benefits of recycling research paper

Why Recycling Matters: Essential Short Term & Long Term Benefits

benefits of recycling research paper

By Tania Longeau

Recycling is important. If you are reading this article, chances are you already know that. You may not know, however, exactly why it’s so important. Sure, it is a great way to divert waste away from overflowing landfills that are already bursting at the seams, but it does so much more than that. From preserving the environment for future generations to creating jobs in the here and now, recycling has a wide range of short term and long term benefits. Let’s take a closer look at what recycling is and why it’s so important.

What Is Recycling?

Recycling is simply taking used materials and turning them into something new. Recyclable materials are taken to facilities where they are sorted, cleaned, and processed back into their original form. Things like paper and plastic, for example, are shredded and turned into pulp or melted down to create raw materials that can be used to make new products.

All sorts of things can be recycled. There are commonmaterials that everyone thinks of, such as paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, and metal, but there are other items that many people don’t realize can be recycled. Inkjet cartridges , tires, and even old computers are a few examples. In recent years, many states have enacted laws prohibiting people from sending electronic devices, also known as e-waste, to landfills. This means that, for things like computers, televisions, cell phones, and even your old toaster, recycling is the only legal means of disposal.

Short Term Benefits of Recycling

When disposed of in landfills, things like plastic can take thousands of years to break down. That doesn’t mean, though, that the benefits of recycling can only be seen in the future. When you recycle, you are making a positive impact on the world in which you live today in several ways.

Keep Toxic Chemicals Out of the Environment

Things like computers, inkjet cartridges, and cell phones are manufactured using heavy metals and toxic chemicals. When they make their way into landfills, they leach toxins into the soil. Those toxins can contaminate groundwater, destroy ecosystems, and have a negative impact on both humans and wildlife. When some of these items are exposed to heat, they can release toxic chemicals into the air, too, causing damage to the atmosphere.

By recycling, you can ensure that you are not contributing to this all-too-common problem. Sending your recyclables to recycling facilities ensures that they are processed appropriately and do not end up breaking down in landfills.

Recycling Creates Jobs

Recycling facilities have powerful equipment that helps them sort and process materials. They still need people to operate that equipment, though. Manpower is also required to pick out non-recyclable materials and ensure that everything goes to the right place. When you recycle, you are helping create jobs for people in your own community. This can help lower unemployment rates and provide people with access to jobs that pay living wages, health insurance, andother benefits, etc.

Building Stronger Communities

Did you know that many charities and organizations raise money through recycling programs? Some work with recycling facilities and receive money for recyclables that they collect. Schools often accept inkjet and toner cartridges for recycling and receive a small amount of money for each when they send them in for recycling.

Donating your unused clothing and household items to charitable organizations is a form of recycling, too. When you donate to your local thrift store or the Salvation Army, they often resell them to raise money to fund their operations. The funds raised may also be used in community outreach programs.

benefits of recycling research paper

Long-Term Benefits of Recycling

Recycling whenever possible helps protect the environment and preserve our planet for future generations. Trash is, quite literally, taking over the world. By recycling, you can reduce your contribution to this serious problem.

Recycling Conserves Natural Resources

Recycling materials and reusing them to make new products conserves natural resources like timber, water, and oil. It limits the amount of mining and extraction that needs to be done to remove raw materials from the earth. Using recycled materials to manufacture products is a sustainable alternative to constantly make new products.

Minimize Global Warming

During the waste disposal process, greenhouse gases like sulfur, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen are produced as the result of combining massive amounts of waste. The recycling process requires minimal combustion and makes it possible to create reusable materials with little environmental impact. The entire process of recycling and making new products from recycled materials emits very few greenhouse gases because the facilities involved use fewer fossil fuels.

Cut Down on Waste in Landfills

Overflowing landfills are a huge problem. Landfills are major causes of environmental degradation. The fuller they are, the worse the problem becomes. Choked landfill sites cause ground and water pollution, destroy nearby ecosystems, and can cause a wide range of health problems. Recycling keeps waste out of landfills.

Recycling is important for numerous reasons. From creating jobs and building strong communities to fighting back against global warming and protecting our dwindling natural resources, it provides a wide range of both short term and long term benefits. As more and more communities embrace recycling, it is becoming increasingly easy to incorporate into your own life. Many cities have curbside recycling pick-up services, and others have recycling bins in centralized locations where you can drop off your waste. There are also all sorts of programs that allow you to mail in things like inkjet cartridges and old electronics.

If you want to recycle but are not sure how to get started or where to take your recyclables, Earth911 provides helpful resources for locating facilities and making recycling part of your family’s lifestyle. We only have one Earth. Start recycling to make the world a better place today and to protect the planet for future generations.

Tania Longeau serves as the Head of Services for InkJet Superstore . Tania oversees a team of Operations and Customer Service Reps from the Los Angeles headquarters. Before joining InkJet Superstore , Tania was a team leader and supervisor working for one of the biggest mortgage and real estate companies in the country. She is a happily married mother of one who enjoys spending time with her family and reading in her leisure hours .

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Frequently Asked Questions: Benefits of Recycling

Q: Why is it important to recycle?

A: With the involvement and enthusiasm of people like you, recycling is back and so are thousands upon thousands of recycled products made from materials that would otherwise be piling up in our nation's landfills. It makes a huge difference to our environment, our quality of life, and our country's future.

Why It's Important

As stewards of the environment, we are responsible for preserving and protecting our resources for ourselves and for future generations.

Getting Back To Basics

Recycling is really just common sense, and until the "modern era," it was a common household activity. Before the 1920s, 70% of U.S. cities ran programs to recycle certain materials. During World War II, industry recycled and reused about 25% of the waste stream. Because of concern for the environment, recycling is again on the upswing. The nation's composting and recycling rate rose from 7.7% of the waste stream in 1960 to 17% in 1990. It's currently up to around 30%. California is at about 48%.

The Garbage Crisis

The world has changed a lot in the past century. From individually packaged food servings to disposable diapers, more garbage is generated now than ever before. The average American discards seven and a half pounds of garbage every day. This garbage, the solid waste stream, goes mostly to landfills, where it's compacted and buried. As the waste stream continues to grow, so will the pressures on our landfills, our resources, and our environment.

Recycling - An Important Part Of The Solution

The more we recycle, the less garbage winds up in our landfills and incineration plants. By reusing aluminum, paper, glass, plastics, and other materials, we can save production and energy costs, and reduce the negative impacts that the extraction and processing of virgin materials has on the environment.

It all comes back to you. Recycling gets down to one person taking action. New products can be made from your recyclable waste material. Recycling is good for our environment, our communities, and our economy. Visit America Recycles website at www.americarecyclesday.org to learn more about this subject.

Q: What is recycling's greatest economic benefit?

A: In a broad sense, recycling is part of an ethic of resource efficiency – of using products to their fullest potential. When a recycled material, rather than a raw material, is used to make a new product, natural resources and energy are conserved. This is because recycled materials have already been refined and processed once; manufacturing the second time is much cleaner and less energy-intensive than the first. For example, manufacturing with recycled aluminum cans uses 95 percent less energy than creating the same amount of aluminum with bauxite.

