What are the connections between recycling and global warming?

Question

Is there any research to support a connection?

Does the recycling process result in less CO2 emissions?

Recycling creates some CO2. I want to be an extreme recycler but wonder if it is beneficial for everything or only certain items.

Answer 1

I'd say it depends what you are recycling. And even then it's hotly debated.

However I believe cans are easy to recycle, same with glass. Surely it's less costly to recycle cans than to process new metals, same with glass.

If you want to recycle well, think more about reusing. If you can buy something used instead of new for instance, this means you are not paying the CO2 cost of a new item, and stretching out the CO2 cost of the old item. Remember most items come from afar here. Use a travel mug instead of getting a disposable coffee cup every time. Use a good thick walled water bottle that you can refill instead of one you'll just chuck in recycling. Basically by reusing items you'll reduce the need to buy new items that you'll later recycle.

Another good thing, buy local vegetables when possible. The less they travel, the less CO2 it took to get them there.

Answer 2

Recycling is poluting the earth! plastics with a 1 or 2 on them can be made into new products, but the rest of it is burned. Used motor oil is burned offshore as fuel for ships. Used oil is not filtered and reused as a lubricant. According to the EPA, by burning the oil, we are using it again and therefore, they call it recycling. We should keep all of our trash in the ground, where it will not pollute the air. who cares if we have clean trash dumps or not? Nobody ever goes there.

Oh yea, the warming period we are experiencing began long ago, before humans ever polluted the earth. Huge glaciers that once covered the United States melted ages ago and this natural process continues today. Thank God we don't have to live on an ice planet anymore. So, even though we are not the cause of global warming, I would like us to have cleaner air by throwing away more trash.

Answer 3

The extraction and processing of raw materials produces a lot of greenhouse gas emissions and uses large amounts of electricity, heat and other energy.

For example, to produce steel requires large amounts of iron, this has to be extracted from the ground from massive quarries and strip-mines, most of the material extracted is waste. The extraction process uses huge amounts of power to obtain the iron in the first place, this has to be further processed before being made into steel.

By recycling steel it simply needs to be melted and reformed. The same is true of many recycled products.

Not only does it offset global warming but there are finite resources of minerals. If we didn't recycle we'd run out of many resources far quicker. And of course, recycling is often much cheaper, quicker and safer.

Answer 4

I believe that recycling will save greenhouse emissions as long as the recyling process uses less energy than the original manufacture.

For instance, we recycle pop (soda) bottles in our state. I'm sure there is less energy consumption than in creating new glass. First, you would have to mine the sand and process it into glass. Then it would have to be melted and blown into shape. Having said that, however, I'm not sure if glass is recylcled as a bottle, or if it is crushed and remelted.

In any case, by containing and re-using materials such as plastic, we reduce the amount of toxins in circulation which I'm certain has a positive effect on the environment.

Answer 5

The connection between the two is that if you recycle factories will not need to produce the same amount of, say paper, therefore lowering the amount of pollution that factory would have put into the air making that paper.

Answer 6

Recycling takes energy to make new products, yes.

But making the product by mining/processing and producing fresh aluminum, glass, plastics, paper take more energy. That energy usage is usually electricity from coal, or oil. Aluminum in particular takes gazillions of watts of electricity.

Straight from the experts at the EPA...
http://www.epa.gov/msw/faq.htm#5

Please recycle and encourage others to do so.

Answer 7

Because if you recycle paper, you cut down less trees, and hence you have more trees to take the CO2 and give you oxygen instead.

Answer 8

because golbal warming is from pollution if we recycle those feactories won't have to give of that extra pollution because they won't have to make the same thing over it will be right there ready to be melted and what not!

Answer 9

None whatsoever,

Anne Doucette

Answer 10

yes