixed MSW is disposed of on landfills and dump sites. According to the 6th National Communication Report of the Russian Federation to UNFCCC, the total MSW generated that found its way to managed landfills Footnote 1 was 49.209 Mt in 2009, while the amount of MSW disposed in unmanaged disposal sites (dumps) was 5.067 Mt. In 2017, the amount of MSW generated was 58.4 Mt with 10% being diverted from landfills: 3% incinerated and 7% recycled (Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation 2019 ). According to Russian Federation 2019 , landfill gas recovery is not taking place at Russian landfills. This scenario implies the closure of unorganized dump sites, with all the waste to be disposed of on managed dump sites or landfills only.

Scenario 2: REACTIVE (moderate development)

The reactive scenario implies a moderate development of the waste management sector, based on the construction of several large incinerators, a small increase in the share of waste to be recycled and the disposal of remaining waste at sanitary landfills, Footnote 2 with the closure of all the existing unorganized dump sites. In this scenario, all Russian regions were divided into two clusters: the first cluster included the city of Moscow and the Republic of Tatarstan, where new waste incinerators are being built, and the second cluster which includes — all the other cities and regions.

Moscow and the Republic of Tatarstan

In Moscow and Tatarstan together, 8.586 Mt of mixed MSW is generated annually (Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan 2018 ; Department of Housing and Communal Services of the city of Moscow 2019 ). In an attempt to introduce the waste-to-energy technology in Russia, an international consortium that consists of Swiss, Japanese and Russian firms is currently involved in constructing five state-of-the-art incineration plants in these two areas. Four incinerators are to be built in the Moscow region and one in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan. The annual combined capacity of the four plants in Moscow will be about 2.8 Mt of MSW, and the one of Kazan 0.55 Mt (Bioenergy International 2019 ; Regnum 2017 ). In this scenario, it is assumed that compared to the basic scenario, the share of waste undergone recycling is increased to 10%, i.e., 0.859 Mt annually. Furthermore, these 10% would be transferred to recycling plants to recover secondary raw materials. The remaining 4.377 Mt of mixed MSW would be disposed of in sanitary landfills.

Other cities and regions

In the other cities and regions of Russia, in accordance with the Development Strategy of Waste Recycling Industry until 2030 (Government of the Russian Federation 2018 ), over two hundred new eco-techno parks (i.e., waste recycling complexes) will be built. These facilities will receive mixed MSW that will be sorted there for recycling purposes. Under this scenario, it is also assumed that compared to the basic scenario, the share of waste undergone recycling is increased to 10%, thus transferring 4.982 Mt annually of the mixed MSW to recycling plants. The remaining 44.932 Mt of MSW are disposed of in sanitary landfills.

Scenario 3: INNOVATIVE (active development)

This scenario is based on the legally established priority areas for the development of the industry (Council for Strategic Development and National Projects 2018 ; Government of the Russian Federation 2018 ). The scenario implies deep changes in the industry with the introduction of technologies for incineration, separate collection and recycling of waste. In this scenario, the regions of Russia are divided into three clusters, in accordance with the possibilities of improving the infrastructure for waste management and the need for secondary resources and energy received during the processing of waste. When determining the share of waste to which this or that treatment method is applied, federal targets (Council for Strategic Development and National Projects 2018 ; Government of the Russian Federation 2018 ) and estimates made by the World Bank (Korobova et al. 2014 ) were used.

The first cluster includes two huge, densely populated urban agglomerations in which large incineration plants are under construction: Moscow and Tatarstan. With the construction of new waste incinerators, 3.35 Mt of mixed MSW will be incinerated annually. It is assumed that some 10% of mixed MSW (0.859 Mt) generated in these two regions is to be transferred to eco-techno parks for secondary raw material recovery. Some 20% of the MSW (1.712 Mt) is to be recovered from separately collected waste, and the rest of 2.66 Mt (31%) to be disposed of in sanitary landfills.

Cities with more than 0.5 million inhabitants

This cluster includes large urban agglomerations with developed industry and high demand for materials and energy resources. In this cluster, approx. 28 Mt of MSW is generated annually (Korobova et al. 2014 ). Under this scenario, it is assumed that waste incineration plants are also built in some larger cities, besides Moscow and Kazan. However, the exact quantity and capacity of these plants is yet unknown; it was assumed that in comparison with the basic scenario, in this scenario, the share of incinerated waste increased to 10%, the share of recycled waste to 15%, and a separate waste collection system is partially implemented. Hereby, 10% of the generated mixed MSW (2.79 Mt) is undergoing incineration, 15% (4.185 Mt) is transferred to sorting facilities for secondary raw material recovery, some 20% of the MSW (5.58 Mt) is recovered from separately collected waste and the rest 55% (15.345 Mt) is disposed of in sanitary landfills.

Smaller cities with less than 0.5 million inhabitants and rural areas

This cluster includes smaller cities and towns with some industrial enterprises, as well as rural areas. The amount of waste generated annually in this group of settlements is 21.914 Mt. It is assumed that no waste is incinerated, 15% of the mixed MSW (3.287 Mt) is transferred to sorting facilities for secondary raw material recovery, 10% (2.191 Mt) is recovered from separately collected waste, and the rest 75% (16.435 Mt) is disposed of in sanitary landfills.

Waste flow diagrams corresponding to the three scenarios with their input and output flows are shown in Fig. 1 .

MSW management scenarios with model inputs and outputs

In all the three scenarios, mixed MSW is transferred to sorting facilities where the recovery of valuable materials by mostly hand sorting takes place. Detailed accounts of process efficiency for material recovery facilities, in terms of recovery rates and quality of recovered materials, are scarce in the published literature (Cimpan et al. 2015 ). In the study of Cimpan et al., 2015 , at least three data sets were evaluated with the result that 13–45% of paper, 3–49% of glass, 35–84% of metals and 1–73% of plastics were recovered from the plant input of these materials. Two other studies report similar recovery rates between 60 and 95% for paper, glass, plastic and aluminum for hand and automatic sorting test trials (CalRecovery, Inc and PEER Consultants 1993 ; Hryb 2015 ). Based on this data and the results of the authors’ own experimental studies on manual waste sorting in Russia, the recovery rates for the most valuable waste fractions, including paper/cardboard, glass, metals and plastics had been calculated (Table 1 ). In the Scenario 3, separate collection of paper/cardboard, glass and plastic is introduced. Recovery rates related to the input of the corresponding waste type into each waste management cluster (see Table 1 ) for Moscow and Tatarstan as well as for the cities with more than 0.5 million inhabitants are considered to be higher than for the settlements with less than 0.5 million inhabitants.

