Recycling Raw Materials

Is it possible to recycle raw materials? Why not! You absolutely can recycle glass, metal, plastic, fabric, clothing, packing material, car batteries, motor oil, tires, organic waste, water, and other materials. Though not intended for recycling but for controlled disposal, pharmaceuticals, batteries, paint, plaster and other waste which, if left in the environment, would cause pollution are also collected.

Recycling raw materials is important for reducing the damaging alterations to the environment produced by human activities. By recycling raw materials, we collect a smaller amount of raw material from nature and also reduce the amount of waste. Important steps in recycling raw materials include sorting them at home and in the office and a sorted garbage collection. Through sorted garbage collection, those materials which before were just throwaways that went towards polluting the environment have become more and more of an economic resource. Nowadays, an industry for the recycling of raw materials is on the rise. Companies which specialize in the online advertisement and sale of industrial waste which can be useful to other companies have also been born.

Recycling Glass
Glass is produced by melting sand at high temperatures. In turn, glass items can be melted again and transformed into new products. Bottles and jars brought to temperatures between 800 and 1500°C soften and then melt. At this point, the material is homogenized by stirring, is refined, and is often bleached. It can then be used to make new glass items. The recycling of glass is very beneficial in terms of energy conservation.

In addition to recycling, we also need to consider reusing products. Some types of bottles and other glass containers can be washed and reused dozens of times. The system of depositing bottles is highly respectful to the environment. In fact, reusing items is more efficient energy-wise than recycling them. Knowing how to use products without ruining them means prolonging their life and reducing the need to buy new ones.

Recycling Metal
Metal is produced by bringing certain minerals to high temperatures and adding melting materials, deoxidizing materials, etc. To be recycled, metal must be collected and separated by type: steel, cast iron, copper alloys, aluminum alloys.

Aluminum alloys melt around 550-650°C according to the alloy. Since the normal production of aluminum from bauxite requires large quantities of electrical energy, the recovery of this metal is particularly important.

Copper is widely used in making electrical wires. Copper alloys are widely used in factories. The main copper alloys are bronze (copper + tin) and brass (copper + zinc). Copper melts at 1083°C, bronze between 900 e 1000 °C, and brass at about 900°C. The world reserves of copper are becoming exhausted, making the recycling of this material important.

In metallurgy, one distinguishes iron (chemical element) from steel, which is an alloy derived from iron and other elements. Cast iron has a higher carbon content than steel. When burnt in furnaces for the production of steel, carbon frees large quantities of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and pollutes the atmosphere. Steel melts at about 1500°C, is inexpensive, and is not particularly rare, but the collection and reuse of scrap iron is nonetheless useful because it reduces the need for extracting iron ore and the amount of carbon necessary to produce new steel. Because of the presence of nickel in their alloy, austenitic stainless steel is expensive and recycling it is important.

Recycling Plastic
Plastic is derived from oil and is rather costly as well as its producing processes often being polluting. Many plastics break down very slowly and when they end up in the environment, they pollute it for a long time. Many dolphins and whales die because of plastic bags carried to sea by the wind that they end up swallowing. Recycling plastic is therefore important for economical reasons, energy conservation, and for reducing pollution to the environment. On the market, there are many different kinds of plastic such as polyethylene, PVC, polystyrene, polypropylene, etc. In order to recycle them efficiently, they could be separated by polymer type. Unfortunately, this is difficult to do, and for the time being we are limited to a unsorted collection of only a few types of plastic.

All plastics can be recycled by the process of pyrolysis. Pyrolysis consists of bringing plastic to a temperature of 500°C in the absence of oxygen. At this temperature, plastic decomposes producing gases which can be used to make new plastic or can be burned for the purpose of creating electrical energy.

Recycling Organic Material
Food scraps, cut grass, small pruned branches, fallen leaves, etc. are easily decomposed by bacteria, earthworms, and other little organisms. At the end of this process, we are left with a very fertile soil, called compost, for use in agriculture. To facilitate their transformation into compost, organic waste is gathered in the appropriate containers (composters) where they undergo the biological transformation described above. The recovery of organic waste is important because it is rather voluminous and becomes rather costly for normal disposal. Moreover, if thrown into dumpsters, the food scraps would dirty any other recyclable items in the garbage making those items less easily separable and collectible. Returning organic substances to farmlands or even your own backyard through composting renders the soil more fertile and reduces the need for chemical fertilizers.

Recycling Water
Water from the sewage system and from agricultural drains can be purified and reused. One of the processes of purification consists of making water flow into lakes or special purifying plants, where the organic substances present in it are used as food by bacteria and other microorganisms. At the end of the process, these substances are transformed into mud which sediments at the bottom. Passes across sand and other procedures complete the purification of water, which can again be made drinkable. Often, the resulting mud can be used in farming as fertilizer. Also most of the runoff water from industrial processes can be purified.