The Benefits of Recycling Different Materials
At Yellowsack, one of our main priorities, aside from providing an easy, good quality, reliable service, is to ensure that we recycle as much of the waste we collect as possible. We collect almost all construction and renovation debris apart from treated wood and liquid waste such as paint, oil, gasoline. But we ensure that the waste we collect is kept in use and out of landfills by recycling as much as possible. Find out how different materials are recycled and how that positively impacts the environment, energy, the economy, and job creation.
Paper
The Environmental Protection Agency states that 'In 2018, paper and paperboard (cardboard) materials comprised the most significant component of municipal solid waste (MSW). They based their analysis by classifying items as nondurable goods or containers and packaging. For more information on these classifications, see here. In 2018 EPA reported that 46 million tons of paper and paperboard used in the United States were recycled at a rate of 68.2 percent, the highest of all the municipal solid waste materials. They stated this was a 127 percent increase in the recovery rate since 1990. However, 17.2 million tons of MSW paper and paperboard were dropped into landfills that same year, which accounted for 11.8 percent of MSW landfilled in 2018. That is still an alarming figure that we must reduce. We save energy, reduce greenhouse gasses, and conserve natural resources by recycling. Though we tend to concentrate our efforts on recycling, the 'reduce, reuse, and recycle' mantra should also focus, based on the above figures. If we reduce and reuse more, we will need to recycle less. We could make a significant impact by replacing what we use for single-use products such as coffee cups.
Saving habitats and energy
Paper production accounts for about 35% of felled trees and represents 1.2% of the world's total economic output. According to Bruce G. Marcot, Ph.D. Research Ecologist, 'how many recycled newspapers it takes to save a tree,' is not easily quantifiable because tree sizes vary too much. However, he made a rough estimate that if you save about 15 trees per year (based on 30 families recycling), you save enough habitat for two colonies of Acorn Woodpeckers or half a dozen nests of Brown Creepers; or lots of other creatures.'
“One ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees, 7000 gallons of water and 4,000 kilowatts of energy - enough to power the average American home for six months.”
Though there is debate concerning the actual energy savings realized, we reduce our energy consumption to some level when we recycle paper. The department of Energy Information claims a '40% reduction in energy when paper is recycled versus paper made with the unrecycled pulp. Treehugger reports that one ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees and 7000 gallons of water and saves approximately 4,000 kilowatts of energy - enough to power the average American home for six months. Paper design company Arjowiggins has estimated that 'for every one tonne of 100% recycled paper* purchased instead of non-recycled we save 3,799 kWh electricity, this is enough energy to power a standard light bulb continuously for nearly five years.
Recycling paper
Paper can be recycled and recreated into many other products, with innumerable benefits. Paper left in piles in peoples' homes eventually breaks down and creates methane; the carbon initially absorbed by the tree is kept locked away for longer when we continue to recycle the paper. After a few iterations of recycling, paper fibers become too short, so virgin fiber from sustainably grown trees is introduced.
There are three categories of paper used for the recycling process Mill broke, pre-consumer waste, and post-consumer waste. The first is the unused surplus trimming from paper manufacturers recycled in a paper mill. At the same time, Pre-consumer is paper taken from the paper mill but did not become consumer products. Post-consumer is waste discarded after consumer use, such as old magazines and containers. Before we can recycle this type of paper, it must be de-inked.
Initially, the paper is separated into different types and grades. The paper is washed with soapy water to remove substances like film, glue, ink, and other contaminants. Then the washed paper is transferred to a container mixed with water to create a pulp. The next stage is to press, dry, and roll the pulp into large, thin sheets that can be over 50 miles long. Finally, they are cut and repurposed for newspapers, books, and other paper goods.
Cardboard recycling gives many similar benefits, such as using less water for production, cutting back on emissions, saving space in landfills, and preventing deforestation. Planned Packaging Illinois Corporation reports that recycling one ton of cardboard saves:
17 Trees
7,000 gallons of water
1500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions
64 percent reduction in energy consumption
Some states like Massachusetts have placed bans on trashing cardboard, paper, and non-waxed cardboard, saving money on disposal costs and ensuring a higher recycling rate.