For the comparison of GHG emissions of the three elaborated scenarios, a specific assessment model was elaborated.

Model structure

The calculation of the amounts of released and avoided GHG emissions for the different considered waste treatment technologies are based on the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. The IPCC methodology is scientifically widely recognized and used internationally, which makes the results easy comprehensible and easier to compare with other studies.

For the elaboration of the model that would allow calculating the GHG balance emissions, the upstream-operating-downstream (UOD) framework (Gentil et al. 2009 ) was used, where direct emissions from waste management procedures and indirect emissions from upstream and downstream activities are differentiated. On the upstream side, the indirect GHG emissions, like those related to fuel and material extraction, processing and transport as well as plant construction and commissioning, are excluded from the consideration. Indirect emissions from infrastructure construction on the downstream side are outside the system boundaries and not accounted for as they are relatively low (Boldrin et al. 2009 ; Mohareb et al. 2011 ). Direct GHG emissions from the waste transport are also excluded from the system boundaries since they are negligible comparing to the direct emissions from the waste processing/treatment (Weitz et al. 2002 ; Wuensch and Simon 2017 ). Since indirect GHG emissions avoided due to energy and material substitution, as well as carbon sequestration in the downstream processes is significant, they are included into the model. The conceptual framework of the model and its boundaries are shown in Fig. 2 .

Conceptual framework of the model showing upstream and downstream processes along with the system boundaries [derived from Abu Qdais et al. ( 2019 )]

The inputs to the model are waste (its quantity, composition, carbon content fixed in biomass and no-biomass), as well as energy and fuel that are used in the waste treatment processes (see Table 2 and Figs. 1 , 2 and 3 ). The outputs include generated and delivered electricity, recovered secondary materials and sequestrated carbon.

Compensatory system for the substitution of primary materials and energy [derived from Abu Qdais et al. ( 2019 )]

The analysis of MSW composition is not regularly done in Russia, and only a limited number of studies on this subject are published. Since waste composition is the basis for the determination of direct GHG emissions from waste management activities, accurate data is desirable. The Russian Federation is a huge country with both densely populated urban areas and sparsely populated rural areas. Due to the different settlement structures, the waste compositions also differ a lot. It is not expedient to assume an average composition for the entire country. Therefore, hereinafter three clusters had been considered to define waste compositions. The first cluster includes Moscow and the Republic of Tatarstan, since in these regions, a larger amount of mixed MSW is/will be incinerated in the nearest future. The second cluster includes the cities with the population of more than 0.5 million people, and the third cluster includes the settlements with the population of less than 0.5 million people. The waste compositions for these three clusters given in Table 2 are weighted averages of the results of a number of experimental studies of waste composition which were found in sources of the literature published after 2010 and further analyzed. Weighted average here means that the respective data on waste composition that was found for a city or region was included in the weighted average with the proportion that the amount of MSW generated in the city or region takes up as part of the total mass of MSW generated in the respective cluster.

To determine the avoidance of GHG emissions in the downstream processes by means of energy and material substitution as well as carbon sequestration, a compensatory system must be used. In Fig. 3 , the compensatory system for the substitution of energy and primary materials is shown.

Emission factors

Waste incineration.

It is necessary to know the emission factors when calculating GHG emissions from thermal treatment of waste, and also when compiling national emissions inventories (Larsen and Astrup 2011 ). Information on GHG emission factors of various solid waste treatment technologies for each country is of great importance for the assessment of GHGs emitted as a result of adopting a certain technology. However, such factors are not available for the Russian Federation, which implies using the data available in the literature for the countries with the conditions similar to the Russian ones, examining local circumstances of solid waste management system (Friedrich and Trois 2013 ; Larsen and Astrup 2011 ; Noya et al. 2018 ).

There are different factors affecting GHG emission levels from waste incineration. One of the most important factors in determining CO 2 emissions is the amount of fossil carbon in the waste stream meant for incineration. Non-CO 2 emissions are more dependent on the incineration technology and conditions, and for modern waste incinerators, the amounts of non-CO 2 emissions are negligible (Johnke 2001 ; Sabin Guendehou et al. 2006 ).

The amount of fossil carbon was calculated based on waste composition, carbon content and share of fossil carbon given in Table 2 ; the resulting fossil carbon content in wet waste was 0.117 kg C/kg. For the indirectly avoided GHG emissions, the recovery of electricity with a net efficiency of 24% for all the scenarios and for the Scenario 3 also from metals contained in the incinerator slag to substitute primary metals was considered. The recovery of heat in form of process steam or district heat was not considered in the scenarios (Dashieva 2017 ). Further parameters for the calculation of GHG emissions from waste incineration are given in Table 3 .

For the calculation of the impact of the methane released from landfills to climate change over a 100 years’ time horizon, the first-order decay kinetics model was used. Almost 80% of the Russian MSW landfills occupy an area larger than 10 ha (Volynkina and Zaytseva 2010 ). Here, it is assumed that all the MSW is highly compacted and disposed of in deep landfills under anaerobic conditions without the recovery of landfill gas (Govor 2017 ). Since no landfill gas is recovered, in Scenario 1, only the sequestrated non-biodegradable biogenic carbon in the landfill results in avoided GHG emissions. There is an intention in Russia to introduce the collection of landfill gas as the primary measure to reduce GHG emissions from the waste management sector (Government of the Russian Federation 2018 ; Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation 2013 ) within the next years. In the literature, methane recovery rates between 9% (Scharff et al. 2003 ) and 90% (Spokas et al. 2006 ) are reported. For example, most US landfills are well-controlled and managed; in particular, in California, gas collection efficiencies are as high as 82.5% (Kong et al. 2012 ). Based on these values, for both Scenario 2 and Scenario 3, landfill gas recovery is introduced with a recovery rate of 60%. Under these two scenarios, in addition to carbon sequestration, the recovered landfill gas is used to produce electricity, which results in avoided indirect GHG emissions. Other parameters used for the calculation are mainly taken from the latest Russian National Inventory Report where IPCC default parameters were used (Pipatti et al. 2006 ; Russian Federation 2019 ). The parameters used for the calculation of GHG emissions from landfills for all the three scenarios are shown in Table 4 .

Material recovery

In all the scenarios, some part of mixed MSW is treated in eco-techno parks, where valuable secondary raw materials like metals, paper, glass and plastics are recovered, and the sorting residues are forwarded to landfills. In addition, separate collection of some amounts of paper, glass, and plastics in the Scenario 3 is presumed. The corresponding recovery rates are already given in Table 1 . Each recovered secondary material substitutes a certain amount of primary material. Since the production of primary materials is usually connected with higher energy and raw material consumption than that of the secondary materials, more GHGs are released during the production of the former ones. Therefore, every unit of recovered secondary material obtained leads to a reduction in released GHGs.