Investments in recycling collection support a strong and diverse recycling manufacturing industry, which brings jobs and high wages to states and localities. The collection of recyclable materials is the first - the most critical link in a chain of economic activity. Investment in local collection infrastructure pays great dividends in supporting significant downstream recycling economic activity. Importantly, many of these recycling manufacturers rely on a steady and consistent supply of recyclable materials generated from recycling programs.

California’s investments in recycling collection infrastructure have brought substantial returns in the form of reciprocal investments and job creation by recycling manufacturers. The National Recycling Coalition reports that the recycling industry in California is both diverse and significant. The state hosts 4,342 recycling and reuse establishments that employ over 84,000 people, generate an annual payroll of $2.25 billion, and gross $14.2 billion in annual revenues. In California, for every job in recycling collection there are eight jobs created through manufacturing the recovered material into a new product.

Q: What are the environmental benefits of recycling?

A: It conserves energy, reduces air and water pollution, reduces greenhouse gases, and conserves natural resources.

Stanford recycled, composted, and otherwise source reduced 62% of its waste and reduced landfill by 35%. The results are cleaner air and water, less pollution, more forested land and open space, and reduced greenhouse gases.

Everyone knows recycling means less trash going to our landfills but the greatest environmental benefit of recycling is the conservation of energy and natural resources and the prevention of pollution that is generated when a raw material is used to make a new product.

Recycling at Stanford Conserves Energy

The paper, glass, metals, plastic, and organic material Stanford recycled in 2016 saved a total of about 70,481 million BTUs of energy; enough energy to power nearly 613 homes for one year. Or said another way, conserved 12,131 barrels of oil or 567,3014 gallons of gasoline.

Producing products using recovered rather than raw materials uses significantly less energy which results in less burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas.

Recycling at Stanford Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Stanford’s recycling efforts last year reduced greenhouse gas emissions by about 2447 metric tons of carbon equivalent (MTCE), equivalent to taking 1889 cars off the road per year, conserving 1,009,626 gallons of gasoline or 48 railway cars of coal.

By reducing air and water pollution and saving energy, recycling offers an important environmental benefit: it reduces emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons, that contribute to global climate change.

Recycling at Stanford Conserves Natural Resources

By recycling over 2303 tons of paper last year, Stanford saved 32,115 trees. Stanford reduced the need for 414 tons of iron ore, coal, and limestone by recycling over 288 tons of ferrous scrap metal.

By using recycled materials instead of trees, metal ores, minerals, oil and other raw materials harvested from the earth, recycling-based manufacturing conserves the world's scarce natural resources. This conservation reduces pressure to expand forests cutting and mining operations.

Waste Generation Increases

In 2014, Americans generated about 258 million tons of trash and recycled 66.4 million tons and composted 23 million tons of this material, equivalent to a 34.6 percent recycling rate. On average, we recycled and composted 1.51 pounds of our individual waste generation of 4.44 pounds per person per day.

The state of the economy has a strong impact on consumption and waste generation. Waste generation increases during times of strong economic growth and decreases during times of economic decline. To learn more about waste generation in the US see the US EPA report Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts and Figures.

This data is taken from Stanford University's Recycling and Solid Waste Report 2016 and fed into the US EPA WAste Reduction Model (WARM) .

Q: Can recycling save energy?

A: Yes it can! Here’s some fun facts from CalRecycle to show you how!

If you look at the big picture of what it takes to create a product from scratch -- to get the raw materials, transport them, process them and manufacture them -- making goods with recycled material like paper, plastic, glass, and metal is a major energy saver.

Seattle economist Jeffrey Morris estimated that manufacturing one ton of office and computer paper with recycled paper stock can save nearly 3,000 kilowatt hours over the same ton of paper made with virgin wood products.

A ton of soda cans made with recycled aluminum saves an amazing 21,000 kilowatt hours by reducing the virgin bauxite (bozite) ore that would have to be mined, shipped, and refined. That’s a 95% energy savings.

A ton of PET plastic containers made with recycled plastic conserves about 7,200 kilowatt hours.

The San Diego County Office of Education has figured out that recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100 watt light bulb for four hours.

The Steel Recycling Institute has found that steel recycling saves enough energy to electrically power the equilvalent of 18 million homes for a year.

With all the energy that is saved when we recycle bottles and cans and paper, we should all recycle and buy recycled more often!

Q: How much energy is saved by recycling?

A: The amount of lost energy from throwing away recyclable commodities such as aluminum cans and newspapers is equivalent to the annual output of 15 power plants. The energy savings applies to all recycling sectors:

Aluminum. Recycling of aluminum cans saves 95% of the energy required to make the same amount of aluminum from its virgin source. One ton of recycled aluminum saves 14,000 kilowatt hours (Kwh) of energy, 40 barrels of oil, 130. 152.32 million BTU's of energy, and 10 cubic yards of landfill space.

Newsprint. One ton of recycled newsprint saves 601 Kwh of energy, 1.7 barrels of oil (71 gallons), 10.2 million BTU's of energy, 60 pounds of air pollutants from being released, 7,000 gallons of water, and 4.6 cubic yards of landfill space.

Office Paper. One ton of recycled office paper saves 4,100 Kwh of energy, 9 barrels of oil, 54 million BTU's of energy, 60 pounds of air pollutants from being released, 7,000 gallons of water, and 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space.

Plastic. One ton of recycled plastic saves 5,774 Kwh of energy, 16.3 barrels of oil, 98 million BTU's of energy, and 30 cubic yards of landfill space.

Steel. One ton of recycled steel saves 642 Kwh of energy, 1.8 barrels of oil, 10.9 million BTU's of energy, and 4 cubic yards of landfill space.

Glass. One ton of recycled glass saves 42 Kwh of energy, 0.12 barrels of oil (5 gallons), 714,000 BTU's of energy, 7.5 pounds of air pollutants from being released, and 2 cubic yards of landfill space. Over 30% of the raw material used in glass production now comes from recycled glass.

As you can see, by recycling you are saving energy in addition to conserving resources and reducing pollution!

Source: EPA WARM

Q: How much energy is in a can?

A: Last year alone, recycling bottles and cans saved enough energy to power up to 522,000 homes in California.

Energy drinks are all the rage, and in recent years beverages that invigorate consumers have flooded the marketplace. What many people might not realize is that the same bottles and cans that provide them with energy beverages could actually save the kind of energy needed to power their homes and televisions.

How much energy? In 2004, the 12 billion bottles and cans recycled by Californians saved the equivalent of enough energy to power up to 522,000 homes, according to CalRecycle calculations. It takes 95 percent less energy to make an aluminum can from recycled aluminum than from processing bauxite ore, and glass furnaces can run at lower temperatures when using recycled glass, thereby saving energy and extending equipment life.

