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Recycling and Waste Management

Waste Plastic Recycling – Reduce & Reuse.

Plastic recycling started in the 1970s, in part as a response to the growing amount of plastic waste.

Materials recovery facilities are responsible for waste plastic recycling, sorting and processing. As of 2019, due to limitations in their economic viability, these facilities have struggled to make a meaningful contribution to the plastic supply chain. The plastics industry has known since at least the 1970s that recycling of most plastics is unlikely because of these limitations. However, the industry has lobbied for the expansion of recycling while companies have continued to increase the amount of virgin plastic being produced.

DOING OUR PART FOR THIS PLANET

Waste Plastic Recycling - Reduce & Reuse. Materials recovery facilities are responsible for waste plastic recycling, sorting and processing.
Reduce Your Consumption

Don’t buy what you don’t need and minimise purchase & use of single use plastics.

Reuse What You Can

Find ways to refurbish items or donate and trade with others

Segregate Your Waste

Put biodegradable and non-biodegradable garbage in separate bins

Separate Glass, Metal and Plastics

Further separate glass, metals and plastics in different bins for easier recycling

Get Familiar With Your System

Figure out your city’s waste disposal system and follow the designated schedule

When different types of plastics are melted together, they tend to phase-separate, like oil and water, and set in these layers. . Each time plastic is recycled, additional virgin materials must be added to help improve the integrity of the material. Therefore, even recycled plastic has new plastic material added in. Moreover, the same piece of plastic can only be recycled about 2–3 times. Thus, even when plastics have a resin code, or are collected for recycling, only a small portion of that material is actually recycled. For example, as of 2017, only 8% of US plastic was recycled.

Since almost all plastic is non-biodegradable, recycling can be part of reducing plastic in the waste stream. This is important, for example, for reducing the approximately 8 million metric tons of waste plastic that enters the Earth’s ocean every year.

However, because of the complexity of recycling, a substantial amount of plastic that is collected for recycling is processed in other ways, such as through trash incineration, or not processed at all.

Courtesy – Wikipedia

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Pollution Control

Smog pollution effects – Say No To SMOG

Smog Pollution Effects & Causes

Smog is air pollution that reduces visibility. Today, most of the smog we see is photochemical smog. Photochemical smog is produced when sunlight reacts with nitrogen oxides and at least one volatile organic compound (VOC) in the atmosphere. Nitrogen oxides come from car exhaust, coal power plants, and factory emissions. VOCs are released from gasoline, paints, and many cleaning solvents. When sunlight hits these chemicals, they form airborne particles and ground-level ozone—or smog. Smog pollution effects the very nature of vitality.

The term “smog” was first used in the early 1900s to describe a mix of smoke and fog. The smoke usually came from burning coal. Smog was common in industrial areas, and remains a familiar sight in cities today.

Smog pollution effects the very nature of vitality.

Ozone can be helpful or harmful. The ozone layer high up in the atmosphere protects us from the sun’s dangerous ultraviolet radiation. But when ozone is close to the ground, it is bad for human health. Ozone can damage lung tissue, and it is especially dangerous to people with respiratory illnesses like asthma. Ozone can also cause itchy, burning eyes.
Smog pollution effects adversely being unhealthy to humans and animals, and it can kill plants. Smog is also ugly. It makes the sky brown or grey. Smog is common in big cities with a lot of industry and traffic. Cities located in basins surrounded by mountains may have smog problems because the smog is trapped in the valley and cannot be carried away by wind. Los Angeles, California, and Mexico City, Mexico, both have high smog levels partly because of this kind of landscape.

Many countries, including the United States, have created laws to reduce smog. Some laws include restrictions on what chemicals a factory can release into the atmosphere, or when the factory can release them. Some communities have “burn days” when residents can burn waste such as leaves in their yard. These limits on chemicals released into the air reduce the amount of smog.

Everyone can do their part to reduce smog by changing a few behaviours, such as:

  • Drive less. Walk, bike, carpool, and use public transportation whenever possible.
  • Take care of cars. Getting regular tune-ups, changing oil on schedule, and inflating tires to the proper level can improve gas mileage and reduce emissions.
  • Fuel up during the cooler hours of the day—night or early morning. This prevents gas fumes from heating up and producing ozone.
  • Avoid products that release high levels of VOCs. For example, use low-VOC paints.
  • Avoid gas-powered yard equipment, like lawn mowers. Use electric appliances instead.

Smog is still a problem in many places…

Courtesy – National Geographic Encyclopaedia.
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Quotes

Quote of the day

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

Lao Tzu
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Quotes

Quote of the day

There are no lines in nature, only areas of colour, one against another.

Edouard Manet
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