GHG emission or substitution factors are developed for specific geographical areas and technologies, and their appropriateness to other circumstances may be questionable (Turner et al. 2015 ). The application of one specific emission factor for a recovered material in the whole Russian Federation would already be debatable due to the size of the country. Perhaps that is why emission factors for Russia cannot be found in the literature. For this study, the average values of GHG emission/substitution factors determined for other industrial countries from the study of (Turner et al. 2015 ) were used. The amounts of avoided GHG, i.e., the values of the emission factors in CO 2 equivalents for the recovered valuable waste fractions, including steel, aluminum, paper/cardboard, glass and plastic, are given in Table 5 .

In Table 5 , the used equivalent factor (Global Warming Potential over a time horizon of 100 years) of released methane versus carbon dioxide, the emission factor of the use of fuel oil in the waste incineration process and the substitution factor of delivered electrical power are shown. The emission factor of the generated electricity in the Russian Federation is relatively low, since approx. half (52%) of the electricity is produced by natural gas and approx. 13% by hydro- and nuclear power, while only 13% is produced by coal (British Petrolium 2019 ; U.S. Energy Information Administration 2017 ). The electricity mix factor is therefore only 0.358 Mg CO 2 -eq./MWh generated electricity (Gimadi et al. 2019 ).

Results and discussion

The population of the Russian Federation is expected to decrease in the next decades (United Nations 2019 ), but due to the economic growth, the amount of waste generated per capita is expected to increase in the same ratio; that is why the calculation of the GHG emissions for all the three scenarios was based on an assumed fixed annually amount of 58.4 Mt of MSW. Average waste compositions were calculated for this study on the basis of eleven waste analyses conducted in different Russian cities between 2010 and 2017 and grouped into three clusters (Moscow and Tatarstan, cities with more than 0.5 million inhabitants and cities/settlements with less than 0.5 million inhabitants). From the available literature data for the countries with conditions similar to Russian ones, emission factors were adopted to be further used in calculations of GHG emissions from waste disposal on managed and sanitary landfills, waste incineration and waste recycling with the recovery of secondary raw materials.

In Fig. 4 , the amounts of CO 2 -equivalent emissions per year that contribute to global warming for each of the three scenarios considered in the study are shown. Since the emissions related to the collection and transportation of waste, as well as energy consumption in the upstream side, are almost similar for all the treatment processes (Komakech et al. 2015 ), and as they are relatively small compared to the operational and downstream emissions (Boldrin et al. 2009 ; Friedrich and Trois 2011 ), they were not considered in the model. Avoided and sequestrated emissions were subtracted from the direct emissions to calculate GHG net emission values.

Global warming contribution of the three considered scenarios

The basic scenario (mostly managed landfilling without landfill gas recovery) gives the highest GHG net emissions among all the analyzed scenarios of approx. 64 Mt CO 2 -eq./a, followed by the reactive scenario (mostly sanitary landfilling with landfill gas recovery) with approx. 12.8 Mt CO 2 -eq./a of GHG net emissions. The innovative scenario (sanitary landfilling with landfill gas recovery and increased shares of MSW incineration, separate collection and material recovery) had shown an almost neutral GHG balance with approx. 3.7 Mt CO 2 -eq./a of GHG net emissions.

To assess the impact of the introduction of various waste treatment methods on the amount of GHG emissions from the waste management sector, the specific GHG emissions for each scenario as a whole was calculated, as well as “within” scenarios for each considered waste management process/method (Table 6 ).

The amount of specific total GHG emissions under Scenario 2 is five times less than under Scenario 1. Such a large difference is due to the modernization of existing managed dumpsites (Scenario 1), instead of which MSW is disposed of at sanitary landfills equipped with landfill gas and leachate collection systems, with intermediate insulating layers and top capping (Scenario 2). Such a transition from managed dumpsites to sanitary landfills leads not only to a decrease in the amount of specific released GHG emissions by approx. 1 Mg CO 2 -eq./Mg MSW, but also to a decrease in total emissions due to avoided emissions in the amount of 0.053 Mg CO 2 -eq./Mg MSW generated by energy recovery.

The amount of specific total GHG emissions under Scenario 3 is 3.4 times less than under Scenario 2. This reduction is mainly due to an almost twofold increase in the volume of waste incinerated, along with the introduction of a separate waste collection system (Scenario 3). At the same time, in Scenario 3, the share of plastic in the mixed waste stream sent to incineration is less than in Scenarios 1 and 2 (see Fig. 1 ). Climate-related GHG from waste incineration are generated mainly due to the plastic contained in the waste. Therefore, in Scenario 3, less GHG emissions are released during waste incineration. Reduction in GHG emissions from waste incineration is also facilitated by the recovery of metals from the bottom ash, which occurs only in Scenario 3.

In Scenario 3, the total amount of recycled material is larger than in Scenario 2, since not only part of the mixed waste is recycled, but also separately collected. According to the Scenario 3, metals are not included in the waste fractions collected separately. Metals have a comparably high GHG substitution factor (see Table 5 ); this explains the slight decrease in avoided GHG emissions due to material recovery in Scenario 3 compared to Scenario 2 because of a decreased share of metals in the total waste stream sent for recycling.

Many studies confirm GHG emissions reduction by the application of these waste treatment concepts. It is shown that the recovery of landfill gas from managed landfills has a high potential to reduce GHG emissions from landfills (EI-Fadel and Sbayti 2000 ; Friedrich and Trois 2016 ; Lee et al. 2017 ; Starostina et al. 2014 ). The transfer from the disposal of mixed MSW on landfills to the incineration on waste incineration or waste-to-energy plants leads to further reduction in GHG emissions (Bilitewski and Wuensch 2012 ; Chen 2018 ; Voigt et al. 2015 ). The recovery of secondary materials from MSW allows avoiding additional amounts of GHG emissions (Björklund and Finnveden 2005 ; Franchetti and Kilaru 2012 ; Turner et al. 2015 ; Wuensch and Simon 2017 ).