Metal
There are two types of metals that can be recycled: ferrous and non-ferrous. The most significant sources of ferrous metals in municipal solid waste are found in goods such as appliances, furniture, tires, containers, and packaging. Large quantities are also found in construction materials and transportation parts, automobiles, locomotives, and ships, though these are not classed as MSW in the analysis used for this article. Non-ferrous metals include aluminum, brass, titanium, and copper. Recyclable metals come from many sources, including end-of-life vehicles, demolition waste catalytic converters, etc. The EPA reports that. 'By weight, ferrous metals (iron and steel) are the largest category of metals in municipal solid waste (MSW).' They found that in 2018 the U.S. generated 19.2 million tons of ferrous metals 2018 which accounted for 6.6 percent of total MSW generation. The recycling rate for all materials found in appliances was 59.8 percent. In contrast, the recycling rate from metals found in durable goods such as large and small appliances, furniture, and tiles was 4.7 million tons (27.8 percent). That same year landfills received 10.5 million tons of steel.History of the circular model
The circular model is not a new conscept; it was first noted in a book by Kenneth E. Boulding in 1966. Laterly The Ellen Mccarthy Foundation circulated the concept across Europe and the Americas, but three significant events helped with the concept's dissemination. Between 2000 and 2010, the price of raw materials skyrocketed. The Chinese took control of many rare materials, and in 2008 the economic crisis expedited the belief that we should adopt a new economic model.
Recycling metal
Metals are recycled, sorted, and separated by various machines; magnets pull all ferrous metals from the selection because ferrous metals have magnetic properties. After sorting, the metals are often melted down into new materials. It's important to defer as much metal as possible from the landfill because it does not biodegrade quickly, if at all.
There are so many reasons it is beneficial to recycle metal; the creation of virgin metal materials uses far more energy than recycling. From mining the ore to shaping and treating metal for use, a lot of expensive and environmentally damaging energy is used throughout the process, and valuable natural resources are used up. Mining also disrupts wildlife habitats and is much more costly, raising consumer prices for virgin metals. Greenmatters report that recycling also cuts harmful emissions by 300 to 500 million tons, a considerable impact on global warming. And using recycled scrap metal reduces mining waste by 97%, including the diminished use of water in the process. The energy benefits are also significant; reusing scrap metals as material saves 92 percent of energy for aluminum, 90 percent for copper, and 56 percent for steel. And the process of repurposing waste metal is much more efficient. Examples include aluminum, which requires 95% less energy, and copper, which requires 90% less. Metal is an excellent material for recycling; generally, we can recycle it repeatedly. While some metals like aluminum can degrade with each iteration of recycling, most metals can be recycled repeatedly without affecting the quality, which ensures that metal is diverted indefinitely from landfills.
The economic benefits of recycling metal are also significant. The Institute of scrap metal recycling industries reports that 159,640 jobs are directly supported by recycling and brokerage operations of the recycling industry in the United States, paying an average of $77,300 in wages and benefits to American workers and local communities throughout the country. In addition, 346,499 jobs throughout the U.S. economy are indirectly supported by the recycling industry through suppliers and the indirect impact of the industry's expenditures.' Green matters suggest that 'the industry is responsible for creating 36 times more jobs than sending that waste to the incinerator and six times more jobs than sending it to the landfill.' The numbers send a powerful message.
Glass
According to a report in 2019 by C&EN Magazine, Americans dispose of 10 million metric tons of glass annually, with most of it ending up in the trash. So only a third of glass materials are recycled. That isn't down to the material elements being difficult to recycle; we can recycle glass endlessly with no loss of quality. And it's also not down to lack of technical knowledge. In 2018 EPA reported that 'the total amount of combusted glass in 2018 was 1.6 million tons, this was 4.8 percent of all MSW combustion with energy recovery that year. And in the same year, landfills received approximately 7.6 million tons of MSW glass; this was 5.2 percent of all MSW landfilled that year. By 2019 the recycling rate in the U.S. stood at around 33%. This figure is alarmingly low.
C&EN say a few factors contribute to this low recycling rate: a combination of lack of quality and availability of cullet coupled with the economics of making glass. Government policies, consumer knowledge, and habits also play a role. Most glass is manufactured using new and crushed recycled glass (cullet), so repurposed material is needed. Cullet is created by mixing crushed bottles and jars from recycling plants with sand, limestone, and other raw materials to produce molten glass.
