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1
SmartRecycling
ByRexA.Crouch
Copyrighted©byRexA.Crouch2009
 
2PrefaceOurstuff,thethingswewant,need,anduseonadailybasis.Wheredoesitallcomefrom?Partofsmartrecyclingisunderstandingtheresourcesweuse,howwegetthem,andhowweprocessthem.Everythingweuseiseithergrown,ormined.Theseareourresources—grownorextracted.Someoftheseresourcesarerenewable,andsomearenot.Somearerecyclable,andotherscan’tbeusedagain.DevelopingascientificfoundationforthenonscientistsSmartrecyclingbeginsbyknowingwhereourresourcescomefrom,howmuchenergyweexpendonextractingthoseresources,howmuchenergyisspentontherefinementoftheresourcetomakeitusable,andfinally,whentheproductisexpended,themostefficientwaytorecycletheresource.Withthisknowledgebase,theconceptofresourcelifecycleisintroduced.Acycleinwhichtheresourceisrecovered,developed,used,andrecoveredagain.
 
3Metalisanessentialpartofautomobiles,trains,planes,appliances,electronics,nails,satellites,medicalequipment,buildings,windmachines,powergeneration,communications,coathangers,Internet,plumbing,andhouseholdwiringjustforstarters.Thereareavarietyofdifferenttypesofmetal,andthroughmetallurgicalpractices,wehavedevelopedevenmoremetalsforspecializedpurposes.Let’sstartwithiron.Whenouroceanswerefirstformedabout4billionyearsago,thewaterswereinundatedwithiron.Ifwecouldhaveseenthisearlyearth,theoceansprobablyappearedasarustcolor,andwedidn’thaveanoxygenatedatmosphere,butratherveryhighcarbondioxide(CO
2
)contents.CO
2
isonecarbonatombondedwithtwooxygenatoms.Theearliestlifethrivedinthishostileenvironment.AnorganismcalledaStromatolite,aphotosyntheticcyanobacteria,developedinthePrecambrian,anddevelopedameansofliberatingtheoxygenfromthecarbonintheCO
2
molecule.Thiswasadisaster,forsome,astheoxygenwaspoisonoustothem.ButthedevelopmentofoxygenresultedintheCambrianexplosionoflifeonEarth.Whentheoxygenwasliberated,itinitiallybondedwithironatomsthatinundatedthewaters.Theperiodicsymbolforironatomis(Fe).Atthispointwehaveidentifiedoneelementasbeinganatom.Whentwoormoreelementsbond,theyarereferredtoasmolecules.Astheoxygenbondedwiththeiron,itdevelopedintotwoprimarytypesofmoleculesbeingMagnetite(FE
3
O
4
),andHematite(Fe
2
O
3
).Magnetite
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