It should be noted that the calculated results of the direct GHG emissions from landfilling and waste incineration are subject to uncertainties. Waste composition (Table 2 ) and the parameters set/assumed for the landfills (Table 4 ) and waste incineration (Table 3 ) affect the level of the results. Indirect downstream emissions from recovered secondary materials and substituted energy cannot be provided with accuracy, as indicated by missing data for the substitution factors of recovered secondary materials in Russia and the variability of the scenarios for substituted electricity. To get an impression about the possible fluctuation range of the determined results, a sensitivity analysis was carried out. Therefore, all values shown in Tables 1 , 3 , 4 and 5 were ones decreased by 10% and once increased by 10%. The impact of the sensitivity analysis on the GHG net emissions is shown as error bars in Fig. 4 . The results of the sensitivity analysis show a range for the GHG net emissions of the basic scenario between 35.129 and 91.446 Mt CO 2 -eq./a, for the reactive scenario between 5.133 and 16.324 Mt CO 2 -eq./a and for the innovative scenario from − 1.516 to 4.871 Mt CO 2 -eq./a.

All the exact values of the final results shown in Fig. 4 as well as the graphical representation of the results of the sensitivity analysis can be checked in the provided supplementary materials.

The most recent data about global GHG emissions from solid waste disposal shows that direct emissions contribute with 0.67 Gt CO 2 -eq./a (Fischedick et al. 2014 ) to about 1.4% of the total anthropogenic GHG emissions of 49 Gt CO 2 -eq./a (Edenhofer et al. 2015 ). For the Russian Federation, the contribution of the direct emissions from the MSW management accounts for approx. 3.7% of the total GHG emissions of the country of around 2.2 Gt CO 2 -eq./a (Russian Federation 2019 ). In this study, the potential of different waste management methods in relation to climate change impact was assessed using the example of the Russian waste management industry. For this purpose, three scenarios had been developed and analyzed:

Basic scenario (business as usual), based on the existing waste management practices. The scenario implies that 90% of the generated mixed MSW is disposed of on managed dumpsites, 7% is undergone material recovery and 3% incinerated. All the unorganized dumpsites are closed; on managed dumpsites, there is no landfill gas recovery.

Reactive scenario (moderate development). This scenario implies construction of a number of large waste incineration plants and an increase in the share of waste to be recycled so that 84.3% of generated MSW is disposed of in sanitary landfills, 10% is sent to recycling plants for material recovery, and 5.7% is incinerated.

Innovative scenario (active development). This scenario assumes partial implementation of a separate waste collection system and broader introduction of waste processing technologies. As a result, 20% of the total generated MSW is collected separately and then recycled, 14.3% undergoes material recovery, 55.2% is disposed of in sanitary landfills, and 10.5% is incinerated.

For determining weighed average morphological composition of MSW, three clusters of human settlements had been considered, and the respective data on waste compositions had been analyzed. The first cluster includes Moscow and the Republic of Tatarstan, the second cluster includes the major cities (those with the population of more than 0.5 million people), and the third cluster includes the minor cities and rural areas.

For determining emission factors, both own calculation results and reference data from the National Inventory Report and other sources were used. Thus, the amount of fossil carbon, being one of the most important factors determining CO 2 emissions from waste incineration, was calculated based on the waste composition, carbon content and the share of fossil carbon in the waste. For the calculation of the amount of CH 4 released from MSW landfills, the first-order decay kinetics model was used. Avoided GHG emissions are the result of sequestrated non-biodegradable biogenic carbon in landfills (all the scenarios) and recovered landfill gas used to produce electricity (Scenarios 2 and 3). With the use of emission factors for material recovery included those for the recovered valuable waste fractions steel, aluminum, paper and cardboard, glass and plastic, GHG emissions were calculated under each scenario. As it was expected, the basic scenario gives the highest amount of total GHG net emissions of approx. 64 Mt CO 2 -eq./a (1.096 Mg CO 2 -eq./Mg MSW). Under the reactive scenario, the amount of total GHG net emissions is approx. 12.8 Mt CO 2 -eq./a (0.219 Mg CO 2 -eq./Mg MSW), and under the innovative scenario, it is about 3.7 Mt CO 2 -eq./a (0.064 Mg CO 2 -eq./Mg MSW).

The calculation of specific GHG emissions made it possible to assess the extent to which the introduction of various waste treatment methods makes it possible to reduce GHG emissions resulting from the respective waste treatment processes. Analysis of the results of these calculations showed that the transition from managed dumpsites to sanitary landfills can reduce total GHG emissions from the Russian waste management sector by up to 5 times. The introduction of a separate collection system (in which 20% of waste is collected separately) with a simultaneous twofold increase in the share of waste incinerated has led to a more than threefold reduction in total GHG emissions from the sector of Russian waste management. Another factor influencing the reduction in GHG emissions from waste incineration is the recovery of metals from the bottom ash.

Direct GHG emissions can be further reduced with a shift from landfilling to treatment of mixed MSW in material recovery facilities and waste incinerators or even to separate collection and treatment of MSW. In addition, indirect downstream emissions can be avoided by a significant amount via energy and material recovery. With a separate collection and treatment of biowaste and the recovery of district heat from waste incineration process, further GHG mitigation can be obtained. With these additional measures, the MSW industry of the Russian Federation could become a net avoider from a net emitter.

For this study, a number of parameters and emission factors from the literature where used, which does not precisely reflect the situation in Russia. Conducting further research for determining country specific, for a huge country like Russia, possibly even region-specific data and emission factors resulting in the development of a corresponding database would be useful to minimize these uncertainties.

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The authors wish to thank all who assisted in conducting this work.

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Wünsch, C., Tsybina, A. Municipal solid waste management in Russia: potentials of climate change mitigation. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19 , 27–42 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03542-5

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Pollution characteristics and release mechanism of microplastics in a typical end-of-life vehicle (ELV) recycling base, East China

Microplastics (MPs) is a novel and significant pollution due to its eco-environmental hazards and ubiquity. In end-of-life vehicle (ELV) recycling base, MPs are widely distributed but have rare reported in scientific literature. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of MPs was conducted in a typical ELV recycling base. MPs were found in all samples at different sampling sites and environmental mediums. A total of 34 polymer types were detected by μ-FTIR, and the main polymers include PE-PP, ABS, polyester resin, nylon, and PEU plastic. MPs were released from the crushing, tearing, and breaking of plastic parts in ELVs. They were in high content in ground dust, with the abundance of 737–29,021 p/5 g D (the average abundance of 5552 ± 6435 p/5 g D). The abundance, shape, color, and size of MPs are related with functional areas of ELV recycling. Heavy metals could be adsorbed on MPs, and their contents on MPs have a significant correlation with those in the corresponding dust samples. At last, some specific MPs control measures, such as changing transportation mode, using dust-proof cloths, and equipping dust removal equipment, have been put forward.

