Assignment:
Recycling journal
The wholesale corporation of Costco is a membership club in America which deals with a large selection of merchandise. Statistics in 2014 revealed that it was the third largest retailer in the United States and 2015, the second largest in the world and the largest warehouse membership club in the United States. It is headquartered in the Washington, United States and currently boosts of over 1000 warehouses.
The population of the area which is Washington according to a 2015 estimate is 672,228 which rank at position 22 according to 2014 estimate of incorporated places. If everyone in the community recycled as much trash as I did for a period of one week, the total garbage that could be collected in the area is 20*672,228= 13444560. The amount of trash that could be saved by the community in a year is 5*672,228= 3361140*52=174779280.
Though the amount that is recycled in a year could be scaled much further, the amount that is recycled is sufficient for now bearing in mind that there are numerous efforts that have been initiated by the community to recycle trash. The United States government can place more importance on recycling through the following ways. Putting the facilities in the right place such as recycling centers, the various materials and facilities for recovery, efficient bins for segregation and garbage collection will go a long way in making it easier for the public to reach them.
The other way is through proper research and development of the methods and facilities that are to be used in order to foster the continued improvement of the recycling process (Gillespie, 2015). The other way is through education which must be given to the people and also proper information after the placement of the facilities. The government must take initiatives to administer lessons to all schools on segregation, recycling and other important campaigns that will encourage the present generations and future generations to embrace the recycling activities.
Recycling is a pivotal part of our daily lives as it plays a huge role in the maintenance of our environment. This is primarily because it reduces the amount of garbage that is dumped in landfills which at most times contain a huge amount of garbage and takes other more every day. Recycling can go a long way in reducing this problem.
The issue of recycling will save the manufacturers a huge cost that is incurred when creating new materials. This is because of the apparent fact that it will not be important to continue creating new products if we can recycle products since it also leads to better products (McKenzie-Mohr, 1996). It is therefore imperative to guard our resources since they will of a huge importance to future generations. The products made from raw materials are less costly and they also aid in the preservation of the environment.
How recycled material is reused
Recycling is a process that mainly involves three steps which are represented by a familiar symbol of recycling. They include the following; the collection and processing of recycled materials, the manufacture of these materials and finally the purchasing of new products that are made from recycled materials.
What happens to recycled cans, bottles and newspapers after they go to the recycling bins
Newspapers
The recycling of the newspapers mainly begins after it is set aside from the household garbage and thereafter placed in a drop-off depot and a bin. This also happens when you participate in a paper drive but regardless of the method used, the basic process of recycling is determined by the recycling collector. For instance at the curbside, it may be determined by the garbage hauler or the service of recycling which is working together with the garbage hauler.
This collector attaches the newspapers with other household paper, which is later sold to a dealer of papers. This is primarily because of the amount of materials which are purchased and often works outside the warehouse storage. The dealer then sells the paper quantities to the dealer and this is basically where the actual recycling takes place or rather the manufacture of one product into another product.
Old newspapers are a primary necessity in the process of manufacturing papers, but since the paper mills are usually concerned with both the quantity and quality of supply; such as cleanliness and the types of paper, the contracts of purchase are mainly issued to dealers as opposed to the purchase of small amounts of paper from the public.
There are those contracts that can be for while others are ongoing. At the paper mill, the facility that is used to separate the ink from the newspaper is mainly known as de-inking which separates it through a chemical washing process (Williams, 2013). The newsprint is finally trimmed, rolled and finally sent to the respective plants for printing the news that will make headlines tomorrow.
Tin cans
To prepare the tin cans for collection, the tops and the bottoms should be removed and then the cans flattened. When the cans are flattened, the curbside collector is able to load more into the trucks which saves the time it takes for collection. After the cans are collected on-route the type of transportation will determine whether or not it will be delivered through the dealer or through a plant of detinning. A solution for chemical detinning is used for helping to drain out the cans which help the tin to recover more effectively during the reclaiming process.
This process is mainly made of particular electrical and chemical steps that are used to recover, separate and purify the tin and the steel. During the batch process of detinning, the cans are first loaded into the steel drums which are perforated and later dipped into the chemical solution which dissolves the tin from the steel. These steels are later baled, drained and rinsed into equal squares and later sold to the steel mills which are made into new products. Finally the liquid that is contained in the tin which is known as sodium stannate is filtered and the scraps of garbage and paper removed.
The impact that I have on the creation of renewed resources from the recycled items is that it will help in saving cost. In addition, it will also help in the conservation of the environment (Gillespie, 2015). The health of the citizens will also be improved by a great deal since trash will be reduced by a significant margin which will consequently impact positively to the health environment where these individuals live. By saving cost, manufacturing companies will be able to invest their money in other more important ventures that will rake in more revenues and consequently more profits.
References
Gillespie, A. (2015). Waste policy: International regulation, comparative and contextual perspectives. New York, NY: Edward Elgar Publishing.
McKenzie-Mohr, D. (1996). Promoting a sustainable future: An introduction to Community-based social marketing. New York, NY: National Round Table.
Williams, P. T. (2013). Waste treatment and disposal. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.