Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Plastic recycling: good for the environment and for the wallet

When plastic is recycled instead of thrown away, there are both economic and environmental benefits to be gained. Recycling plastic involves producing new, reusable items from plastic waste. The many benefits include:
Saving landfill space:
Every year tons of plastic waste is dumped into landfills. This waste can take up to 700 years to decompose; meanwhile, it’s just taking up space, not adding any value. If plastic waste is instead recycled, it can be converted into a valuable resource.

Conserving resources:
The production of fresh material consumes large quantities of natural resources. These resources can be conserved if waste recycling is promoted. This would reduce the burden on the Earth and would certainly lead to a more sustainable planet.

Durability:
Various items such as furniture, drainage pipes, plastic lumber, garden hose, and speed bumps produced from plastic waste are quite durable, and require a little or no maintenance for a long time. They also don’t need to be replaced very often. This in turn saves the money that would otherwise be spent in buying replacements.

Safe to use:
Products manufactured from recycled plastics are very safe to use. At times, they are superior to the products manufactured from traditional materials. Let’s take the example of recycled plastic furniture: it does not face problems such as rusting or splintering that comes with wood or iron.

Versatility:
Plastic recycling produces a large variety of products such as bottles, bins, tiles, pipes, cables, insulation, cartons, scrapers, and furniture.

Saves Power:
The process of producing products from recycled plastic requires lesser energy than those produced from fresh plastic. This reduces the burden on fossil fuels. That means lesser fossil fuels such as coal, and oil that are used to produce the same product.

Generates job opportunities:
The process of plastic recycling requires various workers in various roles, especially during the collection and sorting stages. This creates job opportunities and provides a living to many people.

Reduces pollution and emission of greenhouse gases:
The manufacturing of any product is often accompanied with air, water, land and noise pollution. It also releases large amounts of greenhouse gases. In addition, whenever plastic waste is incinerated noxious gases and chlorofluorocarbons are released into the air. The production of products made from recycled waste helps reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

For these and many other reasons, plastic recycling should be highly encouraged -- it is beneficial for each and every one of us.

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