Chapter Two- Literature Review

2.1. The Concept of recycling

Recycling is a part of our everyday lives – but do you know how it all started? Although the
recycling process as we know it only began about 40 years ago, the concept of reusing
materials has been around for thousands of years.
In 1031 A.D., the first evidence of recycling was recorded. The Japanese shredded their old
documents and records, and remade them into new sheets of paper; selling them through
mom-and-pop stores around the country. The first recorded use of recycled paper was in 9 th
century Japan . Ancient Japanese people began recycling paper almost as soon as they
learned how to produce it and recycling became part of paper production and consumption.
Japanese culture generally treats recycled paper as being more precious than new and the
recycled paper was often used in paintings and poetry. In the 12 century, a case was
recorded of an emperor’s wife: after the emperor died, she recycled all the poems and
letters she received from him and wrote a sutra on the recycled paper to wish peace upon
his soul.
The idea of waste before the industrial revolution was very different than our current idea
of waste. Waste only included organics; wood, ash, textiles, and food waste. Fabrics, broken
tools, pottery, and furniture was repaired and repurposed as many times as possible. There
was always an alternate use for an item – tattered clothing could be remade into rags, and
broken pottery could be remade into new pottery (think mosaic-style). The idea that
something was broken and therefore garbage is a new-school idea, as a result of our
consumer society.
Throwing trash into the streets worked for a few centuries until it proved to be a hazard in
the middle ages. The decomposing trash lining the streets attracted rats, which aided in
spreading the bubonic plague which killed an estimated 25 million people.
In 1354, King Edward III implemented ‘rakers’; people who were hired to remove trash from
the streets on a weekly basis. These rakers brought the waste to the Thames River to dump
it.
In 1388, Britain outlawed the disposal of waste in public waterways and ditches.
Fast forward to 1864, health officials in Tennessee were made aware of the correlation
between the Yellow Fever epidemic and the garbage rotting around the public streets. The
public was then urged to take their garbage to designated spots on the outskirts of town –
similar to current day landfills.
At this point, waste disposal was less about being sustainable and more about lowering the
health risks to the public. The majority of the waste in these days was still organic, as plastic
and excessive packaging had yet to be created and mass produced.
In 1897, New York City opened one of the first Material Recovery Facilities. Valuable
materials from the trash were brought here, sorted, and then reused by the public. In-
demand materials of the day included rubber, burlap, and even horse hair.
So from here, what exactly is recycling in the modern day:
According to Imran (2018), Recycling is the procedure of separating, collecting and
remanufacturing waste or used items into new material. The recycling procedure includes a
progression of venture to deliver new items. Recycling broadens the life and value of
something that has just filled its underlying need by delivering something that is usable.
Recycling has a considerable measure of advantages and significance to people as well as
our planet.
For centuries man has strived tremendously to make things easier, without which life
would've been such a mess. Recycling is one of the many ways by which life on earth is
made bearable.
When the things that are wasted and thrown away are processed and then put to reuse, the
phenomenon is known as recycling. Ability to recycle is the best kind of mercy that nature
has ever had on our environment. Without it, we all would be surviving in landfills and
incinerators and the world would've been a hub of pollution and diseases, so much so that
there would be time when there wouldn't be any safe place to live on earth with more
garbage and less people in any given locality. But now when industrialization has brought to
the environment mess and pollutants, it has also acquired ways to recycle which in turn
have controlled the pollution caused by the industries.
Since processed products like plastics, metals etc. are reprocessed, they don't have to go
through the manufacturing process all over again, which as a result saves raw materials and
energy and prevents pollution. No smoke and land and sea waste is produced because no
manufacturing takes place and the polluting extraction process of raw materials is omitted
as well from the production process. It's like we have the processed product in hand which
causes harm to the environment only for once and all during the production cycle.
Afterwards it will be of the same utility to the public and it will drive the same profits and
benefits without having to be reproduced ever again but there is just the need to reprocess
it which hardly causes any pollution.
The economy would suffer unemployment had not there been recycling. This is because the
waste management process requires hundreds and thousands of dollars which would lead
any industry to economic depression. Today we're saving money and at the same time
investing much lesson employing personnel and workers to conduct recycling activities.
Due to recycling, people are encouraged not to litter. Dustbins and garbage cans are placed
everywhere with the recycling sign (chasing arrow symbol). From trash, the recyclable stuff
is picked and reprocessed.