To help Californians find the recycling bin instead of the trash can, CalRecycle has some simple tips for bottle and can recycling:

• Own a business or work in an office building, gym, school, restaurant or other location where people dispose of CRV containers? Order a free “Recycling Starter Kit” at www.bottlesandcans.com

• On the go? Hold onto your empty beverage containers until you find a recycling bin. Keep an extra bag or box in your car so that you can collect your beverage containers without having them roll around in your car.

• Throwing a party? Set up a separate bag or box for recyclable beverage containers only. Later, redeem them for cash or put them in your curbside recycling bin.

For more information about this press release and other CRV beverage container recycling related programs, please contact the CalRecycle .

Q: What is the connection between source reduction and reduction in green house gas emissions?

A: Reducing the amount of paper you use is not just being cost-effective, it is taking concrete steps to reduce climate change. More so than any other waste management option - including composting, recycling, and landfilling - source reduction helps turn back the clock on climate change.

What is Source Reduction?

Source reduction, often called waste prevention, is any changes in the design, manufacture, purchase, or use of materials or products (including packaging) to reduce their amount or toxicity before they become municipal solid waste. Source reduction also includes the reuse of products or materials.

Reducing Green House Gas (GHG) Emissions

When a material is source reduced (i.e. less of the material is made), the GHG emissions associated with making the material and managing the post consumer waste are avoided. In addition, when paper products are source reduced, trees that would otherwise be harvested are left standing and continue to grow, removing additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. GHG emissions reductions resulting from source reduction of a variety of common materials are listed in the table.

What Can You Do?

What can the average citizen do to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Besides reducing emissions from fossil fuels through energy and transportation efficiency, we also can help minimize climate impacts through source reduction, reuse, and recycling. This saves energy which translates directly to reduced greenhouse gas emissions. We should all do our share to protect the earth and its atmosphere.

For more information on source reduction visit: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/index.htm .

© Stanford University , Stanford , California 94305 .

benefits of recycling research paper

Take Action to Protect the Future

Benefits of Recycling

how does recycling benefit the environment.

Recycling reduces the use of natural resources by reusing materials:

94% of the natural resources used by Americans are non-renewable. Non-renewable, natural resource use has increased from 59% in 1900 and 88% in 1945.

Recycling saves non-renewable resources. For example, by not recycling paper, 80% more wood will need to be harvested by 2010 to meet growing paper consumption demands. However, through active paper recycling, only 20% more wood will need to be harvested by 2010.

It takes 95% less energy to recycle aluminum than it does to make it from raw materials.

Making products from recyclables results in energy savings. Recycled steel saves 60% production energy, recycled newspaper 40% production energy, recycled plastics 70% production energy, and recycled glass 40% production energy.

Using scrap steel instead of virgin ore to make new steel takes 40% less water and creates 97% less mining waste.

How does recycling benefit the economy?

Incinerating 10,000 tons of waste creates 1 job, while landfilling the same amount creates 6 jobs. Recycling the same 10,000 tons creates 36 jobs!

The National Recycling Coalition reports that recycling has created 1.1 million jobs, $236 billion in gross annual sales, and $37 billion in annual payroll.

By meeting the state's 50% recycling goal, California is expected to create about 45,000 recycling jobs, compared to 20,000 new jobs slated to be created for the manufacturing sector.

Massachusetts employs more than 9,000 people in more than 200 recycling enterprises. About half of these jobs are in the recycling-based manufacturing sector. These businesses represent more than half a billion dollars in value to the state's economy.

Why is recycling important to future generations?

Natural resources are being depleted and landfills are being filled at an increasing rate. Our current system of production, consumption and disposal has become unsustainable. It is imperative for everyone - from individuals to large organizations - to rethink our ideas and our relationship to trash disposal. By reducing the amount of trash produced and reusing existing materials, we can all make a difference by protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, and sustaining the planet for future generations.

Recycling Statistics

The current NIH recycling average as reported to Montgomery County during CY2021 is 75%, which includes both mandatory and additional recyclables.

At the NIH, our average trash disposal for 2021 was 270.71 tons, which is significantly less than the average for 2019.

Revenue from Recyclable Materials

Based on the CY2021 average, the NIH received the following for the value of recyclables on a monthly basis:

This equates to nearly $235,000 in CY2021 for the value of these recyclables. This money helps offset the costs of the recycling program.

Recycling at Home

Are you looking for more information for recycling at home? Each county has different waste procedures. Please check your county's recycling website for proper guidance.

Contact NEMS

We look forward to hearing from you. Reach out to us in an email.

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Wastes - Resource Conservation - Common Wastes & Materials - Paper Recycling

Basic Information Details

This page provides detailed basic information about paper recycling, including:

Benefits of Paper Recycling

Source reduction/lightweighting.

Paper Industry's Recovery Goal

Use of Recovered Paper

The environmental benefits of paper recycling are many. Paper recycling:

Recycling one ton of paper would:

On the other hand, when trees are harvested for papermaking, carbon is released, generally in the form of carbon dioxide. When the rate of carbon absorption exceeds the rate of release, carbon is said to be “sequestered.” This carbon sequestration reduces greenhouse gas concentrations by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Source reduction is the process of reducing the volume or toxicity of waste generated.

One form of source reduction is “lightweighting.” Lightweighting means reducing the weight and/or volume of a package or container, which saves energy and raw materials. As early as 1983, companies manufacturing food service disposables began reducing the weight of plates, bowls, containers, trays and other tableware. Manufacturers of paper food service disposables have been able to source reduce by decreasing the paper stock required to manufacture food service containers and coating the containers with a very thin layer of polyethylene or wax. The coating enables the container to maintain its strength and food-protection functions.

Paper packaging is also a good example of where lightweighting has been achieved. Product manufacturers work with their packaging suppliers to identify the best combination of effective protection for the product using the lightest weight package.

Another way to reduce the amount of paper used is to reduce the margins, whether it is in newspapers, books, or everyday printing. For example, reducing the margins in Microsoft Word from 1.25 inches to 0.75 inch could result in average paper savings of approximately 4.75 percent (1).

For more paper recycling statistics, please visit:

Paper Industry’s Recovery Goal

AF&PA reported that in 1988, about 25 percent of the raw materials used at US paper mills was recovered paper. In 1999, according to AF&PA, that figure rose to 36.3 percent and has remained around 36-37 percent through 2007. More than three quarters of America’s paper mills use recovered fiber to make some or all of their products. Approximately 140 mills use recovered paper exclusively. As a result, virtually all types of paper products contain some recycled fiber. According to AF&PA, the brisk rise in paper recovery is attributable to strong demand overseas for US recovered paper and solid gains in domestic consumption.

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Introduction, section snippets, references (90), cited by (73), recommended articles (6).

Resources, Conservation and Recycling

Full length article exploring environmental benefits of reuse and recycle practices: a circular economy case study of a modular building.