Recycling glass
Glass is recycled by removing it from other materials at a sorting plant. Regular glass items are removed using air suction; the glass is then sorted into different colors by lazers and then crushed into small pieces called cullet. The cullet is sent to special suppliers who clean it and prepare it for the glass manufacturers. The cullet is then melted down in a furnace at over 1500 degrees Celcius, and essential ingredients are added. Liquid glass is then divided into gobs which can be blown or pressed into new bottles and jars.
Single stream recycling is the process of putting mixed debris through a sorting system that is a combination of manual and automated processes. Municipalities often adopt and prefer this system due to its cheap collection and operational costs. It is also easier than multi-stream (where consumers) manually separate themselves ready for collection. The problem is that single-stream often yields unsatisfactory cullet.
The benefits of recycling glass reflect many of the other materials discussed above. We use significant energy and disrupt environments by mining natural resources for glass-making. The key ingredients include sand, sodium carbonate, and limestone; one kilogram of cullet replaces 1.2 kg of raw materials. We save 3% of the energy needed to produce glass when using 10% of the cullet in the mixture and improve the quality of the product. Glass made with the cullet requires lower furnace temperatures that inevitably extend furnaces' lives while reducing operational costs; this reflects in the final product, keeping costs lower saving consumers money. According to C&EN, the production of glass comprising of 10% cullet reduces c02 emissions by approximately 5%.
Claudio Schwartz
Plastic
Plastics contribute massively to landfills, and plastic is one of the worst materials in landfills because it is non-biodegradable and can take 500-1,000 years to break down. It never really completely breaks down, instead becoming smaller and smaller pieces called nano-plastics that travel through the wind and end up on our land, beaches, in the sea, and our drinking water. We also use plastic for many single-use items such as coffee cups and lids and water bottles, so recycling as much as possible is essential. Currently, only 9% of waste plastic is recycled, with the remaining 79% ending up in landfills or the environment.
Recycling plastic
Collection - Initially, plastics are collected by the local collection service or a waste handling contractor, and it is then taken to material recovery, plastic recovery facility, or recycling center. The more collected plastic suitable for recycling, the more material can be reprocessed and repurposed into new products.
Sorting - Stage two of sorting plastics from other materials involves sorting the plastics from other materials at the material recovery facility and Plastic recovery facility that sorts the materials into different types of plastics. Conveyor belts are used to maintain a consistent flow as the waste passes through the facility, and a series of varying sorting techniques separate the materials for further processing. The following are some methods used, which vary depending on the facility:
Manual picking: Sorting by hand. Oversized items non-recyclable and contaminated items are removed and sent for further processing or disposal.
Trommels: Non-recyclables are fed into cylindrical drums called trommels with holes for small materials to fall through.
OCC screens: Separate old corrugated cardboard from mixed recyclables bypassing materials over a rotating disc, cardboard travels across the top of the screen, and other materials fall through the rotating discs.
Ballistic separators: Use two oscillating paddles to move rigid waste items to one end and flexible waste items to the other end. Other items like glass and finer items fall through the mesh. Rigid items can be bottles, containers, or cans, while the flexibles may be paper, cards, newspapers, and plastic wrapping.
Magnet Separator: Next, a magnet removes metal items as the waste travels down conveyor belts.
Eddy currents: Remove non-ferrous metals like aluminum and copper from non-metallic material. Non-ferrous metals pass over a shell that creates currents that cause a metallic field to repel them away from the magnet so that non-ferrous and non-metallic metals are separated.
Optic Sorting Machine: Next, we come to the optic sorting machine essential for sorting different types of plastics. The optic sorting machine identifies the different types of plastics by measuring absorbancies of light through the plastics using near-infrared measurements. Jets of air then separate the different plastic types.
Sink-float Separator: Another plastic separation method is a sink-float separator where high and low-density plastics float or sink, dependent on weight.
Reprocessing: Next, the plastics are transferred to a plastics reprocessor.
Further sorting for quality control.
Many plants will sort plastic materials further to remove any remaining contaminated materials.
