Recyclingis the key initiatives to reduce waste materials and the process of turningwaste materials into usable materials to divert trash from landfills, whichbrings many advantages and benefits to different areas. To help theenvironment, we need to start recycling thrown bottles, paper, glass, plastic,and much more which will make the environment clean, green and healthy. Accordingto the US Environmental Protection Agency, “Recycling is the process ofre-using a given product (beyond its intended use), or producing a new productfrom a recyclable material turns that would otherwise become waste intovaluable resources.
” (EPA).Recycling is the only way that can save our environment from deteriorate so ithas become very important now days and for our future lives because it savesenergy, reduces landfill, protects wildlife, and is also good for the economy.So, we need to make everyone aware about the importance of recycling and we shouldalso understand its importance to make this program successful for thebetterment of environment. Some poor countries are facing thelarge problem of unhealthy environment which has affected their health and notonly the poor countries but everyone on earth has suffered due to the massiveproduction of waste, a large problem with trash build up on our Earth. Becauseof the unorganized production of waste material, it has affected public health,environment pollution and threatens to drown some poor countries in toxicity.
Thenon-recycled materials go into landfills or be dumped into the ocean which pollutewater and leak methane gas into the atmosphere which not only affects the humanbeing but also the whole eco system. Similarly, as the paper we used are notrecycled, it causes deforestation because more trees will be cut down, reducingthe world’s oxygen, increasing the carbon dioxide and causes deforestation. We will also have to face the problemof electricity, if we do not recycle aluminum cans because lots of the world’senergy will be used to make aluminum from scratch.
Likewise, we are also goingto run out of space to hide all the trashes, if we don’t recycle the thingsthat can be recycled such as glasses and trash bags, which we can easily re-usethan manufacture. The major problem of throwing trash bags is that when thetrash bags are dumped into the water, which are mistaken by sea turtles forjellyfish, and we end up killing them. Another major problem that affects theearth’s climate system is Global warming which releases carbon dioxide into thegreenhouse gases in the atmosphere using energy generated from burning fossilfuels and causes air pollution, destruction of forest and emergence of newillnesses and deaths. We can see in the above statisticspresented by the World Bank report on 2011 that many develop countriesgenerating the most waste. Though beingthe most developed countries, we can see in the figure that, The United States,China, Brazil, Japan and Germany are the leading trash generators. Being one ofthe developed country, U.
S. produced the most waste about 624,700 metrics ofwaste per day in 2011. Similarly, another most develop country, China which haspopulation around four times larger than that of the U.S. is close behind, with520,548 metrics of waste per day. “The more urbanized and industrialized acountry becomes, the more trash it produces,” said Ijjasz-Vasquez, a seniordirector for the World Bank’s Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practiceas cited in (Simmons).
Because of the population growth, urbanization and rising consumption, TheUnited Nations Environment Program predicts that the amount of waste willprobably double in lower-income African and Asian cities. (EPA). Reasons for Recycling: In today’s world, Recycling hasbecome important because it is good for all the human beings, environment andeco-system. Since we are making new products from the old products, which areof no use to us, we need to continue doing it and make other people aware too,so we can save the environment together. There are many reasons to recycle andthe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has enumerated some benefits associatedwith recycling.· Recycling save resources by converting thewaste materials into the usable materials which reduces the need to consumenatural resources and helps to helps conserve important raw materials and alsoprotects natural habitats for the future.
· Recycling saves energy by converting theuse of more energy that is required in the manufacturing process into lessenergy by producing new products from raw materials that are ready forindustry. · Recycling helps protect the environment byreducing the pollution created by waste materials such as air pollution andwater pollution. It helps to prevent deforestation which protects habitatdestruction and global warming.· Recycling reduces incineration byreprocessing recyclable materials which needs extracting, refining andprocessing raw materials and saves the energy needed for the further process. SOLUTIONS:Everyonecan do recycling easily starting from their home and practicing the concept ofrecycling will benefit us in our everyday life.
· Waste Reduction: Stop Throwing Things Out:The first thing to keep in mind is that we need to stop throwing things outsidewhich can be recycled. Every state and local authority has been suffering fromthe problem of ineffective waste disposal system so, there every state should adoptedregulatory strategies to discourage dependence on landfills. For example,California enacted a law that established a baseline for solid waste its citiesand towns send to landfills in 1990. By 1995, that amount reduced by 25percent; and by the year 2000, it reduced to 50 percent. Therefore, Californianow diverts more than 25 percent of its waste, resulting in disposal ofapproximately 33 million tons per year. (Knudson) .· There should be an effective wastedisposal and management system which can offer improved solutions for thevarious problems associated with waste materials in the community.
It helps to encouragehigher environmental protection by implementing he strategy that looks afterthe landfills are purposefully located to ease waste collection, transfer, andmonitoring or recycling. · There should be waste diversion plans thatevery local authorities and state should implement which makes certain thatthere is convenient and proper waste disposal at landfills and waste transferfacilities by mandating equipment standards which can enhance the environmentalperformance of waste disposal operations (Gorrie).· The policy for Recycle, Re-use, and reduceshould be implemented which recycles electronic wastes, plastics, paper, metal,glass and other non-biodegradable materials providing an effective means ofreducing the landfill effects. After recycling those materials, it reduces thehigh demand for manufactured products and helps to embrace re-use that canequally favor reduction to both the toxicity and volume of waste that end up inthe landfill as waste (Flavell-While). COUNTERARGUMENT: Although recycling is the keyinitiative to control waste materials, it might cost more while processing theraw materials into new products so, it is not always cost-effective. Itrequires a lot of capital to buy different kinds of utility vehicles, upgradethe recycling unit, waste, and chemical disposal and to conduct awarenessprograms for the locals to initiate recycling. It costs $28 per ton to landfillwaste compared with $147 a ton to recycle says the author Harvey Black of theEnvironmental Health Perspectives Journal, in San Jose, California (Harvey). Similarly, due to lots of wastematerials it is Recycling sites are unhygienic, unsafe and unsightly.
The wastematerials produce harmful which can be dangerous and also causes massivepollution. The people working on recycling sites have to take a major healthrisk because if they come into the contact of harmful chemicals, they mightlose their life. Harmful chemicals from waste material not only affects thehuman beings but also the environment and animals which are living in theearth. For example, if waste products that we throw come into contact with water,it results in the formation of leachate that ends up polluting water bodies,not to mention drinking water which caused fever, stomach pain, typhoid,diarrhea and Jaundice. According to Mary Bauer, a seniorexecutive currently working as a management consultant and communicationsexpert says, recycling saves energy, reduces pollution, preserves trees andconserves landfill space, but it is a messy process that uses caustic chemicalsand produces harmful byproducts and emissions. (Mary). CONCLUSION: After knowing these disadvantages ofrecycling, an individual need to take wise decision and take significant stepsinvolved in recycling process.
If the effects of recycling are carried outeffectively it can benefit every human being from protecting environment.Though there are some disadvantages of recycling, it’s benefits outweigh therisks related with the mismanagement of dump sites because it is for the goodcause and helps everyone to understand the importance of healthy environment. Similarly,the government is also implementing effective waste management to preserve andprotect our planet so everyone of us should take the initiative to recyclewaste material starting from our home.
