Keep Benton County Beautiful

Recycling involves the collecting of waste or materials that are no longer in use. The recyclables are sorted according to similarities in their basic components, like: plastics, paper, and metal. The recyclables then goes through a process whereby its components are broken down and cleansed. After the process, recycled clean materials ready to be shaped into a final product and used. A good example of a recycled material is aluminum can soda. Once collected, sorted and shredded at the recycling plant; the shredded aluminum will be brought to a facility that will turn it again to sheets of aluminum and into soda cans. The effects of this single process, is tremendous.

Since aluminum cans are 100% recyclable, they can be whole recycled and used again. If it was added to a landfill, it would take 200 years to biodegrade.

In the larger scheme of waste management having the three R’s – Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle; the issue of reducing consumption of raw materials is also addressed. No exploitation of natural resources, thus more natural resources for the future generations of Mankind.

There is also a reduction in energy used. The process of extraction of the raw material from nature, its transport to the processing center and the actual processing consumes a tremendous amount of energy. It is more difficult to process raw materials. It takes 1/20th of the energy consumption to recycle the aluminum compared to extracting the aluminum from the ore. Furthermore, when recycling soda cans the material goes straight to processing. The emission of carbon throughout the entire process is greatly decreased. Carbon is a heating agent that forms part of the greenhouse gasses that blanket the earth. Normally, carbon and the other gasses work to trap in just enough heat necessary for living things to survive. But an increase in carbon results also in an increase in temperature lethal to the survival of the living. Recycling thus lessens the release of carbon into the atmosphere where less carbon equals less heat. Less heat translates to a decrease in the global temperature thus the effects of global warming decreases.

From this example, we learn that recycling reduces the need to harvest and exploit the natural resources and recycling lessens waste. Recycling also prevents further air and water pollution, reduces the emission of greenhouse gasses, decreases the effects of global warming and so much more. Therefore the overall effect of recycling helps to prevent the destruction of earth and the death of all living things. If everybody in this world chooses to make recycling a part of their daily living then we can all have a better future and a better quality of life to live and enjoy.