Washing: Plastics are then washed to remove adhesives and residual waste. The plastics need to be as clean as possible, so cleaning your recycled materials can help with this process and ensure that as many of your plastic items make it through the recycling process. Friction heaters are used to wash off contaminants, and Rotary washers use a caustic solution to remove oils and food.
Shredding / Grinding – Plastic products are ground into smaller pieces
Shredding and grinding: Plastic is then shredded or ground into smaller flakes and different classifications depending on the shredder.
Extrusion: Extrusion is the final stage of plastic recycling, whereby plastic is melted down and forced through an extruder and cut into pellets sold to plastics manufacturers.
By recycling plastics and developing ways to reuse and cleverly redesign existing plastic materials, we can start to make an impact against one of the most harmful materials we use. We must develop a circular approach to the plastics problem to benefit our environment, economy, job creation, and health.
Many of today's construction business models have inefficiencies that place a further financial burden upon businesses. This is further impacted by global challenges like the pandemic that affect supply chains and project timelines. Increasing the use of assets and maximizing the long-term value of a building's materials and use of space adds significant value both economically and for timescales.
Wood
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations explained that forests make up only 31% of the world's surface; this is a relatively small percentage, one we need to protect. They reported that the rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million hectares per year between 2015 and 2020. Wood recycling is imperative to reduce this number by limiting the demand for virgin timber and reducing wood to landfills. Wood is technically biodegradable, but it is a lengthy process for large pieces to break down. It is therefore essential to find ways to recycle and repurpose the wood.
The Environmental protection agency reported that in 2018 18.1 million tons of wood were generated as MSW. In the same year, wood pallet (used for mulch or bedding, excluding wood combusted for fuel) was at 3.1 million tons for a 17.1 % recycling rate. 2.* million tons if wood in MSW was combusted that year, 8.2 percent MSW combusted for energy recovery. Landfills that year received 12.2 million tons of wood, which was 8.3 percent of MSW.
Wood can be recycled, but it needs to be taken to a specialist facility to be graded and sorted. Untreated, clean wood is much easier to recycle, whereas treated and contaminated wood makes recycling difficult. Materials like paint, stains, metals, and plastics degrade the timber, but qualified recycling plants can remove many of these.
As consumers and in business we take, make, and we dispose - eating into a finite supply of resources - this is obviously unsustainable. Industries need to ask how they can change the model from linear to circular by disassembling and regenerating, recycling valuable materials, and turning waste into capital. It makes commercial sense to make the goods of today the resources of tomorrow. Let's consider how we design, produce and consume. For instance, we could license products instead of buying them, with the eventual aim of returning them to their manufacturers where their biological components can be used for renewable energy. With different modes of design, processes and ideas like these, we have some chance of changing the model. The circular economy must span all manufacturers and areas of business. By keeping products and materials in use, farming as close to nature as possible, repurposing, and making a profit out of waste, we can create long-term sustainable models that will ensure continued viability for business while protecting our planet and our future.
How wood is recycled
Recycling wood involves several processes. Stage one, the waste wood is sorted into grades listed A-D, which is done by the level of wood contamination. Grades are as follows:
Grade A – clean, untreated wood.
Grade B – grade A alongside wood from construction and demolition sites.
Grade C – may contain A and B and panel products like MDF and plywood.
Grade D – hazardous waste wood from fencing and railways, as well as any timber that may contain copper, chrome, arsenic, or creosote.
Once the wood has been graded and separated, it is sent for primary shredding. Afterward, the wood chips are further refined using magnets to remove any metal contaminants. The wood is then processed into panel board, shredded further, or used for burning.
What is recycled wood used for?
Recycled wood is used for many different applications such as:
Landscape surfaces: Mulches and ground covering for gardens, horse tracks, play areas, and pathways.
Animal bedding: Horses, cattle, commercial and domestic poultry, etc.
Biomass-chipped wood is burned at special biomass facilities to create chiefly carbon-neutral energy.
Panelboard: Shedded wood is used to create sheet materials such as plywood, particleboard chipboard, OSB, and MDF.
Much of the recycled wood is used as biomass fuel at about 65%, Panelboard makes up 26%, and 9% is used for animal bedding or landscaping.
