IF we Tried hard Enough couldn't we Recylcle or Reuse most of our trash?

Question

Consider these Facts from Popular Almanac for kids. Here's what's in a Landfill-Metal 9%, Plastic 7%, Food 9%, Glass 8%, Yard waste 20%, Paper Products 40%, Random garbage (i.e. Broken golf club or beat up Teddy Bear). Could not most if not all of this waste be Recycled or Re-used? Like using yard waste and certain types of food to make compost or Generate Elecrticity.

I forgot to list random garbage which is about 9%.

Answer 1

yes we can recycle almost anything and everything its only getting about 500 million people to do it to actually make a difference and for someone to fit the bill for the really expensive recycling plants and equipment

Answer 2

Some things cost more to recycle than to simply make new ones..and some of them cost a LOT more! I'm all for recycling whatever somebody can figure out a good use for and make money doing it. If it's just a huge social program so we can all feel warm and cuddly about saving the whales, then forget that nonsense.

That doesn' mean I don' recycle...in fact, I recycle everything that the city will take. That adds up to maybe a third of our household waste and much of the yard waste. Of course, it bothers me that I have to pay for that recycling service, and the city in turn pays the recycling company to take the stuff, which turns around and makes a profit from it. That part of the deal is a scam that goes on in most recycling programs. People should get paid for the recyclable products that are collected from them....because private companies are profiting from this stuff. Oh well, you can't get away from government corruption.

Answer 3

Yes much more recycling of individual products could be done. Economics come into play though as the value of some products may vastely outweigh the cost of recovery. Unfortunately too some people (at least here in the UK) sabotage recycling efforts by putting general rubbish into dedicated bins. Some councils here have powers to prosecute if people do not recycle properly but convictions seem to be rare.

Answer 4

Yes we could. However, the major stumbling point is the economics involved. There is just not enough money in it. San Francisco recycles more than any city in the United states and it costs the city money to do so. So it comes down to the Almighty Dollar. When it becomes more economically feasible or we run out of space for landfills or resources to make things, we will continue to waste...

Answer 5

Indeed we could. The limitation is really related to entropy and thermodynamics. We have to keep adding energy to the system since much of the energetic value of all our junk is lost as heat at a low (unrecoverable) level. In many cases large amounts of energy are needed to separate materials back to usable raw materials.

Toxicity is the number one stumbling block to current recycling efforts. In most developed countries many "state of the art" recycling techniques aren't even legal. Recyclables are sent to poor countries where the economic benefits outweigh the environmental collateral damage.

Recycling is itself an industrial process with its own pollution problems.

All of these problems can and will be overcome if mankind is to survive the next 1000 years.

Answer 6

Your right! We probably could. It would be nice to get a book on uses for recycling the majority of our wastes. The problem is, most people don't have the time to figure it out. I heard about a kid that started a company that recycles garbage. He is so successful that his shares are now sold on the stock exchange and it is a hot seller. Wish I could think of the name for you.

Answer 7

We could recycle everything, but the reason we do not is that it costs way too much in terms of energy. If energy were very cheap and readily available, then landfills would disappear.

Answer 8

To recycle things cost and the pollution in some cases produce very bad pollution problems. As many things in our trash could be burned to produce electricity but that would produce a large amount of trioxides which is very poison , And you needs to make a profit.
Study Moore thanks

Answer 9

We could and I do. In my family, we throw out very very little in the garbage. These would be dog food and cat food bags, the plastic bags inside cereal boxes, etc.

Answer 10

we could but it's expensive and the world runs on $$$ unfortunately.