Sustainability and Recycling

Environmental sustainability is the key to saving the planet. There are two types of recycling: internal and external. Internal recycling is reusing waste materials from manufacturing processes, while external recycling is reclaiming materials from worn-out products. Paper, glass, plastics, rubber, and wastewater can all be recycled. Recycling helps conserve resources, save energy, reduce pollution, create jobs, and minimize waste in landfills. Let's all recycle to protect the environment. ----- Hi and welcome to the eco podcast! I'm Emma and these are my friends Dari and Lori. Today we are talking about how to save the environment, but mainly about how to save it. Everyone knows that our planet is in danger, but no one really knows how to save it. The key is environmental sustainability. What is it? So, environmental sustainability is the ability to maintain an ecological balance in our planet's natural environment and conserve natural resources. There are two broad types of recycling operations, internal and external. Internal recycling is the reuse of manufacturing process of materials that are a waste product of that process. Internal recycling is common in the metals industry. For example, the manufacture of copper tubing results in a certain amount of waste in the form of the two paints and stirmings. This material is remelted and recast. External recycling is the reclaiming of materials from a product that has been worn out. An example of external recycling is the collection of old newspapers and magazines that are manufactured into new paper products. Aluminum cans and glass bottles are other examples of everyday objects that are externally recycled on a wide scale. These materials can be collected by any of the three main methods, buy-back centers, drop-off centers, and curb-side collection, in which homes and businesses sort their waste materials and deposit them by the curb-side collection by a central agency. Also, metals, for example iron and steel, can be recycled by both internal and external methods. Some internal recycling methods are obvious. Metal cuttings or imperfect products are recycled by remelting, recasting, and redrawing entirely within the steel mill. One of the most available materials for recycling is paper, which alone accounts for more than one third by weight of all the materials placed in landfills in the United States. The stream of waste paper consists principally of newspaper office, copying and writing paper, computer paper, and others. This paper must usually be sorted before recycling. Newspaper and cardboard can make the same materials, while other types of scrap paper are recycled for use in low-quality papers, such as box boards, tissues, and towels. Glass makes up about 6% by weight of the material in urban waste streams. Glass is an easily repairable material, but one that is difficult to recover economically. Though enormous numbers of glass containers are used throughout the world, much of this glass is not recycled because the raw materials are so inexpensive that there's little economic motive to reuse them. Even those glass containers that are returned by consumers in their original form sooner or later become damaged or broken. Plastics are great for almost 10% by weight of the content of urban garbage. Plastic containers and other household products are increasingly recycled, and like paper, these must be sorted at the source before processing. Thermoplastic must be sorted by type before they can be remelted. Thermosetting plastics, such as polystyrene and texposy resins, by contrast, cannot be remelted. These are usually ground or shredded for use as filter or in sorting materials. So-called biodegradable plastics include scratches that degrade upon exposure to sunlight, but fine plastics residue remains, and the degradable additives pre-site recycling of those products. Though much used rubber was formerly burned, this practice has been greatly curtailed in most countries in order to prevent air pollution. Internal recycling is common in most rubber plants. The reprocessed products can be used wherever premium grade rubber is not needed. External recycling has proved a problem over the years, as the cost of recycling old or worn-out tires has far exceeded the value of reclaimed material. Shredded rubber can be used as an additive in asphalt pavements, and discarded tires may be used as components of swings and other assorted recreational climbing equipment in entire playgrounds for children. Treated wastewater can be reclaimed and reused for a variety of purposes, including off-course and landscape irrigation. With achievement of appropriate treatment levels, it may be reused for irrigation of certain agricultural crops. After very high levels of advanced treatment and propagation, it may even be used to supplement drinking water supplies. However, because of public restrictions to the direct reuse of treatment sewage for domestic purposes, recovered water must be recycled directly. This is done by injecting it into the ground, storing it in ponds, and allowing it to seep into naturally occurring aquifers so that it is further purified as it slowly moves through the geologic trapdoors. In some regions of the world where water supplies are inadequate because of a recurring drought and rapidly expanding populations, the recycling and reuse of treated wastewater is a virtual necessity. Domestic refuse, municipal solid waste, includes garbage and rubbish. Garbage contains highly decomposable food waste, for example kitchen straps, while rubbish is the dry, non-pestressible component of refuse. Once glass, plastic, paper products, and metals have been removed from domestic refuse, what remains is essentially organic waste. This waste can be biologically decomposed and turned into humus, which is a useful cell conditioner. Kitchen scraps, when decomposed with leaves and grass in a compact mound, make an especially useful cell amendment. These practices help reduce the amount of material contributed by household and landfills. So, there are many reasons why we should recycle. Recycling helps in conserving natural resources, saving energy, reducing pollution, and creating employment opportunities. It also reduces the amount of waste that is sent to landfills. So, let's do our part in protecting the environment by recycling. Goodbye!