what are the disadvantages of recycling?

Answer 1

Some materials are not as pure when they are recycled but that does not always matter.

If you're recycling goods say on Freecycle, you may have to take 2nd best or settle for something close to what you want, but you take that on board and it may not matter anyway.

Recycling for the sake of recycling IMO is a mistake. Such recycling can cause more harm to the environment than would result from disposal of given items/materials. This is either as a result of the energy used to recycle or transport the materials, or that the very use of the recycled materials leaves a bigger carbon footprint than the use of more environmentally friendly non recyced alternatives.

Such examples of the above could be kerbside recycling vehicles travelling several miles to collect a disproportionately small amount of recyclables, or reusing polystirene packaging chips for pacaging instead of popcorn.

In the second example, large amounts of popcorn can be used to effect very satisfactory protection for packaging. When the packaged item arrives at its destination there is the possibility of composting the popcorn, whereas the polystirene chips take years to breakdown, yet upon reaching their destination they need to be carefully disposed of.

Answer 2

That depends on the quality requirments of the recycled products, but recycling can introduces impurities that degrades the quality of the new materials.

Paper tends to be less white due to ink and other residues, and poorer quaility, so the amount of recycled fiber needs to be controlled.

Mixing glass colors makes and undesirable grey color.

Metals have to be very careful of the impruities, especially in the aerospace industry where quality is critical. Trace elements have sigificant impact on metallurgical properites.

Recycling motor oil can ruin refinery equipment if not done in a controlled environment, or if contaminants get mixed in

Answer 3

You might be using a product made from the toilet paper I recycle after each use.
Their are disadvantages
Inconvenience
You do not always get paid.
Not practical.
Cost to use new material may be cheaper than using recycled. If you know this to be the case please do NOT recycle.

Answer 4

The biggest disadvantage of recycling that I can think of is that it is usually less convienent and sometimes more expensive than simply sending everything to the landfill. The benefits to the environment though are huge, so society should work on making recycling at least as convienent and cheap as sending things to the landfill.

Answer 5

Objective

In this lesson we will discuss and answer the following questions:

What are the disadvantages to processing waste?
What is source reduction?
What are the two management strategies for controlling waste?




Reading Assignment

Along with the online lecture, read Chapter 5 in Environmental Law for Non-Lawyers.





Lecture

Introduction

When you dispose of something in the trash, do you ever think of where it goes?

Most of the trash disposed of ends up in landfills, where it remains for years. When landfills are used up for waste management there are a number of disadvantages to the process of controlling waste.

The waste that is brought to the landfill might or can become hazardous and can eventually seep into the groundwater, surface water and even the air.
The waste can no longer be used as a resource.
No community wants a landfill because of the effects it presents to property value.
With the increase waste, available space decreases and sites for landfills become a difficult task.


One goal of the EPA waste management strategy is source reduction . According to EPA, source reduction is the disposing of waste in the ground, which helps reduce short-term costs, and it would be more realistic to prevent the amount of waste that occurs, which could reduce long-term costs.

Two management strategies that could help in reduction of waste are recycling and reuse . When we speak of recycling and reuse what do we mean? Recycling and reuse is the taking of recycled waste to produce a useable product.

For this discussion, let's look at the recycling of plastic





Recycling Plastic

The term plastic is used to describe a wide variety or resins or polymers with different characteristics and uses.

Polymers are long chains or molecules, a group of many units. While all plastics are polymers, not all polymers are plastics.

For this discussion of recycling, the understanding of the two basic types of polymers will be explained.

Thermoplastic polymers are those that can be heated and formed, over and over, with the shape of the polymer molecules appearing linear and slightly branched, giving the molecules the ability to flow under pressure when heated above their melting point.

Thermoset polymers are those polymers that undergo a chemical change when they are heated. The change creates a three-dimensional network. Once they are heated and formed they cannot be reheated and reformed.





Identifying Plastics and the Recycling Code

When working and sorting plastics for recycling, it is necessary to identify which particular plastic material has been used for a given product. Most of us as consumers recognize the types of plastics by the numerical coding system , which was created by the Society of the Plastics Industry in the late 1980's , but do we know what the code means?

Let's look at the seven different types of plastic and examples that are commonly used to package household products. The identification code number (#1 - #7) placed inside a triangle , can be found on the bottom of the plastic contains and packages.



#1-Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE or PET)



Sofa drinks and water containers, waterproof packaging and tennis balls.



#2-High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE)



Milk, detergent bottles, oil bottles, toys and plastic bags.



Examples of #1 and #2



#3-Vinyl/Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)



Food-wrap, vegetable oil bottles, and blister packages.



#4-Low-Density Polyethylene



Plastic bags, shrink wrap, and garment bags.



#5-Polyproplene



Refrigerated containers, some bags, and most bottle tops.



Examples of # 5



#6- Polystyrene



Throw-away utensils, meat packing and protective packing.



#7-Other, usually layered or mixed plastic.



No recycling potential, therefore this type must be set to landfill.



Examples of mixed plastics that cannot be recycled





Uses for Recycled Plastic

Only two types can be used to produce other products:

PET can be used in textiles, such as carpet, and can also be used to make fiber filling for pillows, quilts, and even jackets. A large amount goes back into the bottle market.

HDPE is used for lumber, pipes, trash cans, flower pots and also formed into bottles for nonfood applications.





What Actions Can We Take to Reduce the Amount of Waste We Generate or Send to the Landfills?

Use paper bags instead of plastic.
Use products made from recycled materials.
Recycle or donate your old computer. Computers contain materials that are considered toxic and should not be disposed of in a landfill. Ask local schools, charities and senior citizens center if they could use the computer system.
Use rechargeable batteries. This will also help keep toxic metals that are found in some batteries out of the landfills.
Reuse products. Find another use for the product.
Compost organic material, yard trimmings, food scrapes, other organic wastes help reduce the amount being sent to landfills.
Sell or donate products you no longer want, such as clothing and furniture.




Review

In this lesson we have seen that the best way for controlling waste is through source reduction. This is done by recycling and reuse of products we no longer need or use. We must keep in mind that not all waste that we dispose of is recyclable and that an identification code is placed inside a triangle on containers and products, which helps use in the sorting of containers and products before they taken to the landfills.

Answer 6

....poorer quality of that product, but it's still better to recycle.
....denying raw materials gatherers extra money to buy extravagances
....lesser sales to power generators
....jobs of garbage collection and street sweepers will be lesser in demand
....journalist will have lesser issues to expose
....lesser sales for the supplier of purifiers since air, water is much cleaner
....hospitals will have fewer patients suffering from environment related ailments

Answer 7

back pain caused by an unusually fat wallet has been my experience after taking my bags of crv's down to the local recycler!

Answer 8

None in the broad picture but ..... it can be a bit time consuming at first and the little bugs could start crawling in your blue bags if you don't clean the items very well at first........ but the reward comes from pasting the environment to our children and grandchildren, a little bit better than it was given to us. :)

Answer 9

In the long run there are not any disadvantages.



(Many blessings)

Answer 10

nothing - its usually free lol