how much does recycling really help?

Question

what does it do? where do it go?

Answer 1

Waste management has at least five types of impacts on climate change, attributable to (1) landfill methane emissions, (2) reduction in industrial energy use and emissions due to recycling and waste reduction, (3) energy recovery from waste, (4) carbon sequestration in forests due to decreased demand for virgin paper, and (5) energy used in long-distance transport of waste. A recent U.S. EPA study provides estimates of overall per-ton greenhouse gas reductions due to recycling. Calculations using these estimates suggest that the U.S. could realize substantial greenhouse gas reductions through increased recycling, particularly of paper.

Recycled materials, metal and batteries from old cars, aluminum and paper are sold to manufacturers that can utilize those resources in the fabrication of new products.

Answer 2

Recycling does help. Recycled materials can either be re-used as-is, or converted into other useful materials.

If you are organizing a recycling campaign, make sure to do your research on the recycling firm, up to and including a site visite. My university, in an effort to be more "green", contracted paper recycling to a local company. However, when a contractor audit was conducted, they found that none of the paper had been recycled, and only shoved into a warehouse. Needless to say, that contractor was fired.

Answer 3

Some studies show that this became nothing more than a fad, and the effort needed to recycle is actually greater than creating the substance from scratch, such as plastic, glass, paper...... This is a subject many discuss, and the opinions vary greatly, so there isnt really a good or bad answer as far as yes or no is concerned.

Answer 4

It's re-used. It helps very much, and everything ought to be recycled. I am currently trying to get my office to recycle all paper waste, use less ink, and print on Both sides of the page. Usually it is melted down (plastic) or shredded up (paper) to be reued.

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