2.2. the 3R’s of Recycling

It makes a big difference to recycle. It makes a big difference to use recycled products. It
makes a big difference to reuse things, to not use the paper cup – and each time you do,
that’s a victory. ~ Emily Deschanel
THE 3R INITIATIVE
The 3R Initiative aims to promote (reduce, reuse and recycle) globally so as to build a sound-
material-cycle society through the effective use of resources and materials. This was agreed
upon at the G8 Sea Island Summit in June 2004 as a new G8 initiative.
Recycling is a key component of modern waste reduction and is the third component of the
waste hierarchy. It promotes environmental sustainability by removing raw material input
and redirecting waste output in the economic system.
Recycling means the use of waste itself as resources. Waste minimization can be achieved in
an efficient way by focusing primarily on the 3Rs, and then by doing our part. One of the
ways to put that plan into action is through the 3 Rs of waste management
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
1. Reduce means to cut back on the amount of trash we generate.
2. Reuse means to find new ways to use things that otherwise would have been thrown out.
3. Recycle means to turn something old and useless (like plastic milk jugs) into something
new and useful (like picnic benches, playground equipment and recycling bins).
 Learn to Reduce
You could pack your food in a lunchbox instead of plastic containers or disposable
containers
 Learn how to reuse
Find a new use for an old item. When it’s time to throw something out, think about other
possible ways to use it. Glass jars, for example, can become storage for your crafting area or
shop. Old bath towels can be cut up and used as wash rags. Plastic pop bottles take on a
new life as bird feeders. Make a woven basket or tray out of old magazines. And the
toothbrush you’re replacing is the perfect scrub brush for hard-to-reach areas.
 Learn how to Recycle
Newspaper is one of the easiest-to-recycle and most-recycled materials. Yesterday’s news
gets turned into egg cartons, building insulation, paper plates, kitty litter, construction
paper, phone books, sheetrock and new newspaper.

2.3. Benefits of Recycling

1. Conserving natural resources
The world's natural resources are finite, and some are in very short supply.
At a basic level:
• Recycling paper and wood saves trees and forests. Yes, you can plant new trees, but
you can't replace virgin rainforest or ancient woodlands once they're lost.
• Recycling plastic means creating less new plastic, which is definitely a good thing,
especially as it's usually made from fossil fuel hydrocarbons.
• Recycling metals means there's less need for risky, expensive and damaging mining
and extraction of new metal ores.
• Recycling glass reduces the need to use new raw materials like sand – it sounds hard
to believe but supplies of some types of sand are starting to get low around the
world.

2. Protecting ecosystems and wildlife

Recycling reduces the need to grow, harvest or extract new raw materials from the Earth.
That in turn lessens the harmful disruption and damage being done to the natural world:
fewer forests cut down, rivers diverted, wild animals harmed or displaced, and less pollution
of water, soil and air.
And of course if our plastic waste isn't safely put in the recycling, it can be blown or washed
into rivers and seas and end up hundreds or thousands of miles away, polluting coastlines
and waterways and becoming a problem for everyone.
3. Reducing demand for raw materials
The world's increasing demand for new stuff has led to more of the poorest and most
vulnerable people (for example, those living around forests or river systems) being displaced
from their homes, or otherwise exploited. Forest communities can find themselves evicted
as a result of the search for cheap timber and rivers can be damned or polluted by
manufacturing waste.
It's far better to recycle existing products than to damage someone else's community or
land in the search for new raw materials.
4. Saving energy
Making products from recycled materials requires less energy than making them from new
raw materials. Sometimes it's a huge difference in energy. For example:
• Producing new aluminium from old products (including recycled cans and foil) uses
95% less energy than making it from scratch. For steel it's about a 70% energy
saving.
• Making paper from pulped recycled paper uses 40% less energy than making it from
virgin wood fibres.
• The amount of energy saved from recycling one glass bottle could power an old 100-
watt light bulb for 4 hours and a new low-energy LED equivalent for a lot longer.

