Materials Management
Notice that the title of the table of contents for this webpage is Materials Management. Often we wrongly label this topic Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). This is a bad practice to get into, much akin to telling someone your child is shy while they are in the room. If they are labeled as shy, they will tend to fall into this stereotype. The same goes for this topic. If we label our trash as waste, then people will continue to treat it as such. Therefore, we need to treat our trash as a resource.
Recycle
Recycling is simply collecting materials that would otherwise be considered waste, sorting and processing them into raw materials to be used again.
The Process
- Collection and Processing
- Manufacturing
- Purchasing Recycled Products
Every community has some differences in their particular recycling program, although the process is basically the same, which includes either: curb-side, deposit/refund programs, buy-back facilities, or drop-off centers.
No matter what the method used to get the recyclables to the facility, recyclables must be sorted and stored and prepared for manufacturing into new products. Recyclable materials are bought and sold like any other marketable items.
As recycling becomes more common place, more products are beginning to incorporate recyclable materials into their manufacturing process. Common products manufactured with recycled materials include newspapers, paper towels, plastic, aluminum, steel cans, and glass. Every year new means of incorporating a material once considered waste into new materials and products are arising. For example, recovered plastic is often used in park benches, carpeting, and bridges.
It should be the goal of each consumer to try and buy products which incorporate recycled materials in their manufacturing process. By choosing to consume this way it will increase the demand for recycled materials and make recyclables more valuable. The US EPA maintains an excellent webpage titled the Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG). On this webpage you will find a listing of products that are catalogued which contain recycled materials.
For recycling to be effective, public participation in each step of the recycling process outlined above is necessary. I was once told that it is worthless to recycle a particular type of plastic because our local facility did not accept it. The reason any facility does not recycle any one particular material can usually be explained with basic economics. Recycling is based on supply and demand, like any other market. If a facility contains a surplus of say number 5 plastics, then it may be economical to seek a market to unload the material, even if the price is low. For this reason, it is important to give every piece of waste that has a recyclables symbol to your local facility. We need to create a surplus to the recycler instead of a surplus to the landfill.
Here is what we must do to help these programs work:
- Find out your local recycling facilities' policy. Follow their direction and save every recyclable
material from your waste stream.
- Consume wisely. Ensure you find products that use as much recyclable material as the standards listed
on the US EPA's CPG website. for that
particular type of product. This may seem daunting, although once you have done the research,you can
stick with that particular product.
- Get children involved. The Enviro-Family is a strong believer that children are the key to a successful
environmental policy. If you recycle, your children will recycle when they are older.
- Find out if your office or work has a recycling program. If not talk to your supervisors or others to
determine if one has ever been initiated in the past or how you could rally the support of other workers
to start one. A recycling program can help boost office moral and the feeling of teamwork. We are all working
together to reduce our waste and negative impact on this planet.
- Ask to volunteer at a local recycling facility. Contact your local government to get the phone number for
your particular recycler. There are often many ways to help out.
- Compost. By composting your waste food scraps, you are in a sense recycling.