Record URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170306
Record URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969724004418
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Wang, Hongyuan
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Science of the Total Environment
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ISSN: 0048-9697
Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00489697

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TRT Terms: Automobiles ; Heavy metals ; Plastics ; Pollution ; Recycling ; Service life
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Ocean floor a 'reservoir' of plastic pollution

New research from CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, and the University of Toronto in Canada, estimates up to 11 million tonnes of plastic pollution is sitting on the ocean floor.

Every minute, a garbage truck's worth of plastic enters the ocean. With plastic use expected to double by 2040, understanding how and where it travels is crucial to protecting marine ecosystems and wildlife.

Dr Denise Hardesty, Senior Research Scientist with CSIRO, said this is the first estimate of how much plastic waste ends up on the ocean floor, where it accumulates before being broken down into smaller pieces and mixed into ocean sediment.

"We know that millions of tonnes of plastic waste enter our oceans every year but what we didn't know is how much of this pollution ends up on our ocean floor," Dr Hardesty said.

"We discovered that the ocean floor has become a resting place, or reservoir, for most plastic pollution, with between 3 to 11 million tonnes of plastic estimated to be sinking to the ocean floor.

"While there has been a previous estimate of microplastics on the seafloor, this research looks at larger items, from nets and cups to plastic bags and everything in between."

Ms Alice Zhu, a PhD Candidate from the University of Toronto who led the study, said the estimate of plastic pollution on the ocean floor could be up to 100 times more than the amount of plastic floating on the ocean's surface based on recent estimates.

"The ocean surface is a temporary resting place of plastic so it is expected that if we can stop plastic entering our oceans, the amount would be reduced," Ms Zhu said.

"However, our research found that plastic will continue to end up in the deep ocean, which becomes a permanent resting place or sink for marine plastic pollution,"

Scientific data was used to build two predictive models to estimate the amount and distribution of plastic on the ocean floor -- one based on data from remote operated vehicles (ROVs) and the other from bottom trawls.

Using ROV data, 3 to 11 million metric tonnes of plastic pollution is estimated to reside on the ocean floor.

The ROV results also reveal that plastic mass clusters around continents -- approximately half (46 per cent) of the predicted plastic mass on the global ocean floor resides above 200 m depth. The ocean depths, from 200 m to as deep as 11,000 m contains the remainder of predicted plastic mass (54 per cent).

Although inland and coastal seas cover much less surface area than oceans (11 per cent vs 56 per cent out of the entire Earth's area), these areas are predicted to hold as much plastic mass as does the rest of the ocean floor.

"These findings help to fill a longstanding knowledge gap on the behaviour of plastic in the marine environment," Ms Zhu said.

"Understanding the driving forces behind the transport and accumulation of plastic in the deep ocean will help to inform source reduction and environmental remediation efforts, thereby reducing the risks that plastic pollution may pose to marine life."

The article, Plastics in the deep sea -- A global estimate of the ocean floor reservoir , was published in Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers.

This research is part of CSIRO's Ending Plastic Waste Mission, which aims to change the way we make, use, recycle and dispose of plastic.

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Xia Zhu, Chelsea M. Rochman, Britta Denise Hardesty, Chris Wilcox. Plastics in the deep sea – A global estimate of the ocean floor reservoir . Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers , 2024; 206: 104266 DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr.2024.104266

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What can be recycled? Your guide to recycling paper, plastic, glass, aluminum and more.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, almost 94 tons of municipal solid waste were recycled and composed in 2018 – about 32%. But there's also the looming issue of contamination: The material collected for recycling that is not recyclable. About 17% of community-collected recycling is contaminated , a 2020 Recycling Partnership report found.

Earth Day is in just a few weeks making it a timely month to learn about recycling. Here are some tips to keep handy the next time you're throwing out a container, piece of paper or odd household item.

What is recycling?

Recycling is collecting and reusing material that would otherwise be thrown away. In the U.S., this happens in a three-part process:

Collection: Recyclable materials are gathered by individuals or businesses and sent away
Processing: Recyclables are sorted, cleaned and prepared for a facility
Remanufacturing: Recyclables are made into new products at a plant or facility

Where does recycling go?: Inside the plastics problem in the U.S.

Does recycling actually work?

Recycling has important environmental and community benefits. Outside of reducing landfill waste, recycling prevents pollution and further greenhouse gas emissions because discarded goods can be made into new ones.

Recycled steel saves 60% of production energy and recycled plastics save 70% of production energy, according to the National Institute of Health's Environmental Management System.

Unfortunately, much of the burden of recycling falls on the consumer who is responsible for interpreting labels and figuring out what to throw in the bin. The U.S. doesn't have a federal recycling program, leaving towns to decide on local recycling measures, including the types of plastics they are able to collect and recycle. And because many of the items that end up in the recycling stream aren't actually recyclable, the contamination will often go to the landfill.

In 2016, about half the plastic waste collected in the U.S. was shipped internationally, but somewhere between 25-75% of it was inadequately managed, a Science Advances study found. Only 9% of all plastic waste ever created has been recycled.

How2Recycle is trying to change this. Born out of environmental nonprofit GreenBlue, How2Recycle partners with companies to provide standardized labels that show consumers how to recycle the packaging.

"The recycling system in the U.S. is fragmented and complex and has much room for improvement," How2Recycle Director Karen Hagerman wrote in an email to USA TODAY. "A national approach needs to be paired with efforts to move towards consistency of materials and formats accepted and processed, which would increase the accuracy of labels and further reduce consumer confusion."

How to recycle

Here’s a general guide to what can and can’t be recycled according to the EPA. Your state or city may have different recycling guidelines ,make sure to check these beforehand so your recycling is accepted.

"A lot of contamination comes from good intentions," Hagerman said. "We want to believe that the material we're disposing of could go to better use if they are recycled."

In general, paper needs to be dry and free of food scraps in order to be recyclable. You do not need to remove staples, labels or stickers from paper products – this is done in the recycling process.

Usually recyclable:

Pizza boxes (even if they have grease on them)
Mail (even with plastic windows)
Cardboard boxes and containers
Cardboard roll from toilet paper
Paper with ink on it
Cardboard tubes from toilet paper or paper towel

Usually not recyclable :

Hygiene or sanity products (tissues, napkins, wipes, paper towels)
Toilet paper
Waxed paper
Shredded paper
Sticky notes or stickers
Plastic-coated paper

Sometimes recyclable:

Wrapping paper: Gift wrap with shiny or laminated coats cannot be recycled
Takeout containers: As long as food scraps and residue are cleaned off
Brown paper bags: As long as they are free of food scraps and don’t have a glossy, plastic coat
Shredded paper: It depends on your local recycling program, but it’s less likely to get a new life at a recycling facility because of its shortened paper fibers

Plastics are trickier because there are so many different types used to make household goods. Plastic containers usually have a triangle with a resin number somewhere on the packaging that shows how they were made. Compare this symbol to your local recycling guidelines to find out if it’s eligible for recycling in your community.