Recent research indicates that circular economy practices have the potential to provide significant environmental benefits. In particular, recycling has been associated with reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. However, in this study, the authors posit that in a building context, environmental benefits of reuse practices could far surpass recycling. To test this, we evaluated the environmental benefits of a prototype and purpose-built, modular building designed for disassembly and reuse through a life cycle assessment of its components. We then compared the results of our life cycle assessment with the results of a contemporary construction approach with a focus on the recyclability of materials. Our results indicate that, compared to recycling, designing and building for reuse components offsets greenhouse gas emissions by 88% while also benefiting several other tested environmental indicators. Our findings help guide the judicious adoption of practices to reduce buildings’ waste production and greenhouse gas emissions.

The practice of taking, using, and disposing products in a linear fashion is common in the building sector (Campbell-Johnston et al., 2019) and is the main cause of material depletion and waste production associated with environmentally unsustainable operations (Brambilla et al., 2019; Jimenez-Rivero and Garcia-Navarro, 2017a). Across most developed countries, around one third of all generated waste originates from the building sector (Eckelman et al., 2018; Martín-Morales et al., 2017). To test the extent to which it is possible to limit the building sector's adverse environmental impact, this study employs a circular economy (CE) approach in this context (Eberhardt et al., 2019b; Jimenez-Rivero and Garcia-Navarro, 2017a; Minunno et al., 2018). We define CE as aiming to increase material efficiency through the adoption of the 3R's: reduce, reuse and recycle (Kirchherr et al., 2017; Lieder and Rashid, 2016; Zaman, 2014).

We hypothesize that a CE of building materials can be achieved through a combination of reuse and recycle practices. We conducted a systematic review of the literature, which revealed that recycling is considered the most applied practice toward a CE (Haas et al., 2015; Kirchherr et al., 2017). However, significant research evidence suggests that recycling is the least beneficial of the 3R's, as some recyclable materials are invariably wasted or contaminated in the process (Jimenez-Rivero and Garcia-Navarro, 2017b; Lawson et al., 2001).

Conversely, components which are designed for disassembly from the outset, enable reuse practices to be optimized at the end of the buildings’ useful life, thereby minimizing demolition waste (Guy et al., 2006; Kibert et al., 2000). Amongst non-structural components, for example, windows can be easily disassembled and reused (Eberhardt et al., 2019a; Krikke et al., 2004; Schultmann and Sunke, 2007). Further, technological innovation fosters the disassemblability of structural components, such as concrete columns, floor systems and roof structures (Brambilla et al., 2019; Eberhardt et al., 2019a). Design for disassembly and reuse is gaining traction despite many obstacles, in particular, the lack of marketability of reuse components and the competitiveness of material recycling (e.g. Akanbi et al. (2019), Hopkinson et al. (2018) and Tingley et al. (2017)). However, little research tests the combined approach of reuse and recycle and how they differentially impact environmental metrics, such as material saving and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (Corona et al., 2019).

To test the environmental benefits of design for disassembly and reuse, we have designed and constructed a modular building, which is called the Legacy Living Lab (L3). Doing so represents an opportunity to foster the application of design for disassembly through prefabrication of building components and modular building technology (Allwood, 2014). Although the LCA method has been applied to a number of other buildings to calculate their environmental impact (Cabeza et al., 2014; Eberhardt et al., 2019b; Guinée et al., 2011), and to investigate the benefits of reusing building components (Eberhardt et al., 2019a; Eckelman et al., 2018), to our knowledge, a comparative assessment of the benefits of reuse over recycle has not been carried out for a whole building.

We posit that, apart from material savings, reusing products and components can lead to improved environmental performance when compared to recycling alone. We test this notion empirically through a life cycle assessment (LCA)—a method commonly applied to calculate the environmental impact of buildings throughout their life cycle (Bribián et al., 2009; Westin et al., 2019)—that measures the greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental indicators of L3’s materials and components. Further, we compare the results with an LCA of the same building assuming that it had been built in a traditional manner, i.e. not designed to be disassembled and reused.

Our objective is to explore the environmental benefits of the following three practices: (1) integration of reused materials in the building's production stage; (2) implementation of adaptable design to eliminate waste during the operation stage; (3) design for disassembly and reuse, which enables components’ second life. Our study explores the environmental benefits of reuse over recycle in the context of a full-scale modular building, using a purposely built prototype. This approach allows us to make a number of practical and theoretical contributions that help offset the building sector's adverse environmental impact.

Methodology

Allwood (2014) refers to the 3R's as a synonym for CE. From this perspective, the 3R's can be considered as a hierarchy of practices, ordered by effectiveness of material saving and environmental benefits. The focus of this paper is the application of reuse and recycle practices. In this paper we consider the underexplored practice of reusing building components, and apply an LCA to a building that has been prototyped with the purpose of studying the feasibility of creating a CE construction.

Life cycle assessment of the L3 designed for disassembly

The L3 was designed for disassembly and reuse. The environmental impact of the circular design of L3 accounts for its materials (as listed above in Table 3), however, the majority of the steel structure was reused from previous buildings (a total of 16 139 kg of steel out of the overall 22 070 kg). We salvaged these structures which otherwise would have been recycled. Other elements, such as carpet tiles or plywood boards for internal finishes, can be completely disassembled and replaced after

Comparison of the L3: circular vs linear design

Fig. 6 illustrates the incremental global warming potential of the circular L3 prototype in comparison with the linear case study building. The overall impact of the circular L3 is 5.4 t CO 2 eq versus 44.5 t CO 2 eq emitted by the linear L3. The environmental benefits of design for disassembly and reuse are apparent from this comparative LCA. The avoidance of recycling, and planning a building that can be reused multiple times resulted in a circular building that impacts much less than its

According to the literature, several barriers stand in the way of applying the 3R's and the circularity of building materials and components. Two of these barriers include monolith building structures (which means that the structures cannot be disassembled), and non-standardized building measures (which means that building components do not align with the design of other buildings). Scholars have applied many strategies to get closer to a CE (e.g. through integrating by-products in construction

Further research

Our research opens up three main future research opportunities. First, although we evaluated the environmental benefits of material reuse, we did not consider the potential reduction of operational energy and water consumption in our case study. Further research should extend our study to empirically assess the benefits of applying strategies that aim to reduce energy (e.g. by integrating socio-technical dynamics such as CO 2 sensor devices to sensitize the household users (Hansen et al., 2019))

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Roberto Minunno: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing - original draft. Timothy O'Grady: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation. Gregory M. Morrison: Conceptualization, Writing - review & editing, Supervision. Richard L. Gruner: Writing - review & editing, Supervision.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge funding from the Australian Research Council's center for Advanced Manufacture of Prefabricated Housing (ARC CAMPH), as well the industry partners and businesses involved in the creation of the Legacy Living Lab. The industry partners are Acoufelt, Armstrong Flooring, BlueScope, Brajkovich Demolition and Salvage, Clipsal by Schneider Electric, Delos, Enware Australia, Fleetwood Australia, Glyde, Gunnersen Timber, Infinite Energy, Intelligent Home, Interface, ITI

