The Growing Importance of Recycling

Throughout history, recycling has existed in one guise or another. Even as long ago as 400 BC signs of early recycling are known to have taken place. Archaeological reports show that ancient waste dumps contained less of what is known nowadays as household waste, such as pots, tools and ash, which demonstrates that people were, even in those days, keen to reuse products at a time when natural resources were not so freely available.

Indeed it could be argued that the old ‘rag-and-bone’ man was just an early recycler collectingdiscarded goods on his horse and cart, before reusing or turning the collected items into something new. The 60′s TV series, Steptoe and Son, brought this very much to the public eye and greater attention.

During periods such as the World War Years, recycling and re-use were common place as natural resources became much more difficult to come by. As well as food being rationed, certain materials such as metal and fibre werenormally permitted only for use by the government in support of military operations, to meet manufacturing requirements often in the production of weaponry.

Due to rising energy costs, the need to recycle aluminium increased in the 1970′s.. As a material aluminium utilises much less energy in the production process than some other materials. Also it was much sought after because of its non rusting properties. The need for aluminium saw the rise of scrap metal merchants who were willing to pay money in exchange for good quality metal. Also, in the 70′s in parts of the United States of America, the first vehicles were seen to be collecting waste with a separate trailer for the collection of recyclable materials being towed behind the vehicle.

To the late 1980′s, early 1990′s and as the importance of managing the global environmental state increased amongst worldwide governments, the focus upon recycling really started to gather momentum. In the UK, the government imposed recycling targets upon Local Authorities and with the introduction of the new legislation upon the waste industry, recycling schemes really began to take off. The once commonly knownwaste disposal companies, began to call themselves waste management companies and demonstrated through the offer of waste collection and recyclable material collection that waste needed to be managed more effectively.

Today, many hundreds of materials and products can be recycled, ranging from paper, card, glass and plastics, to mobile phones, electrical items, printer cartridges, textiles, clothing and concrete.

What is Recycling?

The term recycling describes the process of reprocessing used materials into new or nearly new products to avoid the need for potentially useful materials or products to be discarded.

Recycling plays a key role in a world where climate change is high on the environmental agenda. It helps to reduce the need to unnecessarily send waste materials and products to landfill or other waste disposal options. This in turn diminishes the need or the reliance upon consuming fresh or new raw materials, reduces energy use and air and water pollution, all of which contribute to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Recycling is probably most evident through the recycling services now provided by local councils for domestic refuse and recycling collections and by modern waste management companies who generally offer a full range of waste and recycling collection services. Some companies, who have traditionally focused only on the collection of recyclable products, are now extending their service offering to collect general waste as well.

As we now have the systems to transform our waste to energy , great savings may be made on the resources that are slowly but surely running out and therefore becoming much more pricey.

In the waste sector, the common promotional activity surrounds the waste hierarchy – ‘reduce, reuse, recycle and recover’. This four R slogan is a simple message designed for a far reaching audience. Think about how you can reduce your waste. Can the waste products or materials be reused? Can the waste product or material be recycled or recovered? Many questions to consider.

The waste hierarchy is a strategy which many waste management companies and local authorities consider when developing new waste management strategies. The strategy is intended to focus the mind around preventing waste being produced in the first place. Consider the options for reuse and recycling but ultimately minimise the amount of waste produced at the end of the cycle. The slogan has been adopted particularly well in the public sector.

So the emphasis is very much on the entire production process. The waste hierarchy extends much wider than to waste management companies and local authorities. Working groups have been set up to bring many industries together to consider the entire waste cycle. For example, the manufacturer of a product needs to consider how the product is to be manufactured. Can parts be used which can later be recycled or reused? Can the amount of packaging which surrounds the product be reduced? When the product reaches the retailer, is it necessary for the product to be placed within an outer package? Once the retailer sells the product, what will the consumer do with the unwanted elements of the purchase, i.e. the packaging? How will the packaging be collected and where will it go? Will it return to a recycling plant, for onward shipment to a reprocessing plant, where the cycle begins all over again? The process must be simple to manage and implement.

How are Materials Collected for Recycling?

Legislation now dictates that all waste should be treated to avoid the amount of recyclables and unnecessary waste going direct to landfill. Since 1996, UK government has enforced a landfill tax on all waste disposed of within landfill. The rate of tax has increased considerably in recent years rising from the original level of