Note these two types of plastic that typically cannot be recycled in household bins:

Plastic bags, wraps and films (recyclable but only through participating programs like retail and grocery stores)
Styrofoam (usually not recyclable, though some places accept it)

You cannot recycle compostable plastics, which disrupt the recycling stream.

Glass food and beverage containers are an important part of the recycling process because they can be reused several times and are a cheaper way to make new glass.

Glass of different colors and types can be mixed together, as long as you separate the glass from other materials like metal or plastic caps. You should not include broken glass in your recycling practices, which can harm workers and machinery.

Aluminum cans and foil can both be recycled as long as they do not contain food residue. According to the EPA, you do not need to crush aluminum cans before recycling because they can even be more difficult to sort at single-stream recycling facilities.

Paper, glass, plastic and aluminum aren't the only things that can be recycled. Here’s a guide to some other common household waste and whether you can throw it in the recycling bin:

Batteries: Can be recycled but should not go in household garbage or recycling bins. Instead, drop batteries off at local collection points .
Electronics: Can be dropped off at specific collection sites to be recycled or donated
Metal: Check your state or city for local metal recycling programs
Food: Cannot be recycled, but can be composted at home or at dropoff sites
Yard trimmings: Cannot be recycled, but can be composted at home or at dropoff sites
Used oil: Should not be disposed of in the drain because of its toxicity, but can be recycled at a local facility to be reused
Paint: Cannot be recycled and is harmful to pour down the drain or throw away in the trash. Look for local donation sites or household hazardous waste facilities.
Light bulbs: Cannot be recycled and is harmful to throw away in the trash. Check local recycling facilities or retail stores with recycling programs.
Barometers and thermometers: Some can be considered household hazardous waste, so avoid tossing them in the trash. Instead, check household hazardous waste or local recycling facilities.
Dirty diapers: Flush solid waste down the toilet, then place the diaper in the trash
Clothes and shoes: Check local charities and donation sites, including retail stores

How and where to recycle in your city:

The U.S. does not have a federal recycling program, so guidelines are locally specific. To search how and where to recycle in your community, use Earth911’s recycling database or Keep America Beautiful’s “I Want to Be Recycled” and filter by zip code and type of material.

Hagerman's recommendations for recycling go beyond your household bins:

"Be conscious of what you buy – reducing consumption and looking for reusable options are also effective solutions, as is choosing products with overall lower environmental impacts," she said.

Don't recycle those books!: Here's where you can donate near you

Just Curious for more? We've got you covered

USA TODAY is exploring the questions you and others ask every day. From "What is a hybrid car?" to "How much caffeine is dangerous?" to "What is the smallest continent?" , we're striving to find answers to the most common questions you ask every day. Head to our Just Curious section to see what else we can answer for you.

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White plastic package with black lettering is the only thing on a conveyor built with yellow-painted metal guardrails.

Amazon increased US plastic packaging despite global phase-out, report says

The same year, 2022, company replaced plastic sleeves in EU with paper and cardboard, and cut plastic packaging globally by 11.6%

The amount of plastic packaging waste created by Amazon has increased in the US even as the online retail giant sought to phase out plastics elsewhere in the world, a report claims, amid growing pressure for a global treaty to end plastic pollution.

Amazon created 208m pounds (94m kg) of plastic packaging in the US in 2022, equal to the weight of nearly 14,000 large African elephants, which is a 9.8% increase in the amount of packaging it produced in 2021, according to Oceana, a US marine conservation group that used industry data and Amazon’s market announcements to form its analysis.

The increase in 2022 occurred even as Amazon made headway in reducing its plastic use elsewhere in the world, cutting its plastic packaging globally by 11.6% compared with a year previously. In Europe, the company has replaced its plastic delivery sleeves with paper and cardboard, amid new rules from the European Union aimed at stamping out single-use plastics.

Oceana said that the persistent reliance on plastics in the US is “troubling”, pointing to evidence that much of this waste will end up ingested by marine animals or strewn along coastal areas. According to the group, up to 22m pounds (9.9m kg) of Amazon’s global plastic packaging from 2022 will have ended up in the world’s waterways and seas. Oceana’s analysis cites a 2020 scientific study published in Science that found 11% of plastic waste globally ended up in aquatic ecosystems in 2016.

“This sort of plastic film is a big problem for the oceans and a lot of it can’t be recycled,” said Matt Littlejohn, senior vice-president of strategic initiatives at Oceana.

“Amazon is one of the most innovative companies on the planet. It has eliminated plastic packaging in Europe and they can clearly do so across the US, too, even without regulatory pressure. This is a completely solvable problem. They have just got to get on with solving it. They know what to do.”

Amazon has disputed Oceana’s analysis, calling it “misleading” and highlighting its global reduction in plastic use , although the company did not disclose US-specific figures on plastic packaging that counter the report’s findings.

The company has pointed to its efforts to reduce per-shipment packaging weight which, since 2015, have cut out more than 2m tons of packaging, as well as the unveiling last year of its first automated US fulfillment centre, located in Ohio , that replaces plastic packaging and air pillow fillers with paper alternatives.

Agenda Antárctica’s redesigned flag for the icy continent highlights the impact of microplastics.

“Amazon is committed to reducing or eliminating packaging altogether, including the use of single-use plastic, and we’ve shown this by sharing consistent and transparent updates on our progress,” said Pat Lindner, vice-president of mechatronics and sustainable packaging at Amazon.

“We’ve also started a multiyear effort to eliminate plastic delivery packaging from our US automated fulfillment centers, with the first already in operation and delivering to customers without any plastic packaging. We’ll continue to invest, invent and scale our packaging reduction work for the good of customers and the planet.”

The report comes amid mounting evidence showing the prevalence of plastics in the environment, from litter in cities, beaches and oceans to invasions of more fundamental elements of life, with long-lasting plastics breaking down into microscopic pieces that are found in our bloodstreams , placentas and even the air we breathe .

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“We are swimming in and breathing in this plastic, and this stuff lasts for an eternity,” said Littlejohn. “I don’t think the general public has caught onto how scary this all is.”

