"this is interesting" Do you really believe that recycling will help save the planet, I'm not to sure it will.

Question

Ok i understand if you recycle paper it will stop more trees being cut down and this can help save our planet. but plastic bags,bottles etc, and glass bottles etc, these have to be melted down to make more plastic and glass products.
So what about the power and energy used on the machines that have to melt these bags and bottles, Then what about the fumes form the plastic and glass being melted going into the atmosphere this will cause global warming not prevent it.
If you don't recycle properly you will get a heavy fine from the councils, then you have to pay for extra bins to recycle properly
so you wont get fined.
So is recycling just another government conspiracy to take more money off people.
or is this just another load of rubbish which i heard in the pub on saturday

Answer 1

The reason to recycle is to save space in land fills, keep toxic waste out of the environment, and reduce the need top take new resources from nature; not to combat global warming.

Answer 2

You miss the point of recycling plastics. Plastics are not Bio-degradable, that is, they do not decompose. If you drop a soda bottle on the ground, in 1000 years, it will still be blowing around somewhere. There is no way to stop plastics from being made, so there will always be toxic gases going into the atmosphere from the production of plastics. The whole point of recycling plastic is to reduce the amount of it just sitting there in landfills. The theory being that we should re-use what has already been made, rather than to keep creating more and more until there is no more room to keep it. In summary it is more about reducing the amount of garbage generated than about preventing toxic fumes and global warming.

I hope this helps.

Answer 3

This IS interesting. I think the key to your question is "help to save the planet. Yes, I believe recycling will help. Not cure it, but it will help. Because paper,glass and plastic originally come from natural resources (trees,petroleum products and rock), our efforts to reuse these things will help save existing sources. I learned the other day that 85% of the gold in distribution today has been around and reused for thousands of years. I like that idea. You're right, in our inept human way, we ready them for reuse in possibly inefficient and possibly harmful ways.

But somehow, this almost seems like two different issues: We're doing what we can to keep the natural resources we have, but not very much, it seems, to stem the damage to the atmosphere. Certainly maintaining adequate tree cover on the planet helps to preserve the atmosphere and the ecosystems, but, as you point out, with how many steps backward to do that? I don't know that answer.

We go to Mexico once a year, and enjoy snorkeling along the Yucatan coastline. Over the years, I've seen the damage to the coral reef. In so many places, the incredible colors are gone, and the coral is bleached out white or light gray. How sad! Apparently, the noxious emissions we create from burning petroleum affect the oceans this way. It takes thousands of years for nature to build up a coral reef, and we've managed to wipe out the beauty of it in several decades.

But it boils down to more than my disappointment in the reef, and more than our individual annoyance at sorting, saving, reusing. It's not an individual thing. I do believe that I need to do what I can to "help." I know I can't do it all, and my efforts are invisible when viewed on an individual basis. But I do believe that my efforts, combined with others', do help. And I totally do NOT believe that it's government conspiracy to make money. That really does sound like pub grumbling -- was my dad there by any chance??

Answer 4

Recycling does work and it will help. Plastics and glass are made from raw materials. It takes a lot of oil and mined minerals to make products. The supply of raw materials is LIMITED on this earth, even though we seem to "have a lot".
It does take energy to recycle, however, not nearly as much as producing new raw materials. There is absolutely no reason to landfill metals, paper, plastics, or wood. Recycling can be done with minimal pollution if the process is designed correctly.

Answer 5

The savings happen this way.

It uses a fraction of the energy to recycle glass instead of making new glass.

Also if you didn't recycle then the rubbish would go into landfill. We are running short of places to put the rubbish and the cost is increasing.

Answer 6

I believe the competent scientists that say global warming is not man-made.

I thing that we should be conservative and not exhaust our natural resources.

Recycling plastic and aluminum is expensive and probably not cost effective. A better approach would be to try to change the way we package products. We generate a massive amount of trash due to packaging. Imagine the savings if people were to stop drinking bottled water.

Answer 7

relies upon on what's being recycled. You suggested glass. It takes way much less power to make new glass from previous glass than to make glass from sand. it rather is sufficient to pay for each and all the extras in touch in doing it. comparable with aluminum. Paper is a greater dodgy proposition. yet England is a small usa and waste disposal area is likewise a attention.

Answer 8

No I dont think recycling will save the planet. It might make us all feel better about what we do and how much we waste, but we cant do enough to counteract the fact that there are four new power stations built in China every month and I believe,(dont quote me) forty factories a month. We should consume responsibly but I dont think it will be the planet that dies out....it will be our species

Answer 9

maybe in the short term it wont save it but it will help in the long term as for the fumes everyday new technology is coming along and reducing them so less global warming
and a conspiracy by the councils to keep getting money of us

Answer 10

Not as much as they make it out to be. I mean, would you want millions of "dump-sites" all over the world with material that becomes so toxic that you cant live near the site, or "vapors" and gases that you end up breathing anyway?

Either way, logic has it that it is INEVITABLE that we cannot live with toxic material laying all over the place, but as far as plastic, aluminum, ect...i guess it doesnt hurt anything while we're trying to gather the toxic material in the first place.