Identification of key assessment indicators of the zero waste management systems

Ecol. indic., the steel industry, abiotic resource depletion and life cycle assessment: a real or perceived issue, j. clean. prod., a hybrid data quality indicator and statistical method for improving uncertainty analysis in lca of complex system – application to the whole-building embodied energy analysis, allocation strategies in comparative life cycle assessment for recycling: considerations from casestudies, resour. conserv. recycl., life cycle assessment of buildings: a review, renew. sustain. energy rev., a selective disassembly multi-objective optimization approach for adaptive reuse of buildingcomponents, self compacting concrete from uncontrolled burning of rice husk and blended fine aggregate, mater. des., circular economy for the built environment: a research framework, circular building materials: carbon saving potential and the role of business model innovation and publicpolicy, toward an integrated model of the circular economy: dynamic waste input-output, how do scholars approach the circular economy a systematic literature review, effect of recycled aggregate on physical-mechanical properties and durability of vibro-compacted dry-mixed concrete hollow blocks, construct. build. mater., exploring social dimensions of municipal solid waste management around the globe–a systematic literaturereview, waste manag., towards circular economy implementation: a comprehensive review in context of manufacturing industry, wide-scale utilization of mswi fly ashes in cement production and its impact on average heavy metal contents in cements: the case of austria, conceptualizing the circular economy: an analysis of 114 definitions, development of extruded and fired bricks with steel industry byproduct towards circular economy, j. build. eng., life cycle performance of modular buildings: a critical review, exploring factors influencing post-consumer gypsum recycling and landfilling in the european union, best practices for the management of end-of-life gypsum in a circular economy, environmental life cycle assessment of construction and demolition waste recycling: a case of urbanindia, building impact assessment—a combined life cycle assessment and multi-criteria decision analysisframework, influence of construction material uncertainties on residential building lca reliability, comparative environmental evaluation of aggregate production from recycled waste materials and virgin sources bylca, critical consideration of buildings' environmental impact assessment towards adoption of circular economy: an analytical review, improving the recycling potential of buildings through material passports (mp): an austrian case study, agent-based modelling and socio-technical energy transitions: a systematic literature review, energy res. soc. sci., consequential lca modelling of building refurbishment in new zealand- an evaluation of resource and waste management scenarios, a comprehensive approach to mitigation of embodied carbon in reinforced concrete buildings, construction and demolition waste best management practice in europe, assessment of greenhouse gas emissions of ventilated timber wall constructions based on parametric lca, life cycle energy and environmental benefits of novel design-for-deconstruction structural systems in steelbuildings, build. environ., real and perceived barriers to steel reuse across the uk construction value chain, system boundary for embodied energy in buildings: a conceptual model for definition, a discussion on the reuse of building components in brazil: an analysis of major social, economical and legalfactors, green, circular, bio economy: a comparative analysis of sustainability avenues, reusing exterior wall framing systems: a cradle-to-cradle comparative life cycle assessment, towards sustainable development through the circular economy—a review and critical assessment on current circularity metrics, city level circular transitions: barriers and limits in amsterdam, utrecht and the hague, life cycle assessment (lca) and life cycle energy analysis (lcea) of buildings and the building sector:a review, sustainability assessment of circular building alternatives: consequential lca and lcc for internal wall assemblies as a case study in a belgian context, evaluation of life cycle inventory data for recycling systems, environmental benefits arising from demountable steel-concrete composite floor systems in buildings, the anatomy of a passport for the circular economy: a conceptual definition, vision and structured literature review.

In recent literature, various variants of passports are suggested enhancing the traceability of products and their components to accelerate the integration of the circular economy philosophy into supply chain management. While there has been an increasing research interest in the development of such passports, there is, to the best of our knowledge, no well-formed, common definition and explanation of the concept itself. This also reflects in the various alternative terminology used to indicate this phenomenon (product passport, material passport, resource passport, recycling passport, cradle-to-cradle passport, etc.). A unified understanding of a concept, its components, variables and relationships would however contribute toward more precise communication of research ideas, findings and discussions about such passport development. Using a descriptive research approach, we aim to study this field in order to formalize the concept. This work points out, that many of the passport variants, pursue a similar goal and have similar characteristics and contextual challenges. Based on the similarities and conceptual boundaries identified, we suggest that these passports can best be defined as a digital interface composing a certified identity of a single identifiable product by accessing the set of life cycle registrations linked to this object in order to yield insight into the sustainability and circularity characteristics, the circular value estimation, and the circular opportunities for both that product and its underlying components and materials. This work serves as a basis to better specify the general holistic requirements and architectures for these passports that may be developed collaboratively by multiple supply chain stakeholders.

Combining organizational and product life cycle perspective to explore the environmental benefits of steel slag recovery practices

Sustainability in steel production is considered a global challenge which needs to be faced with coordinated actions. The aim of this study is to assess the environmental improvements of a steel mill in a circular economy perspective, through the Organizational Life Cycle Assessment (O-LCA) and the Product Life Cycle Assessment (P-LCA) methodologies. This study explores to what extent the improvements and the efforts to recover the steel slag can be detected using an organization perspective and making a comparison with the more traditional product perspective.

The results obtained show that the case in which the steel slag is recovered has lower impacts than the case in which it is landfilled through both O-LCA and P-LCA applications and that the percentage variations are similar for 8 categories out of 10 demonstrating that for our case study, O-LCA and P-LCA can detect the efforts to recover slag similarly. Two categories, namely ADP-minerals&metals and EP-freshwater, are affected by the greater amount of metal and mineral raw materials needed if the slag is not treated and by the steel slag landfill disposal more significantly. What the results tell us is that the variations obtained for this study in the P-LCA application are greater than those obtained in O-LCA application, due to two methodological aspects, namely the application of allocation procedures and the choice of the system boundaries. Finally, it emerges that O-LCA methodology can detect environmental improvements of circularity practices, but the reduction of the impacts is less clear than P-LCA application. What is transferable is that O-LCA and P-LCA methodologies are not interchangeable to quantify the environmental benefits and address the efforts to improve a process in terms of circularity.

From demolition to deconstruction of the built environment: A synthesis of the literature

Massive amounts of Construction, Renovation, and Demolition (CRD) waste are produced from the construction sector. Growing needs for the circularity of the construction call for controlling and reducing the stream and amount of CRD waste. To this end, the deconstruction concept has emerged as a more resource-friendly alternative compared to demolition. The transition towards deconstruction requires radical changes in the current practices of design, construction, and operation of the construction industry. The first step of this change is to synthesize the existing body of knowledge in deconstruction and explore the directions and patterns in the related published literature. The present study provides a first in its class bibliometric analysis of deconstruction research from an ‘intermediate’ view, i.e., all aspects related to deconstruction at any phase of the built facility's whole lifecycle. Accordingly, a quantitative analysis of the past seven years of published literature in the area of deconstruction is provided by utilizing a carefully refined set of keywords to assure both diversity and specialty of the collected articles. Three types of networks were formed for the selected literature: co-authorship, citation, and co-occurrence. By overlaying and analyzing the resulting graphs, three main phases with different research trends shaped the deconstruction research, namely, the design phase (‘Architectural Design for Deconstruction (DfD)’ and ‘Structural DfD’), the End-of-Life (EoL) phase (‘Planning for Deconstruction (PfD)’ and ‘Post-deconstruction), and the second life phase (‘Second-life Performance’). The linkages between these trends were analyzed and a novel roadmap for deconstruction research was introduced. Furthermore, the fragilities in the deconstruction body of knowledge were defined and future directions were proposed.