5. Cutting climate-changing carbon emissions

Because recycling means you need to use less energy on sourcing and processing new raw
materials, it produces lower carbon emissions. It also keeps potentially methane-releasing
waste out of landfill sites.
Reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere is
vital for stopping disastrous climate change.
6. Cheaper than waste collection and disposal
Lambeth council in London pointed out that "it is 6 times cheaper to dispose of recycled
waste than general refuse." So, the more you recycle, and the less you put in the bin, the
more money is saved, which should be good for households, businesses and local public
services.
Recycling food waste and green waste is a great idea too, often generating lots of valuable
compost that can be used to grow more food and other crops.

2.4. HOW TO ENSURE AND IMPLEMENT RECYCLING

1. Think before you toss. Don’t just toss something into the recycle bin. Figure out if
an item is recyclable by looking at it, cleaning it, and keeping a list handy of what’s
recyclable in your area. Throwing garbage or non-recyclables into the recycling may
mean that none of your recyclables get recycled, so be diligent.

2. Read your recycling guide. While this advice applies to most areas, each will have its
own recycling guide and some may accept materials others do not. To be sure you
are not wasting your time recycling something that cannot be, or contaminating
good material – it’s well worth reading your area’s recycling guide.

HOW TO IMPLEMENT AN EFFECTIVE RECYCLING SYSTEM?

1.Create a Recycling Plan

Assess your facility to determine the right products for the unique waste and recycling
needs. For example, this could include multiple recycling receptacles that work together as a
single system to promote recycling

2. Deploy the New Recycling Plan

Order the necessary products per the completed waste audit, ensuring the right products
are provided to handle all the necessary waste streams that have been identified.

Remove old products and place new products in high-traffic locations during the evening to
minimize disruption to patrons. These locations might include lobbies, break rooms, office
spaces, and meeting rooms.

3. Educate Building Occupants

 Schedule a meeting with patrons and janitorial staff to review your new recycling
system.
 Send an email to your tenants and patrons announcing your new program.
 Hang posters in common areas and above new receptacles to inform building
occupants.
 By understanding your recycling needs, choosing the right products, and training staff
and patrons on their use, you can implement an effective recycling system that is easy to
execute and easy to use.

2.5. Should everything be recycled?

It is known that recycling is a very important process that benefits both us and our
environment but should we really recycle everything?
Recycling everything could have both negative and positive effects

Starting with the positive effects

• The world would look a lot different if everyone recycled. Most likely, it would be cleaner
and make more use of available resources. Landfills would shrink tremendously. Recycling
plants would be an epicenter of activity.
• Lots of money could be saved because it would require more money to create a product
like a plastic bottle from scratch than it would to reuse one
• With more materials to use the quantity of many more items could increase

The negative effects

• "Waste is inevitable in any ecosystem," Miller said. "Every time you recycle something,
there’s a little bit of loss." For example paper fibers can only be recycled 7 times after that
the fibers are too small to use
• Even though quantity is increased the quality of recycled goods would be less than that off
newer goods

The difficulty of trying to recycle everything

Recycling everything is virtually impossible due to the fact that there is already too much
garbage in the system not to mention that there are still people uneducated about recycling
making this an extremely difficult task or nearly even impossible to complete, It may also be
hard recycling things made up of any complex materials, like your phone or laptop which is
made up of glass plastics and metals, it may cost a lot to separate each and every part for it
to be reused.
So, should we recycle everything? I think It is important to strike a balance between
knowing when to completely throw stuff away and recycle them for it to be reused. In
addition to my previous point I believe there are some items that cannot be recycled such as
food tainted items like used paper plates