The actual title was Solid Waste Management in the 21st Century. The Power Point is available for viewing in my profile as well. The paper details the problems with public recyclable waste, particularly plastic bottles. The full paper will be published in the future in a business or scientific journal.
3. Commonly used for water and food packaging.
Take at least 500 years to biodegrade in a landfill
(Benefits-Of-Recycling, 2010).
Plastic bottles take up millions of cubic yards of
landfill space each year (Benefits-Of-Recycling,
2010).
Just in the US, PET plastic bottle sales increased
from around 32 billion in 2000, to around 72
billion in 2006; growth of 225% in just six years
(Hoy, 2009).
28.8 billion PET bottles ended up in US landfills
in 2006 alone (Hoy, 2009).
7. Aluminum is one of the most sustainable
metals we use; a recycled aluminum can
may be back on a grocery shelf, in one form
or another, in as few as sixty days
(Cummings, 2007).
By 2006, the US alone had discarded more
than one trillion aluminum beverage cans
worth about $15 billion US (Spillman 11-12).
It takes about four hundred years for an
aluminum can to break down naturally
(Cummings, 2007).
8. The US airline industry is one of the worst
offenders; every year the US airlines throw, away
enough aluminum cans to build fifty-eight
Boeing 747 aircraft. One cited reason for the
airlines not recycling is that little if any recycling
infrastructure exists at most airports (Farley 21-
22).
Since aluminum is renewable, recycling 100% of
what we have right now would mean we would
never have to make any more; that means no
more destructive mining and purification
(professorshouse.com).
9. Aluminum is worth money; each can is worth
about one cent in United States Dollars; throwing
aluminum cans away is like throwing money in
the trash (Cummings, 2007).
The other cost of sending aluminum cans to the
landfill are in energy; making aluminum cans
from raw ore takes about ninety-five percent
more energy than recycling used aluminum cans
(Cummings, 2007).
The recycling of just one aluminum can will save
enough energy to light a one hundred watt light
bulb for four hours, or run a television for up to
three hours (Cummings, 2007).
12. Start with children in school so
they become good ecological
stewards their entire lives.
Government sponsored
community education outlining
the environmental impact of
failure to recycle.
13.
14. Using “central container” methods of
recycling (Guang-Hua Zhang, 2007).
China is using Pyrolysis-catalytic
upgrade methods to extract fuel oil
from mixed plastic waste (Guang-Hua
Zhang, 2007).
“According to the yield of converting
waste plastics to oil in China, plastic
wastes weighing 1.92 ton can produce 1
ton of fuel oil” (Guang-Hua Zhang,
2007).
15.
16. One pitcher filter can effectively replace
as much as 300 standard 16.9-ounce
bottles (Dorfman).
“The average pitcher filters 240 gallons
of water a year for about 19 cents a day.
Put in perspective, to get the same
amount of water from bottled water
would require 1,818 16.9-ounce water
bottles a year” (Dorfman).
17.
18. In 1997, the Packaging Waste Recycling Law was put
into operation (Tokai & Furuichi, 1999).
Since the law’s inception, the quantity of recovered
plastic wastes has been increasing in Japan.
PET bottles are particularly targeted (Tokai &
Furuichi, 1999).
One policy uses waste plastic as a fuel source;
thermal recycling (Tokai & Furuichi, 1999).
Another policy uses waste plastics as raw material
for more plastic manufactured goods (Tokai &
Furuichi, 1999).
19. The Environment Act imposed a legal
requirement for plastic packaging to be
recycled (D.N. Smith, 1999).
Throughout the UK there are 3024 plastic
bottle banks located on 2164 sites for post-
consumer drop-off (D.N. Smith, 1999).
“There are 255 curbside collection schemes
in the UK covering 8163146 households, of
these, 80 schemes collect plastic bottles and
these covered 1926925 households at the end
of 1997” (D.N. Smith, 1999).
20. Bottle recycling in the UK
Tons of plastic bottles recycled 1990-
1997 by year
8000
1997
7000
6000
1996
5000
1995
4000
1994
3000
1993
1992
2000
1991
1000
1990
0
(D.N. Smith, 1999)
21.
