Recyclable materials – What Can Be Recycled

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Recycling and the benefits of recycling have already been discussed in the previous post. Have a look here: What is recycling.

Materials Which Can Be Recycled:

All materials are not considered as good recyclable materials. The biodegradable materials like food items, organic wastes, etc are not considered as the recyclable materials. The materials, which can be picked, cleaned, and reprocessed into new materials are considered as the recyclable materials. The good recyclable materials are:

Municipal Solid Wastes

These municipal solid wastes (MSW) are the post-consumer solid wastes, generated by the domestic units, commercial units, institutions, hospitals, etc. MSWs are not easy to define; however, MSW is considered as the material waste generally (yard waste, papers, glass, metals, etc). Some of the MSW are described under:

o   Paper

Wasted papers are recycled into the new paper products by paper recycling. It is unfortunately a fact that the paper processing requires pulp, which is obtained by cutting down the trees, which is a threat to the environment. Using recycled papers can minimize the new paper requirements, and so are the wood requirements.

o   Glass

Unlike paper recycling, glass recycling needs extra concentration. The glass bottles and the other types of glass (like Pyrex, light bulbs, window glass, auto glass, etc) cannot be recycled together. As glass chemistry is based on its oxide components typically. The most likely recyclable glass is the clean glass.

o   Oil

Oil recycling might be newer for many people. “Oil” refers to variety of combustible liquids, which are not soluble in water and leave greasy stain. The used or contaminated oil (not consumed) can be considered as the recyclable material. Direct combustion of used oil as a burner fuel should always be condemned, because it not only destroys this valuable source, but also cause environmental pollution.

o   Plastic

Plastic recycling has turned a new shape today. There are lots of grades of plastics. And all the grades or types of plastics cannot be recycled together. A very small quantity of the wrong grade of the plastic can ruin the whole processing batch. It is generally not easy to separate different grades of the plastics. That’s why, there are several cryptic markers used in the plastic industries to indicate the type of the plastics.

o   ferrous metals

Recycling of the ferrous scrap is the principle recycling activity worldwide. The ferrous metals refer to the substances made up of iron or steel. Recycling of these ferrous metals gives number of environmental benefits as well including reduction in air pollution, water usage, landfill requirements, etc compared to the use of virgin materials.

o   Non ferrous metals

Non ferrous metals are any metal other than iron or iron alloys. Highly recycled non ferrous metals are copper, aluminum, lead and zinc.

o   Rubber

Rubber recycling is commonly known by the name of “tire recycling”. Used and damaged tires, which cannot longer be used on the roads, are one of the largest sources of the hazardous wastes. That’s why the tires are one the most recyclable materials. Rubber is a very resilient material, and can easily be reused in other products.

Waste Water Recycling

Waste water recycling refers to the process of removing suspended solids, impurities, Ph balancing, color treatments etc. There are various ways, in which waste water can be recycled. The selection of the treatment process depends upon the end use of the treated water. If the water is to be treated for the textile industrial usage, then there might be some of the treatment techniques involved like the sedimentation, filtration, color treatments etc. But, if water is being treated for human consumption, then number of additional processes like ultra-filtration, reverse osmosis, etc should be carried out. However, treated waste water is generally not used for the drinking purposes.

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