Two years ago in Kenya, governments agreed at a United Nations summit to forge a legally binding international treaty by the end of 2024 to stem plastic pollution, which Espen Barth Eide, president of the UN gathering, warned “has grown into an epidemic”.

The next round of negotiations over this treaty will be held later this month in Canada and activists have called for a strong agreement that curbs single-use plastics and meaningfully reforms an opaque and often illusory recycling system .

One group, Agenda Antárctica, has even undertaken a redesign of Antarctica’s unofficial flag to one that shows the vast frozen continent riddled with microplastics , following studies that have shown that plastic has been found in the remote polar region’s snow.

“To see somewhere so pristine and untouched by mankind and discover it has been polluted by plastics so small you can’t see them was just awful to me,” said Graham Bartram, a vexillologist who designed an unofficial flag that has been used informally to depict the continent since the 1990s – no single country owns the frozen continent – and who has now redesigned the flag to depict the plastic pollution.

“I don’t think plastics are inherently evil, they can be very useful, but we can use them sensibly,” said Bartram. “I hope the flag makes people think a little about what we are doing to the planet. Let’s face it: we only have one planet, it’s not like we have a back-up plan of moving to another one next door.”

Plastic bags

A.I.-Generated Garbage Is Polluting Our Culture

A colorful illustration of a series of blue figures lined up on a bright pink floor with a red background. The farthest-left figure is that of a robot; every subsequent figure is slightly more mutated until the final figure at the right is strangely disfigured.

By Erik Hoel

Mr. Hoel is a neuroscientist and novelist and the author of The Intrinsic Perspective newsletter.

Increasingly, mounds of synthetic A.I.-generated outputs drift across our feeds and our searches. The stakes go far beyond what’s on our screens. The entire culture is becoming affected by A.I.’s runoff, an insidious creep into our most important institutions.

Consider science. Right after the blockbuster release of GPT-4, the latest artificial intelligence model from OpenAI and one of the most advanced in existence, the language of scientific research began to mutate. Especially within the field of A.I. itself.

Adjectives associated with A.I.-generated text have increased in peer reviews of scientific papers about A.I.

Frequency of adjectives per one million words

Commendable

A study published this month examined scientists’ peer reviews — researchers’ official pronouncements on others’ work that form the bedrock of scientific progress — across a number of high-profile and prestigious scientific conferences studying A.I. At one such conference, those peer reviews used the word “meticulous” more than 34 times as often as reviews did the previous year. Use of “commendable” was around 10 times as frequent, and “intricate,” 11 times. Other major conferences showed similar patterns.

Such phrasings are, of course, some of the favorite buzzwords of modern large language models like ChatGPT. In other words, significant numbers of researchers at A.I. conferences were caught handing their peer review of others’ work over to A.I. — or, at minimum, writing them with lots of A.I. assistance. And the closer to the deadline the submitted reviews were received, the more A.I. usage was found in them.

If this makes you uncomfortable — especially given A.I.’s current unreliability — or if you think that maybe it shouldn’t be A.I.s reviewing science but the scientists themselves, those feelings highlight the paradox at the core of this technology: It’s unclear what the ethical line is between scam and regular usage. Some A.I.-generated scams are easy to identify, like the medical journal paper featuring a cartoon rat sporting enormous genitalia. Many others are more insidious, like the mislabeled and hallucinated regulatory pathway described in that same paper — a paper that was peer reviewed as well (perhaps, one might speculate, by another A.I.?).

What about when A.I. is used in one of its intended ways — to assist with writing? Recently, there was an uproar when it became obvious that simple searches of scientific databases returned phrases like “As an A.I. language model” in places where authors relying on A.I. had forgotten to cover their tracks. If the same authors had simply deleted those accidental watermarks, would their use of A.I. to write their papers have been fine?

What’s going on in science is a microcosm of a much bigger problem. Post on social media? Any viral post on X now almost certainly includes A.I.-generated replies, from summaries of the original post to reactions written in ChatGPT’s bland Wikipedia-voice, all to farm for follows. Instagram is filling up with A.I.-generated models, Spotify with A.I.-generated songs. Publish a book? Soon after, on Amazon there will often appear A.I.-generated “workbooks” for sale that supposedly accompany your book (which are incorrect in their content; I know because this happened to me). Top Google search results are now often A.I.-generated images or articles. Major media outlets like Sports Illustrated have been creating A.I.-generated articles attributed to equally fake author profiles. Marketers who sell search engine optimization methods openly brag about using A.I. to create thousands of spammed articles to steal traffic from competitors.

Then there is the growing use of generative A.I. to scale the creation of cheap synthetic videos for children on YouTube. Some example outputs are Lovecraftian horrors, like music videos about parrots in which the birds have eyes within eyes, beaks within beaks, morphing unfathomably while singing in an artificial voice, “The parrot in the tree says hello, hello!” The narratives make no sense, characters appear and disappear randomly, and basic facts like the names of shapes are wrong. After I identified a number of such suspicious channels on my newsletter, The Intrinsic Perspective, Wired found evidence of generative A.I. use in the production pipelines of some accounts with hundreds of thousands or even millions of subscribers.

As a neuroscientist, this worries me. Isn’t it possible that human culture contains within it cognitive micronutrients — things like cohesive sentences, narrations and character continuity — that developing brains need? Einstein supposedly said : “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” But what happens when a toddler is consuming mostly A.I.-generated dream-slop? We find ourselves in the midst of a vast developmental experiment.

There’s so much synthetic garbage on the internet now that A.I. companies and researchers are themselves worried, not about the health of the culture, but about what’s going to happen with their models. As A.I. capabilities ramped up in 2022, I wrote on the risk of culture’s becoming so inundated with A.I. creations that when future A.I.s are trained, the previous A.I. output will leak into the training set, leading to a future of copies of copies of copies, as content became ever more stereotyped and predictable. In 2023 researchers introduced a technical term for how this risk affected A.I. training: model collapse . In a way, we and these companies are in the same boat, paddling through the same sludge streaming into our cultural ocean.

With that unpleasant analogy in mind, it’s worth looking to what is arguably the clearest historical analogy for our current situation: the environmental movement and climate change. For just as companies and individuals were driven to pollute by the inexorable economics of it, so, too, is A.I.’s cultural pollution driven by a rational decision to fill the internet’s voracious appetite for content as cheaply as possible. While environmental problems are nowhere near solved, there has been undeniable progress that has kept our cities mostly free of smog and our lakes mostly free of sewage. How?