22. (Hoy, 2009).
85%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50% 40%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
PET Bottles Recycled PET Bottles Recycled
Without Deposit With Deposit
(Hoy 2009)
23. Plastic and aluminum containers pose
very serious environmental problems
for future generations.
With properly administered
environmental education and
recycling programs the amount of
plastic and aluminum containers
entering our planets landfills can be
cut by 50% or more.
24. Benefits-Of-Recycling. Recycling Plastic Bottles.
2010, 16 April 2010 http://www.benefits-of-
recycling.com/recyclingplasticbottles.html.
Bhat, Vasanthakumar N. The green corporation : the
next competitive advantage. First. Westport: Quorum
Books, 1996.
Cummings, Larry. Facts about Aluminum Recycling.
2 April 2007. 16 April 2009
http://earth911.com/news/2007/04/02/facts-about-
aluminum-recycling/.
D.N. Smith, L. H. (1999). A survey of schemes in the
United Kingdom collecting plastic bottles for
recycling. Resources, Conservation and Recycling
(50), 17–34.
25. Dorfman., J. (n.d.). Learn the Facts. Retrieved May
7, 2010, from FILTERFORGOOD.COM:
http://www.filterforgood.com/facts/
Earth911.com. Facts About Plastic Bottles. 2007. 16
April 2010
http://earth911.com/recycling/plastic/plastic-
bottles/facts-about-plastic-bottles/.
Facts About Plastic Bottles. 16 April 2010
http://earth911.com/recycling/plastic/plastic-
bottles/facts-about-plastic-bottles/.
Farley, David. "The Not So Green Skies." Scientific
American September 2009, 3 ed.: 21-22 .
26. Guang-Hua Zhang, J.-F. Z. (2007). Prospect and
current status of recycling waste plastics and
technology for converting them into oil in China.
Resources, Conservation and Recycling (50), 231–239.
Hoy, Valerie. Graphs & Data for Plastic. 2009. 16
April 2010 http://www.container-
recycling.org/facts/data.php?materials=plastic.
professorshouse.com. Recycling Aluminum Cans -
Fun Facts. 2007. 16 April 2010
http://www.professorshouse.com/your-
home/environmentally-friendly/recycling-aluminum-
cans.aspx.
Recycling-Revolution.com. A Recycling Revolution.
2010. 16 April 2010 http://www.recycling-
revolution.com/recycling-facts.html.
27. Shaw, Peter J., Joanne K. Lyas and Malcolm D.
Hudson. "Quantitative analysis of recyclable
materials composition: Tools to support decision
making in kerbside recycling."
Resources, Conservation and Recycling 29 December
2005: 263-269.
Spillman, Pat. "The ABC'S of Unrelenting Waste."
The Environmental Magazine March/April 2008: 11-
12.
Strong, Debra L. Recycling in America. Second. Santa
Barbara: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1997.
Tokai, Akihiro and Tohru Furuichi. "Evaluation of
recycling policies for PET bottles based on
multiattribute utility indices." J Mater Cycles Waste
Management (1999): 70–79.
This graph clearly shows how PET bottle production had risen from 2000 to 2006, while glass bottle production, steel can production, and aluminum can production remained nearly constant.
PET Bottle waste in the United States rose 728% from 1986 to 2006.By Contrast, aluminum can waste rose 79.5%, and steel can waste actually decreased over 16,000%.
Though aluminum is one of the better recycling success stories, more needs to be done.Each aluminum can is worth money, about one cent in USD. In addition, sending aluminum cans to the landfill wastes energy; it takes about 95% more energy to make a new aluminum can rather than recycling a used one.Recycling just one aluminum can will save enough energy to light a 100 watt light bulb for 4 hours, or run a television for up to 3 hours.In another alarming trend, landfills, worried about capacity, have started incinerating aluminum cans. This not only wastes a valuable natural resource, but also releases dangerous toxins into the atmosphere.