Circular economy adoption barriers in built environment- a case of emerging economy

Built environment consumes vast volumes of natural resources and also poses several environmental threats owing to mining, construction emissions, and waste disposal processes. Thus, it is imperative that the principles of circular economy (CE) be adopted to enable the recirculation of resources back to the construction system. However, in the emerging economies, owing to numerous barriers, the momentum for achieving accountable progress towards CE adoption in the construction sector has not been adequate. This research article aims to understand & examine the factors that obstruct the incorporation of CE in the built environment or the construction sector in India. A total of sixteen barriers hampering the adoption of CE in built environment are identified and categorised under six categories of economic, environmental, technical, societal, governmental, and behavioral barriers. The research uses Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method to analyse the barriers and develop a cause-effect relationship among them. This study reveals that the most predominant barrier to adopting CE in the Indian construction sector is an environmental barrier. The lack of environmentally safe material recovery processes and high operating costs for running a circular supply chain are other significant barriers. Authors further stress on the interdependence of factors and propose appropriate enablers to facilitate CE in built environment. The study's findings are intended to enable policy and decision-makers of the built environment to implement CE effectively.

A statistical analysis of life cycle assessment for buildings and buildings’ refurbishment research

This study aims to examine the literature related to environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for buildings and buildings' refurbishment from 1994 to 2022 by implementing a statistical analysis based on 'Web of Science' databases. LCA is viewed as a consolidated process that measures the environmental performance of buildings and their services, aiming to address the potential environmental impacts over the life cycle of buildings. A total of 1336 retrieved journal publications for LCA for buildings and 169 journal publications for LCA in building refurbishment. The articles' patterns were investigated in terms of subject categories, journals, countries, and the most highly cited articles. The findings reveal that LCA publications for buildings and building refurbishment have increased over the period 1994–2022, with China being the leading country contributing to the largest number of articles and possessing the most significant influence, followed by the USA for LCA in buildings. While Portugal is the leading country, followed by Italy, for LCA Buildings' Refurbishments. 97.08% of the publications were written in English, 2.04% in German, and 0.68% in Spanish. French and Japanese were the remaining languages, each with one publication, accounting for 0.2% of the 1336 building LCA publications. In contrast to refurbishment, LCA publications were written in only two languages, English (98.7%) and German (1.3%). Results show that the subject area differs depending on the type of LCA publication, with building LCA focusing on construction engineering while refurbishment focused on environmental topics. According to the IF, the most influential journal was renewable & sustainable energy for buildings and refurbishment LCA. However, journal distribution within LCA is still limited, and assessment methods and theme analysis still need to catch up with a clear gap in LCA in environmental impact mitigation and analysis methodologies, which will be a prominent direction of future building LCA research.

Investigation on interfacial slipping response of laminated channel beams with bolt connections in modular steel buildings

It is well-known that interfacial slippage is a critical factor for the cooperation of laminated beams in modular steel buildings. However, the slipping behavior of laminated steel channel beams with bolt connections has not been fully understood. In the present study, a series of bending tests using the digital image correlation (DIC) optical measuring method, finite element (FE) parametric study, and theoretical derivation were conducted to investigate the interfacial slip response of laminated channel beams comprehensively. The results showed that the increase in bolt connection number significantly constrained the slipping behavior, while the effect of layer height ratio was comparatively not obvious. Moreover, the nonlinear improvement of anti-slip behavior by adding interfacial bolt connections was observed, which suggested that the appropriate bolt number should be adopted in engineering practice for optimal efficiency. The analytical models provided a reliable assessment for the interfacial slippage, and laid a foundation for further theoretical study on the cooperative bending behavior of laminated channel beams.

Food affordability and nutritional values within the functional unit of a food LCA. An application on regional diets in Spain.

This study assesses the environmental impacts associated with current regional-average diets in Spain, and it evaluates the environmental benefits of adopting a diet based on the National Dietary Guidelines (NDG). To establish a fair method for diets’ comparison among the different regions, a novel functional unit (FU), that considers both the nutritional and the socio-economic dimensions, was developed. Diets in north–western regions have larger impacts due to the high caloric energy and ruminant meat intake, as well as for being less affordable. The adoption of the NDG-based diet can potentially reduce the environmental impacts (GHG emissions, blue water footprint and land use) between 15 and 60% of current regional eating patterns. This study highlights the importance of properly selecting the FU, and integrating the concept of food affordability within the FU in diet LCAs.

Circularity indicator for residential buildings: Addressing the gap between embodied impacts and design aspects

In the European Union, the built environment is responsible for more than the 25% of all waste generated, highlighting the need to adopt circular practices. To indicate the level of circularity, common indicators mainly focus on: 1) the amount of virgin materials, 2) the amount of unrecoverable waste, and 3) the product lifetime. However, a holistic methodology covering the macro (material impact), meso (supply chain) and micro level (design) is still to be fully developed. In this research, two indicators - the Building Circularity Indicator (BCI) and the novel Predictive BCI (PBCI) - combine the Material Circularity Indicator with Embodied Energy (EE), Embodied CO 2 (EC) analyses and Design for Disassembly (DfD) criteria. A full and simplified version are tested for different case studies in different climate zones in the EU. EE ranges between 1.49 GJ / m 2 and 7.60 GJ / m 2 , while EC between 0.15 tCO 2 / m 2 and 0.73 tCO 2 / m 2 . In the full version, the BCI and PBCI ranges respectively from 0.23 and 0.28 to 0.04 and 0.10 with regard to mass, EE and EC. The simplified version ranges between 0.10 and 0.62, revealing to be a more accurate indicator when data are available for only a few dozen components. To enable comparisons among different buildings, results show how different interpretations of the DfD criteria affect the BCI, highlighting the need to indicate strict boundary conditions, a minimum number of evaluated components, and precise criteria on how the DfD criteria relate to either a material, a subcomponent/component, or its relationship to its context.

Uses of building information modelling for overcoming barriers to a circular economy

The current linear economy approach of the construction industry is partly responsible for the environmental impact of the sector. The urgent need to move towards a more circular approach is becoming a priority and concurrently the use of building information modelling (BIM) is now mandated in many countries. However, the use of BIM for the management of a building’ end-of-life is still quite rare. A literature review was conducted to explore the state of the art of BIM uses in the building industry, which included academic sources and non-academic studies. This was followed by 20 semi-structured interviews with experts in the field of architecture and circular economy or BIM. The aim was to explore what would be the BIM uses that may help practitioners to adopt a circular economy approach. Analysis of the data identified 35 BIM uses that may foster the implementation of a circular economy approach. 28 of these were extracted from the literature, of which 19 were reported by the interviewees as having potential for helping with the management of the building’s end-of-life and recovered materials. Seven new BIM uses were identified from analysis of the interview data, which may provide guidance and support for the adoption of the circular economy approach.

