Research

My Research Paper on Recycling From my first article I learned about two things in the importance of education of recycling, education and awareness programs and curbside education. There are many educational and awareness programs on recycling. For example, Keep America Beautiful and Nestle Waters North America, both involved in a program called Recycle Bowl for schools. “Recycle-Bowl is a free, friendly competition and benchmarking tool for kindergarten through high school recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities across the country,” says Michael Washburn director of sustainability for Nestle Waters North America. “School recycling programs across the nation compete in a race to collect the most recyclables, with prizes offered in each state and Washington, D.C., and to the national winner.” (Education important for recycling efforts, 2011, By Jessica Jacobsen, Beverage Industry, pg. 42) I also learned about curbside education, the Aluminum Association, and the Curbside Value Partnership. “This program looks to increase the recycling rates of all beverage containers whether they’re aluminum, glass, or plastic because recycling is obviously important to all of those, and when you go to a city or municipality, they want to increase the recycling rate across the board, not just with one container,” says Stephen Gardner, vice president of communications for the Aluminum Association. (Education important for recycling efforts, 2011, By Jessica Jacobsen, Beverage Industry, pg. 43) In my second article I learned about our paper recycling being sent to China. I found the reasons for our paper recycling being sent to China are the costs of labor and shipping are higher if kept in the US. “The most beneficial use is not collecting it, shipping it to China and then having it shipped back as containerboard,” says Steve Silver, president and CEO of recycled paper producer FutureMark Paper in Alsip, IL. “Our customers are some of the greenest corporations on the planet, so we know certification options are a must. We don’t charge for a chain of custody letter but we can supply it. Surprisingly, though, the vast majority of our customers don’t even ask for certified fiber, because it’s enough for them to know the paper is recycled.” (Changing the metrics of green, 2011, By Graeme Rodden, Pulp and Paper International, pg.15 and 16) Although, if the paper recycling where kept in the US, it would create jobs and revenue for our country. “The goal is to expand and improve paper collection systems, which will help keep more waste paper for domestic recycling, ideally through regional or local closed loop systems,” says Pam Blackledge, EPN’s lead for the RePaper Project. “Recycled paper is a less energy-intensive process, which drastically reduces our climate impact. It also supports job creation. Based on numbers we’ve seen, we estimate the recycled paper industry can create potentially five times the number of jobs compared to the conventional approach of producing paper from trees.” (Changing the metrics of green, 2011, By Graeme Rodden, Pulp and Paper International, pg.15) I also found when sending the recycling paper to China it is highly expensive to get the paper back to the US. In my third article I learned about recycling being thrown in the trash. I learned that there are more than $11 billion in recyclable materials taking up space in our landfills where they do not belong. Recyclables are a valuable asset and resource for the world. There has been a steady decline in the rate of beverage containers being recycled in the US. There is also a low percentage of recycling for packaging materials such as cereal boxes, soda and beer packaging, and snack packaging. “There are other troubling trends: beverage container recycling rates in the U.S. have dropped twenty percent over the last two decades,” reads the report. One quarter of the U.S. population still doesn’t have access to curbside recycling. More than forty billion aluminum cans, the most valuable beverage container material, are still dumped annually into landfills in the U.S. According to Alcoa, this wasted material could provide enough aluminum to build 25,000 jetliners.” (Report: U.S. Throwing away billions in recyclable materials, 2012, Official Board Markets, pg. 8) In my fourth article I learned about making more packaging recyclable. I learned about having the ability to reuse packaging materials. For example, using a recyclable product or using a single-use product. Also the long term effects involved with using or not using recyclable packaging materials. This includes the cost and environmental factors. “A mandated system with fees based on materials put on the market by each producer creates more equity, a level playing field, and badly needed resources to upgrade the U.S. recycling infrastructure, says a new report from the environmental and social responsibility advocacy group As You Sow. “Given its high consumption rates, the U.S. should take action now to improve its waste collection infrastructure to capture a far greater amount of post-consumer materials and develop closed-loop systems that will efficiently recycle these increasingly valuable materials.” (US packaging firms behind recycling curve, 2012, By Mike Verespej, Business Source Complete)