Recycling Essay, Research Paper

There are many ways we can conserve our resources, but one of the major ways is recycling. In an encycopedia recycling is defined as “the recovery and reprocessing of waste materials for use of new products.” Websters dictonary defines recycling as “a process (as liquid bodywaste, glass or cans) in order to regain material for human use.” There is actually two broad types of recycling, internal and external. Internal recycling is the reuse in a manufacturing process of materials that are a waste product of that process. External which is most comonly is the reclaiming of materials from a product that has been worn out or rendered obsolete. An example of this is old newspapers, magazines, paper products.

Typical materials which are recycled include iron and steel scrap, aluminum cans, glass bottles, paper, wood and plastics. These basic items are found in the home everyday and many people don’t recycle them. In the united States, more than 150 million tons of wastes are generated each year. This amounts to about 3 pounds of waste per person per day. Americans only recycle about 25% of there waste every year but the number is growing.

Now that it’s understood what can be recycled, and the question is how can we recycle? The basic phases in recycling are the “collection of waste materials, their processing or manufacture into new products, and the purchase of those products, which may then themselves be recycled.” This process has many postive effects for the environment. For example recycling helps us reduce quantities of sold waste that is deposited in our landfills. It also reduces the pollution of air, water and land resulting from work disposal.