Improving the recycling potential of buildings through Material Passports (MP): An Austrian case study

A major fraction of building materials is transformed into waste at the end of a building's life cycle. For sustainability reasons, it is of importance to maintain or recycle urban stocks, and in consequence to minimise the use of primary resources, wherefore a Material Passport (MP) represents an important support-tool. A MP acts as a design optimisation tool, as well as an inventory of all materials embedded in a building and displays the recycling potential and environmental impact of buildings. In this paper, the proof of concept for a MP is demonstrated on a use case, which is a residential building, whereby a variant in timber and a variant in concrete construction are evaluated. Results show that the recycling potential of the concrete variant is better; however, concrete leads to more waste, due to its significantly higher mass in comparison with timber. The comparison of the environmental impact of the variants shows, that the variant in timber has a significantly lower impact to the environment, than the variant in concrete. Results also show that the MP-methodology has large potentials for improving the recyclability of new buildings as well as for making assumptions for upcoming materials through displaying embedded materials of existing buildings.

Critical consideration of buildings' environmental impact assessment towards adoption of circular economy: An analytical review

A rapid development of building environmental research from the globe is witnessed in recent years to deal with the environmental issues, especially in terms of energy consumption and carbon emissions, due to the substantial environmental burdens associated with the building industry. Thus, numerous scientific efforts have been devoted to buildings through environmental assessment like a life cycle assessment (LCA) and a methodological framework development. Concerning the rapid growth of buildings, LCA is increasingly used for assessing and mitigating the associated environmental impacts from material selection to the whole building systems. This study aims to comprehensively review the LCA implication on buildings by discussing the contemporary issues related to the development of this research field. The study considers a wide range of literature including case studies, reviews and surveys, and these articles are critically examined according to the predefined criteria developed. An in-depth analysis is also conducted on selected studies to unveil the criticality of the assessments and results under different considerations. In addition to demonstrating the research gaps for comprehensive assessment of buildings, the adoption of a circular economy (CE) concept is highlighted by providing a comprehensive framework. The findings show that resource recovery and resource-efficient building construction are seldom considered in prevailing studies. As a result, the framework proposed in this paper should help support a paradigm shift towards a comprehensive research for increasing the accuracy and practicability by introducing the CE principle to the building industry for enhancing its sustainability performance.

Life cycle energy and environmental benefits of novel design-for-deconstruction structural systems in steel buildings

Design for Deconstruction (DfD) is a design approach that enables reuse of durable building components, including structural materials, across multiple building projects. An important DfD strategy is the use of pre-fabricated modular building assemblies and reversible connections, in contrast to cast-in-place composite systems that must be demolished at building end-of-life. In this paper we evaluate a novel DfD flooring system consisting of pre-cast concrete planks and clamped connections. Life cycle energy and environmental benefits of using this DfD system are evaluated using life cycle assessment (LCA) across four impact categories of interest to the building and construction sector including fossil fuel use, greenhouse gas emissions, respiratory effects, and photochemical smog formation. Eight different DfD building designs are tested for 0–3 reuses compared with a traditional structural design, with energy and environmental benefits accruing from substitution of avoided structural materials. Designs reflect expected loads and current code requirements, while the additional time required for deconstruction of DfD buildings is accounted for in the construction schedules. Monte Carlo simulation is used to generate 95% confidence intervals for the results. In general, DfD designs result in higher initial (original building) energy use and environmental impacts, but have statistically lower impacts than traditional designs if flooring planks are used at least once. Reusing planks three times as designed decreases impacts by a mean value of of 60–70%, depending on the building configuration and impact category. Energy use and environmental impacts from eventual recycling and/or disposal of the reusable components are significant, and emphasize the relative benefits of reuse over recycling.

Mandatory Recycling Research Paper

Pros and cons of the gatesburggreen initiative.

The GatesburgGoGreen Initiative is a good idea. Americans are currently recycling in many towns and cities across the United States. We all want to improve the environment and save our landfills, but at what cost? I don 't believe we need a new law stating that we have to recycle.

Wasteful America

Reading this essay has made me more aware of how wasteful we all can be. It goes into detail of what we waste and how often. If we know a way we can “waste not” we should make that change and encourage our loved ones to do the same. It starts with us. Take in consideration the time and things used when building your new home, go paperless when given the option and always remember it 's never too late to make a change. This essay was written over 5 years ago and to look at how much is still being wasted is shocking. Things have improved since then but things could also be much better. If we motivate and educate each other to save and not waste as much we began to notice our improvement and maybe even make headlines. The essay “ Waste Not, Want Not” by Bill McKibben was very informative and motivational. It makes you think how many of the things that we are used to are causing harm to our environment. I will definitely be making changes in my lifestyle and motiving the people around me so that we will one day be able to notice

The Pros And Cons Of Chlorofluorocarbon

Long ago, since ancient time humans have been using energy and striving for the betterment of themselves, it all began with the use of tools which led to the discovery of fire, from this great breakthrough, humans evolved exponentially. Eons have passed and humans are still using fire to ease their daily lives from cooking, mobility and electricity, but due to the increase in advancement of technologies, it has also increased damages to the planet, thus the governments had started to move towards a producing or replacing the old harmful substance to a less harmful ones, but since one of the most used and one of the highest cause of ozone depletion is chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), it has been banned from production due to the Montreal Protocol 1991, one of the causes as to why it was banned is one of the chemicals it contain is chlorine, once a certain condition is met it depletes the ozone layer, ergo with earth shield compromised more harmful ultraviolet rays will get into the planet, thus only the reservoir of CFC are being used today, now it’s a race against time to replace this CFC with other materials that is less harmful and either as or more efficient than it.

Texas Recycling Mandatory

What we need to do is recycle more. We need to keep our world clean and not full of trash. Some people just think it is alright to throw their garbage out the window of their car and think that nothing will happen. Well, that 's not true! Animals that see it think of it as food and once they get into it they may get stuck or get cut on the thing that you threw out.

Why Recycling Is Important To America

“Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country” JFK said in a speech . What I would do for the USA, is to help the environment by picking up trash and other items. Here are some more examples, saving water and electricity are the biggest problems. We can also clean up the parks and streets. So to do it, we could have signs to tell people to take care of the earth by recycling. The following are reasons why recycling is important to America; one, so we don 't cut down so many trees, two, it saves energy, three, previous global warming reduces water pollution, and five, it reduces waste. All of this keeps the country a nice place to live, work, play, and make friends. We take advantage of the freedom,

Amazing Grace Kozol Analysis

First, by making the world a better place, we can start by protecting the air we breathe. When cities burn trash, the trash releases fumes that pollute the air and make it hard to breathe. In “Amazing Grace”, Cliffie, while eating a chocolate chip cookie, shows Kozol a waste incinerator “burning ‘red bag’ products, such as amputated limbs...bedding bandages.” (l. 74-76) Cliffe calls these products ‘burning bodies,’ relating to how bad the air is around them thanks to the products being burned and how people get sick and can die from not breathing enough good air. If the cities found a new, cleaner way of disposing of trash, like recycling, then we would have cleaner air for everyone.