The benefits of recycling wood
As a business, if you are dealing with wood, your waste management has a significant impact on the environment by reducing the need for virgin materials and reliance on waste in landfills. As the proportion of forest areas is tiny, we must do all we can to preserve them. Trees take many years to mature, so recycling and repurposing wood is the best option to help maintain our forests. If your business limits the amount of wood directly to landfills, you save significant money on landfill taxes.
Below are six benefits for recycling wood:
Reduced landfill
Reduced landfills - these places are destructive to the environment and air and water pollution.
Reduced spend on material processing
Manufacturers save money by using recycled materials. Virgin materials use much more energy to extract and process. For instance, paper made from recycled materials uses 40% less energy (Recycling Bristol).
Save trees
Trees take time to grow and reach maturity, and there are still not sufficient sustainable forests to support all products made purely from virgin wood. More trees mean less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and contribute to higher oxygen levels, more habitats for wildlife, and healthier ecosystems.
Fire risk
Construction projects must be carefully planned and managed for a smooth project, and this includes keeping piles of raw, unused materials to a minimum to avoid fire risk.
Many uses
It is possible to recycle and repurpose wood into many materials for various uses. It is a versatile material that requires less processing and treatment, so it should be recycled wherever possible. Old wood can be easily repurposed for many different areas of your project.
New opportunities
Customers and accrediting bodies alike praise companies that actively promote eco-friendly principles. So ensuring that as much of the materials used are either repurposed or recycled will only attract more custom from conscious consumers looking to support businesses that aim to be sustainable.
It is possible to recycle and repurpose so many of the materials we use in construction and renovation projects and items around our homes. However, many feel that separating and adding recycling to infrastructure is time-consuming, the benefits businesses, our environment, wildlife, and our economy. It is imperative to our business and our planet that we strive to push the recycling rates higher and the landfill rates lower. Many customers will choose your service based on your stance on environmental issues, so it is essential to promote your ethos and work with suppliers and other partners that share your vision for a better future.
At Yellowsack, we work with some of the best recycling companies to deliver our waste for sorting and repurposing. And we also pride ourselves on partnerships with companies like United Dwelling and Redhorse, who share our environmental aims. By choosing our service, you can quickly and easily source separate waste with dumpster bags in two sizes. And you can be sure that we will endeavor to have as many of your waste items recycled or repurposed as possible. We are happy to facilitate sustainable waste handling for your company; you know your waste will go to good use with our service. Together we move.
Sources: PAPER: Arjowiggins https://recycled-papers.co.uk/green-matters/why-use-recycled-papers/using-less-energy , Planned Packaging Illinois Corp: https://www.ppoic.com, RECYCLING PROCESS: https://www.recycle-more.co.uk/recycling/paper/paper-recycling-process, TREEHUGGER: https://www.treehugger.com/the-benefits-of-paper-recycling-1204139, GREEN MATTERS: https://www.greenmatters.com/p/why-is-it-important-to-recycle, How Much recycling will save a tree: https://web.archive.org/web/20071013143706/http://spiritone.com/~brucem/savetree.htm, EPA: https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/paper-and-paperboard-material-specific-data, For more information about the definitions of paper goods see the EPA website here: https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/nondurable-goods-product-specific-data, https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/containers-and-packaging-product-specific-data, METALS: https://www.slrecyclingltd.co.uk/why-is-it-important-to-recycle-metal/, https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/ferrous-metals-material-specific-data, GREEN MATTERS: https://www.greenmatters.com/p/why-is-it-important-to-recycle, GLASS: C&EN, https://cen.acs.org/materials/inorganic-chemistry/glass-recycling-US-broken/97/i6, PLASTICS: https://www.bpf.co.uk/plastipedia/sustainability/how-is-plastic-recycled-a-step-by-step-guide-to-recycling.aspx, https://www.recyclenow.com/recycling-knowledge/how-is-it-recycled/plastics, WOOD: https://www.recyclingbristol.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-wood-recycling/, The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (https://www.fao.org/state-of-forests/en/), 6 Benefits Recycling Bristol: https://www.recyclingbristol.com/6-benefits-of-recycling-wood/
