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What is recycling?• Recycling is a series of
activities that includes collecting, sorting and processing recyclable materials into raw materials and manufacturing them into new products.
• EX: Plarn (plastic yarn)
Some Cool Recycled Products on The Market – pass around my recycled items
Recycling Entrepreneur Project
• Handout provided.
• Due March 13
Why Is It Important to Recycle?• It limits the amount of
garbage going to the landfill, therefore saving valuable landfill space.
• Creates jobs, businesses -3,177 business establishments in Ohio, employing 98,302 people!
• Better for the environment (energy efficient, resource efficient, habitat efficient)
• Close the loop- you aren’t a die-hard recycler unless you close the loop & buy recycled products-keep the industry going.
What about plain old garbage?MSW
Municipal Solid Waste
• Defined as anything normally discarded from home or community.
• Average person produces about 4.4 lbs. trash per day! (1600 lbs./year! Or 726 kilograms!)
MSW generation in the U.S. has increased more than 60% since 1980 to the current level of 251 million tons per year!
How Long Does It Take for Garbage to Break
Down (if it can)?• Plastic takes 500
years/common pollutant• Aluminum cans take
500 years• Organic materials take
6 months• Cotton, rags, & paper
take 6 months
We can recycle these!
Where Does It Go If We Don’t Recycle It?
• Household waste is typically land-filled
• Landfills require careful planning, time, and money before they become a reality.
• combustion- reduces waste to ash then goes to landfill
Environmental/Human Health Effects of Combustion
produce pollutants such as CO2, heavy metals, dioxins and particulates
which contribute to climate change, smog,acidification, asthma, and heart and nervous
system damage
Environmental Considerations -Landfills-
• Leachate- groundwater/surfacewater contamination
• Methane production-GHG
• Monitoring once capped-$$$
• Eyesore (not aesthetically pleasing)-NIMBY!- what to make of “hill” when capped?
Leachate Pond
NIMBY
• Acronym for “Not In My Backyard,”
• used to negatively describe the attitude of a person or group who oppose the development (wastwater treatment plant, landfill, highway, airport runway extension) of anything they deem inappropriate in their town or neighborhood.
• Show Cleveland Airport Runway Extension video! A perfect NIMBY example right here in our town.
Taking away your trash is not free!
• Landfills need money to: -pay workers -maintain safety -environmental standards/monitoring
• Tipping Fee- a charge for garbage
production.U.S tipping fees currently average $41 per ton with a high of $98 per ton in Vermont.
Average Tipping Fees
• Ohio $32.00• Michigan $36.00• Kentucky $31.00• Indiana $32.00• West Virginia $35.00• Pennsylvania $58.00• New York $95.00• New Jersey $73.00
Because Ohio is “cheap”, we import trash from up to 22
different states in the US!
Most from New York & New Jersey via
truck or rail.
Ohio’s Solid Waste Law
• The passage of House Bill 592 in 1988 established a law for Ohio to properly plan for the proper disposal of the >14 million tons of waste produced/year in Ohio.
• GOAL: to reduce our reliance on landfills by expanding waste reduction & recycling activities statewide.
• Required the formation of solid waste management districts; EX: Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District
• Funding for the district is provided by a per ton waste generation fee.
Click here for VIDEO about Cuyahoga County waste.
Feb 2009- Governor Strickland proposes raising garbage fee $1.25/ton
(from $3.50/ton $4.75/ton). Twenty-five cents would go to ODNR for the Soil and Water
Conservation Districts. The remaining $1.00 will go to Ohio EPA to support various programs.
Construction and Demolition Debris (CDD)
increase the CDD tipping fee by $2.70 a ton(from $1.70 a ton to $4.40 a ton)
Increase would be divided as follows: $2.25 will go to ODNR for the Soil and Water Conservation Districts
.45 will go to Ohio EPA for operation costs throughout the agency.
America’s Typical Waste Consistency
What goes in a landfill….
Weight isn’t the only issue with garbage. The amount of space the item takes up (VOLUME) is important. More volume = more landfill space needed.
What Can be Recycled?
• Paper• Cardboard• Aluminum• Steel• Organic food waste• Plastics:
Polyethylene terephthalate HDPE (High-density polyethylene)
There is a lack of market for the other numbered plastics. However, public pressure is causing increasing numbers of manufacturers to switch to No.1 and 2 plastics to facilitate their recycling.
Trees, Trees, Trees!
I Love Trees!
Recycling decreases tree cutting
One day newspapers=41,000 trees!
Recycling newspapers would divert 6 million tons of waste in landfills.
Junk Mail If only 100,000 people stopped their junk mail, as many as 150,000 trees annually would not be cut down for paper productions.
• Carbon (“browns” 25-30 parts) to nitrogen (“greens”1 part) ratio important
• Decomposition slows down if this ratio is not met.• Browns: ashes, wood, fruit waste, shredded
newspaper, peanut shells, pine needles,wood chips, leaves, cornstalks
• Greens: garden waste, coffee grounds, grass clippings, manures, veggie scraps, food waste
Compost- Controlled aerobic decomposition of organic waste; also known as brown manure; used as soil conditioner/fertilizer
It is an alternative to a landfill.
Cuyahoga County Stats
In 2007, residential recycling in Cuyahoga County:• Diverted 213,120.45 tons of solid waste from
landfills
• Recovered 26.53% of all household waste for recycling
• Conserved 11,587 tons of non-renewable natural resources
• Conserved 861,387 trees
• Saved over 1,063,483 million BTU’s of energy – enough to power 10,530 homes for one year
• Reduced air emissions by 80,844 tons.
What You Need to Know• What is recycling? Provide some cool examples of products made from recycled
material.• 3-R’s stand for?• What is meant by closing the loop on recycling?• 3 reasons why we should recycle.• Landfill design. Be able to ID: compact clay, synthetic liner,waste, leachate collection
pipes, leachate collection sump, clay cap, gas extraction pipe. • List 3 environmental considerations with landfills?• NIMBY-acronym for? Explain.• MSW-stands for? Define.• Combustion-of waste produces? Where does it go? Pros/Cons.• What is the goal of House Bill 592 in Ohio? What year was it passed?• Storm drains/litter prevention-know storm drain design.• Know relative %’s of waste in landfills for: paper, organic wastes, metals, glass, plastics.• What items can be recycled?• Why are some plastics not recyclable? Most common plastic #’s that are recycled?• What is a compost pile?• What are 3 characteristics of a successful compost pile?