Persuasive Speech On Plastic Pollution

Everyday people buy plastic things from the cafeteria, from plastic containers, lids on cups, and things as small as straws, and like 50% of plastic used it will be thrown away after one use. However, do you ever stop and think, what happens to the plastic? If you’re thinking that it just magically goes away you 're wrong. It will most likely end up in a landfill somewhere or in the ocean, and as you may think that your actions do not impact the world, think again. Everyone in the world has at least used one piece of plastic, adding to the problem of plastic pollution and helping certifying the terrifying statisticc that acooording to the 2018 Earth day video, “by 2050 there will more plastic in the ocean than fish”, which almost is impossible to think of. However, if we

Wall-E Environmental Issues

Despite taking place in a space utopia for a large part of the movie, WALL-E sheds a darker undertone of consumerism, human environmental impact, and global catastrophic risk that society should take into consideration in order to prevent a total wasteland scenario. The consumerism in apocalyptic works such as WALL-E reflects that of Earth. The people in WALL-E have accumulated piles and piles of trash due to their greedy wasteful nature. There is so much waste that it even orbits around the earth itself. The people of earth today follow this same pattern as well.

Argumentative Essay On Recycling In The United States

Imagine living in a world where the air is polluted and most people are afraid to step outside their front door, in the near future, this may be reality for Americans. Americans throw out over 200 million tons of garbage a year, yet recycle not nearly as much. Most people do not realize it but recycling is a vital part of America’s society and if Americans do not perform this action, it will backfire on them. People in America are debating whether Americans are recycling enough and correctly. After analyzing the data, one will definitely agree that Americans need to be more educated on recycling due to the fact that most people do not know what happens after they recycle an item, nearly all Americans are recycling incorrectly, and Am

Gatesburg's Argument Against Recycling Laws

Recycling is a great idea for it 's a way to make the environment a better place, im a pro for the no recycling laws for Gatesburg. If the law passed it would criminalize violations of its complicated rules. Why would we want someone to tell us how to live our life or having to be worried about being fined for putting an item in the wrong bin. Yet they want to increase out taxes to pay for the services they think is right. This law proposal requires a radio-freguency identification computer chips to the recycling bins is an invasion of our privacy, it tracks the pounds we throw in there every day and if its over the normal amount summons the trash police to check to see if we threw a recycle item in the trash barrel? Why would we pay more to

Informative Speech On Recycling

II. Statement of Significance: Recycling is critical currently if we need to leave this planet for our who and what is to come. It is useful for nature, since we are making new items from the old items which are of no utilization to us. Recycling starts at home. On the off chance that you are not discarding any of your old item and rather using it for something new, at that point you are recycling. When you consider reusing you should consider the entire thought; reduce, reuse and recycle. We 've been indiscreet so far with the way we 've treated the Earth and it 's an ideal opportunity to change; not only the way we get things done but rather the way we think.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Essay

Nowadays debris is an integral part of humanity life. Mankind thinks about how to make the product easier and cheaper to use, but nobody cares what happens with waste after it was used. We contaminate the environment with every decade increasingly: muddied air and water, global warming are an output of human life. The worst thing is that from such attitude other living beings are dying. Millions of animals and birds cannot withstand such environmental changes; their populations become smaller and, eventually, disappear altogether from the face of the earth. Clumping of debris in the ocean is one of the biggest problems of the world, as it is far from people, no one takes it seriously. So, this research paper is dedicated to such problem as

Persuasive Speech On Recycling

Now we are talking about recycling. So, what actually does recycling means? Turning used materials that are labeled as recyclable over to your local waste facility designated in a disposal container as “recyclable” materials to be taken and reused as material for a new purpose defines recycling . In order to create a new and different product, a recyclable product is turned back into a raw form that can be used. Recycling efforts can significantly reduce additional waste that will not only harm the planet today , but future generations as well. We must make the most to conserve, recycle and reuse whenever possible because the natural resources on our planet earth are limited.

Should People Be Required To Recycle Essay

For instance, recycling saves money for consumers and makes money for others. When it takes less money to create a product, it costs less to buy it. A way that people help themselves id recycling. If a person needs money, they could easily collect recyclables and earn money in that way. Another way recycling helps people is with health. Recycling reduces the rate of pollution, and pollution affects human conditions. As an example, in a landfill, the chemicals that are decomposing are releasing air toxins, harming human's senses. Hydrogen sulfate gases are an example of harmful chemicals, and these gases can cause respiratory problems and irritation in the eyes and nose. When the waste material that could be recycled is burned, that process also releases a whole mass of toxins that people breathe. Finally, recycling helps people in terms of health and

Persuasive Essay On Zero Waste

People tend to consume a lot, when there is consumption, there is waste – and that waste becomes a big problem that needs taken care of, which costs a lot of time, space and resources. If not managed, in turn, the world that we live in will become a hazardous place for all living things. According to the World Bank, people throughout the world, “spend $2.3 trillion a year on food and beverages alone” (Global Consumption Database, 2018), that is quite a lot. In addition to that, the world count mentions that, “we throw out over 50 tons of household waste every second. A number that will double by 2030” (The World Counts, 2018).

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Why Recycling Matters: Essential Short Term & Long Term Benefits
Tania Longeau. Recycling is important. · Keep Toxic Chemicals Out of the Environment · Recycling Creates Jobs · Building Stronger Communities.
The Benefits of Recycling
We need to recycle papers since it helps decrease emissions. These emissions result from the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Therefore, recycling
Frequently Asked Questions: Benefits of Recycling
The more we recycle, the less garbage winds up in our landfills and incineration plants. By reusing aluminum, paper, glass, plastics, and other materials
Environmental Programs Benefits of Recycling
Making products from recyclables results in energy savings. Recycled steel saves 60% production energy, recycled newspaper 40% production energy, recycled
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Recycling one ton of paper would: · Reduces greenhouse gas emissions that can contribute to climate change by avoiding methane emissions and reducing energy
Recycling Economic Information (REI) Report
Recycling also conserves resources and protects the environment. Environmental benefits include reducing the amount of waste sent to
The Economic Benefits of Recycling and Waste Reduction
Recycling is well-known for its environmental benefits, which include resource ... recycling program in place wherein paper, commingled bottles and cans and
Exploring environmental benefits of reuse and recycle practices
According to our results, compared to reuse, recycle allows only 64% of global warming potential savings, 23% in terms of ozone depletion potential, 10% in
The Advantages of Recycling Paper
The advantages of recycling paper include saving energy, water and landfill space. Paper recycling reduces greenhouse gas emissions and the recycled fiber
Mandatory Recycling Research Paper
(rather than burning it) will contribute a lot to help reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases that depletes the ozone layer,” stated in the article, Benefits