RECYCLING. What is recycling? Recycling is a pretty simple concept! ☞ Take something that isn't...
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Transcript of RECYCLING. What is recycling? Recycling is a pretty simple concept! ☞ Take something that isn't...
RECYCLING
What is recycling?• Recyclingisaprettysimpleconcept!
☞Takesomethingthatisn'tusefulanymoreandmakeitintosomethingnewinsteadofjustthrowingitaway.
• Itwillplayamajorroleinthefutureofourplanet.
• Recyclingcantakemanyforms.Onasmallscale,anytimeyoufindanewuseforsomethingold,you'rerecycling.Recyclingbecomesmoreimportantonlargerscales.
• Atthislevel,usedconsumergoodsarecollected,convertedbackintorawmaterialsandremadeintonewconsumerproducts.
• It'srareforarecycledproducttobeexactlythesameastheoriginalmaterialfromwhichitwasrecycled!
• Recycledpaper,forexample,containsinkresidueandhasshorterfibersthanvirginpaper(papermadefromwoodpulp).Becauseofthis,itmaybelessdesirableforsomepurposes,suchaspaperusedinacopymachine.
• Example(exercisebook):➘It‘sdarker
A little history• The mass production • ➜reasonsweneedtoworryaboutrecycling.
• =Whenproductscanbeproduced(andpurchased)verycheaply,itoftenmakesmoreeconomicsensetosimplythrowawayolditemsandpurchasebrandnewones
• =alotofwasteinthe1930sand40s,conservationandrecyclingbecameimportantinmanyotherpartsoftheworld.Economicdepressionsmaderecyclinganecessityformanypeopletosurvive,astheycouldn'taffordnewgoods.
Why do we recycle?• BECAUSE ☟
Topreventwasteofpotentiallyusefulmaterials,toreducetheconsumptionoffreshrawmaterials,toreduceenergyusage,toreduceairpollutionandwaterpollution,forlowergreenhousegasemissionsascomparedtoplasticproduction,&toreducethemassofwasteonthelandfills
Benefits of recycling• Avoids too much garbageOneofthemainreasonsforrecyclingistoreducetheamountofgarbagesenttolandfills.
• New goods use up resourcesMakingsomethingfromrecycledmaterialsmeansusingfewernaturalresources.
• Recycling (sometimes) uses less energyThere'sroomfordebateonthisaspectofrecycling,butmanyrecyclingprocessesrequirelessenergythanitwouldtaketomanufacturethesameitembrand-new.
• MoneyRecyclingcostslessmoneyandcanhelptoimprovetheimageofacompany
Problems with Recycling
• Recyclingtakestimetosortandstoreitems.
• Youneedmuchspaceforrecycling
• Therecycledproductshavetobesold.Ifnobodybuysthem,companieswillnolongerproduceit
☠Forexpample:Exercisebooksmadefromrecycledpaperisdarker!
Separating waste in Germany • separatedgarbageisreusable• It’snotonlyseparatedinresidentialhousesanddormitories,butalsoinpublicplacessuchastrainstations
• Germany:specificrules
• fourbins:agreyone,ayellowone,agreenoneabrownoneandalsoyellowbags
• Wastesegregationisneededinordertoprotecttheenvironmentandcommunity
• wasteindustryinGermanyemploysmorethan200.000people
• turnover:50billionEuro
• 50milliontonesofmunicipalwaste/eachyear
• Symboloftheseparation:Greendot→
• notonlyGermanyusestheGreenDot:26Europeancountries
• biodegradablewastehaspositiveeffectsonsoilsandplants
• nearly100kgofbiowasteperinhabitantarecollectedeachyr.(4miotonsperyear).
• Batteriesandaccumulatorsmustbecollectedseparately
Metabolon• Thedisposalcenter„Leppe“isoneofthemostmoderndisposallocationsintheEUanditisareferencelocationofitsinternationalaudience.Theaimoftheproject“Metabolon”isthereorientationoftheexistingdisposalcenterLeppetoacompetence,learningandinnovationspaceforthetransformationandsite-specificenvironmentaltechnologyandtechniques.
• Rawmaterialsbecomemorescarceandenergyisbecomingmoreandmoreexpensive…
Industrial Recycling• Oberberg’sindustryisverygoodatrecycling
• ForexampleacompanycalledA.S.Création
• InearliertimestheyalwayscoloredtheAgger(ourbeautifulriver)whentheywork
• Todaymostofwateriscleaned,forexampleintheriverRhinetherearenowfisheslikesalmon
• Alsotheemissionsarecleaned
• InearliertimesGermanyproducedlotsofemissionsbecausemostenergywasproducedwithcoal
• todaywehaveverystrictlawsaboutemissions
• Littlestory:inDortmund(abigcity)thesmokewasverystrong.Thentheystartedtocleanitandnowtheairissocleantheyneedpesticidesintheparksandgreenareas.Beforethistheinsectsdiedbecauseoftheair• InGermanymorethan60%ofthecompaniessaidthatrecyclingisveryimportantforthem• Alsothewasteisrecycled• Anotherwayistoproduceaslittlewasteaspossible• E.g.Jockeyplastic(abigplasticcompany)recycletheirwastebyshreddingandmeltingit• Sotheyproduceonlyafewtonsofwasteeveryyear• Mostcompaniestrytoreducewasteandrecycletherest• E.g.VWtriestoproducecarsthatcanberecyclednearlycompletely(90%)