Before any specific policy solution was the acknowledgment that environmental pollution was a problem in need of outside legislation. Influential to this view was a perspective developed in 1968 by Garrett Hardin, a biologist and ecologist. Dr. Hardin emphasized that the problem of pollution was driven by people acting in their own interest, and that therefore “we are locked into a system of ‘fouling our own nest,’ so long as we behave only as independent, rational, free-enterprisers.” He summed up the problem as a “tragedy of the commons.” This framing was instrumental for the environmental movement, which would come to rely on government regulation to do what companies alone could or would not.

Once again we find ourselves enacting a tragedy of the commons: short-term economic self-interest encourages using cheap A.I. content to maximize clicks and views, which in turn pollutes our culture and even weakens our grasp on reality. And so far, major A.I. companies are refusing to pursue advanced ways to identify A.I.’s handiwork — which they could do by adding subtle statistical patterns hidden in word use or in the pixels of images.

A common justification for inaction is that human editors can always fiddle around with whatever patterns are used if they know enough. Yet many of the issues we’re experiencing are not caused by motivated and technically skilled malicious actors; they’re caused mostly by regular users’ not adhering to a line of ethical use so fine as to be nigh nonexistent. Most would be uninterested in advanced countermeasures to statistical patterns enforced into outputs that should, ideally, mark them as A.I.-generated.

That’s why the independent researchers were able to detect A.I. outputs in the peer review system with surprisingly high accuracy: They actually tried. Similarly, right now teachers across the nation have created home-brewed output-side detection methods , like adding hidden requests for patterns of word use to essay prompts that appear only when copied and pasted.

In particular, A.I. companies appear opposed to any patterns baked into their output that can improve A.I.-detection efforts to reasonable levels, perhaps because they fear that enforcing such patterns might interfere with the model’s performance by constraining its outputs too much — although there is no current evidence this is a risk. Despite public pledges to develop more advanced watermarking, it’s increasingly clear that the companies are dragging their feet because it goes against the A.I. industry’s bottom line to have detectable products.

To deal with this corporate refusal to act we need the equivalent of a Clean Air Act: a Clean Internet Act. Perhaps the simplest solution would be to legislatively force advanced watermarking intrinsic to generated outputs, like patterns not easily removable. Just as the 20th century required extensive interventions to protect the shared environment, the 21st century is going to require extensive interventions to protect a different, but equally critical, common resource, one we haven’t noticed up until now since it was never under threat: our shared human culture.

Erik Hoel is a neuroscientist, a novelist and the author of The Intrinsic Perspective newsletter.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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Essay on Recycling for Students and Children
500+ Words Essay on Recycling. Recycling is a method of procedure that includes the collection and breaking down of waste material to create something new out of it. The process was introduced sot that the non-biodegradable materials can be melted or break down to create something useful. After the effects of global warming and pollution have ...
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Waste Reduction and Conservation of Natural Resources. Recycling is a powerful tool for reducing waste and conserving natural resources. By diverting materials from landfills and incinerators, recycling minimizes the environmental impact associated with waste disposal. This not only reduces the strain on landfill space but also decreases greenhouse gas emissions and pollution caused by waste ...
Pollution and Recycling Essay
Pollution and Recycling Essay. Topics: Conservation of Forest Conversation Pollution Recycling. Words: 2220. Pages: 5. This essay sample was donated by a student to help the academic community. Papers provided by EduBirdie writers usually outdo students' samples.
Recycling Problems and Its Solutions
Problems of Recycling. Although recycling is an important process of reducing environmental pollution, like any other process it has associated problems. This problems either result during pre-processing or after the re-processing process is over. Primarily recycling should progress in three main steps, namely: collection and separation of ...
119 Recycling Topics to Write about & Essay Samples
119 Recycling Essay Topics & Examples. Recycling essays are helpful for letting you understand the scope of the pollution issue and the methods humanity can use to reduce its effects and move to safe practices. Various international organizations are concerned about the topic, and expressions of support for initiatives to recycle waste include ...
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The topic of this essay, global warming, is a very controversial topic within the realm of science and politics in the modern world. Global warming is defined as an increase in the temperature within the Earth's atmosphere due to an increase of greenhouse gases. The... Global Warming Environment Problems Recycling.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: The Three R's for a Future
Recycling helps: Conserve natural resources by reducing the need for raw materials. Save energy during the manufacturing process. Decrease landfill space and reduce environmental pollution. Recycling programs, both at the individual and community levels, play a crucial role in diverting materials from landfills and incinerators.
Recycling Essay for Students in English
Recycling is a process that acts as an excellent help for the earth's environment as it reduces energy usage, air pollution, and water pollution. In order to have a clear overview of recycling, one should give a read to the below-recycling essay. A Long Essay on Recycling
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Recycling is extremely important because it conserves natural resources. It does this in two major ways: it reduces pollution, toxic gases, and hazardous waste, and it provides an alternative solution to dealing with waste by converting waste materials into new materials or fresh raw materials.
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generated in 2013 alone; Recycling helps conserve natural resources, whereas, the office paper, recycled can save 27,300 liters of. water, 18 trees, 2,450 liters of oil, 2.28 m3 of landfill ...
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There will be less contamination of air, soil and water. Rivers also remain protected from all kind of pollution. Plastic recycling prevents the plastic found in the landfills, oceans, lakes etc and thereby the threat of plastic pollution can be brought down to a great extent. Altogether, these help in non-disturbance of the ecological balance.
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Essay on Reduce Waste and Promote Recycling 300 words: Household waste sorting and recycling plant. Press for pressing plastic bottles. Introduction: Waste management is a pressing global concern, with overflowing landfills and environmental degradation posing significant threats.
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Essay on Environmental Pollution - 100 Words . The presence of contaminants in the environment is referred to as pollution. Gases like Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Carbon Monoxide (CO), among others; solid pollutants like plastic, sewage, etc.; and chemicals like fertilisers, as well as those produced as byproducts in manufacturing, transportation, etc., are a few examples of polluting substances.
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of harmful materials into the environment. These harmful materials are called pollutants. Pollutants can be natural, such as volcanic ash. They can also be created by human activity, such as trash or runoff produced by factories. Pollutants damage the quality of air, water, and land.
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Promoting digital transformation in waste collection service and waste recycling in Moscow (Russia): Applying a circular economy paradigm to mitigate climate change impacts on the environment ... Eventually, this results in environmental challenges such as bad odors, groundwater pollution, and the release of toxic gasses, which poses serious ...
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Essay On Pollution and Recycling
Essay on Pollution and Recycling - Free download as Word Doc (.doc / .docx), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. Scribd is the world's largest social reading and publishing site.
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