SLIDE 1

Did you know that every American college student produces around 640 pounds of trash each year?
This staggering number is sad when you think of the fact that only 5 percent of this is recycled. Hi, my
name is Rebekka and today I’ll be talking about recycling. My group topic is sustainability and my
groupmates are going to inform you about how to be sustainable in the areas of food, transport and
households. According to Cambridge Dictionary, sustainability is the quality of causing little to no
damage to the environment and therefore being able to continue for a long time. Nowadays.
Sustainability is considered to be of vital importance. People are encouraged to reduce and separate
their waste. And this is truly important because climate change is happening this very moment.
Glaciers are melting, and the sea level rises tremendously.

SLIDE 2

So, first. Because, is there a local problem, and what is the local problem? Well, when you google how
to recycle, many websites pop up. I almost immediately notices that all of these websites were from
Western countries like the US and the Netherlands. This means that some countries prioritise
recycling while others do not. I also notices that these websites were from local governments and not
from country governments, which means that there will be a lot of different policies even in one
country, can you imagine how different it will be in the world. It’d be the easiest if everyone had the
same customs and did it… everything the same way. The question is if this is doable.

SLIDE 3

So, the need for sustainability came around after people started to realise the problems they had
created. Since the Industrial Revolution, people started using and burning the natural resources the
earth provided. More and more carbon dioxide was billowed not… billowed into the atmosphere, and
soon enough people started to notice changes. When they started measuring those changes, they
were absolutely shocked. In order to reduce CO2 and because of a lack of natural resources, people
started recycling and we came where we are today. However, we still have a long way to go.

SLIDE 4

So, the statement that recycling is good for the environment can be supported by 3 points of view.
Environment, economics and ethics.

SLIDE 5

So first, the perspective of environment. We need to start handling our lifestyle because if we keep
this up we will need one point seven five earth to sustain us. Since this is not an option, we must
become sustainable and recycling is a part of this. However, recycling is not always that easy. Take the
example of e-waste. E-waste is a popular name for electronic products that are nearing the end of
their useful life. Examples are: cellphones, computers, monitors and much more, as you can see in
the picture. According to Lingen Zhang and his colleague, he is a researcher, e-waste is a problem
because of the elements that are in it. If not recycled properly, these elements are very bad for the
population’s health. Considering the fact that only ten percent of the e-waste is recycled properly, it is
ninety percent of that e-waste, is causes serious environmental pollution and it also jeopardizes
human health.

SLIDE 6
So second of all, recycling is economically beneficial… economically beneficial because if you do not
have to produce new every time you can use products over and over again and this will spare
companies and even countries a lot of money. W. Zhao, he is also a researcher, and his colleague,
focuses on the recycling on construc… of construction and demolition waste, otherwise known as c
and d waste. C and d waste is one of the largest waste flows in the world. In China, the caste study, it
takes up thirty to forty percent of the total urban waste. It consists of many materials like brick,
asphalt, gravel and sand, concrete and limestone. If they recycle all of this, the economical benefits
are huge. Think for example of the nacu… natural aggregates like gravel and sand. This can be used to
prefare… prepare the construction material of buildings, and bricks can be used to lay road
foundations. And also, it’s not here, but wood. New ways are constantly found to recycle wood.

SLIDE 7

So the last perspective it… is an ethical perspective. Because, usually all the Western waste goes to
the third-world countries where it has to be assimilated. This is not very fair, because these people
also deserve a change at a real job without having to deal with our waste which we have to recycle.
It’s also, next to that, very bad for their health. We should recycle out of solidarity with these people.
Just look over here. This man, in a third-world country, he has to recycle all of our waste, while it’s
our problem.

SLIDE 8

So, now that we have um looked at the problem there are also several solutions. For example at the
base of the problem, there are households that can recycle, there are companies that can recycle.
This goes for the easy and the common waste like well plastic and paper. For the lar… for the cases
like e-waste and the larger amounts like c and d waste there should be government policy that’s
helping us out. For example, the government can provide with high-tech machines or machines that
can carry heavy loads, something which you cannot do in a household. A second thing that should
happen is raising awareness for the problem. There can be lectures at primary or secondary schools
and there can also be field days committed to recycling. And the last thing that should happen is that
we should live consciously so that all the other people and all the generations after us can live in a
healthy environment as well.

Thank you for your attention.