1. Wages For workers in recycling are notably
higher than the national average for all other industries. For every one
job that waste disposal creates, recycling creates 5-10 jobs.
2. When designed right, recycling programs
are cost-competitive with trash collection and disposal.
3. No effective federal plan exists to
maximize waste reduction and recycling. The Solid Waste Disposal Act of
1976 requires state plans to do so, but after 25 years the states have
yet to comply.
4. Over-population makes waste reduction
extremely difficult. Most population experts believe that the ideal population
for the U.S. ranges between 100-150 million people, compared to our current
population of 284 million, which is growing by 3 million people annually.
5. The average college student produces
640 pounds of solid waste each year, including 500 disposable cups and
320 pounds of paper
6. In a recent survey of World Wastes subscribers,
of those owning landfills, 53% expect their site to be open 10+ years;
12% said 5-9 years; 7% reported 3-4 years and a whopping 26% said less
than three years.
7. Paper cups are not recyclable-they are
often wax coated which reduces their bio-degradeability further
8. Food waste is the third largest component
of generated waste. This amounts to 106 pounds of food waste per person
per year.
9. San Francisco is the city with the highest
breast cancer rate in the world; and , in the United States, it is the
city with the most landfills that are leaching into the aquifer.
10.The largest sector of the recycling industry
is recycled paper and paperboard mills, with 139,375 employees and $49
billion in annual receipts.
11. In your lifetime you will use: 26,000,000
gallons of water, 21,000 gallons of gasoline, 10,000 bottles, 20,000 cans,
14,000 quarts of milk, 21,000,000,000 BTU's of energy, 10,000 pounds of
meat.
Understanding Plastics
Plastic Facts: Producing a plastic product from scrap instead of new resources can save 85 to 90% of energy used to make new plastic. Because they are bulky, plastics take up 20-30% of landfill space. Over 46,000 pieces of plastic debris float on every square mile of ocean. If you lined up all the polystyrene cups made in just one day they would more than circle the planet.
Recyclable plastic containers have a number ( #1 thru #7) on the bottom, the number is surrounded by a recycle symbol. If there is no number the plastic is not recyclable. There is more demand for some types of plastic (#1, #2, #3,#4) because they are the easiest to recycle. In other words, if you have a choice when buying things with plastic packaging, choose#1, #2 #3or #4, there is less chance of these ending up in the landfill.
Following is a description of each type of plastic.
#1 polyethylene terephthalate or PET-commom plastic used to make blow moulded containers and soda bottles, mouthwash bottles, peanut butter and salad dressing containers. Characteristics: resistant to heat, clear, tough, good barrier to gas, good moisture barrier Recycled PET is made into carpets, plastic strapping, fiberfill, detergent containers, sweatshirts, hiking boots, lazer toner cartridges.
#2 High Density Polyethylene HDPE -milky white plastic used to make blow moulded bottles for milk and water. Characteristics: Tough, low cost, high density, easy to form. Recycled HDPE is used for recycle bins, benches ( it takes 1,050 recycled milk jugs to make one 6' park bench), retractable pens, fly swatters and vitamin bottles.
#2 colored
#3 Polyvinyl chloride PVC- a rigid plastic, 60% used for plastic pipes. Recycled PVC is made into bubble wrap
#4 Low Density Polyethylene LDPE- plastic film,
sheeting, plastic bags. Recycled LDPE is made into garbage can liners.
#2 and #4 plastics account for 60% of all plastics
in the USA.
#5 Polypropylene-lowest density of all plastics, used in packaging-ketchup bottles, yogurt, cottage cheese and margarine containers. Columbia Bottle Recyclers can't use this for recycling-it goes to the landfill
#6 Polystyrene-clear and brittle plastic used
for plastic tableware, compact disc jackets, recycled used for egg cartons.
Glass Facts
1. Recycled glass uses only 2/3 the energy needed
to manufacture glass from new materials
2. Making a ton of glass from raw materials requires
over 1,300 pounds of sand, 433 pounds of both soda ash and limestone, 151
pounds of feldspar, and 15.2 million BTU's of energy. As a by product of
the process, 384 pounds of mining waste and 28 million pounds of air pollutants
must be treated and disposed of.
3. When one ton of glass is recycled, water consumption
is reduced by 50%, mining wastes by 79% and air pollutants by 14%.
4. Every month Americans throw away enough glass
bottles and jars to fill up a giant skyscraper.
5. The glass bottles you throw away today could
be around 1,000 years from now.
Aluminum Facts
If the residents of California recycled all the
cans they used in one day, they would have enough aluminum to make 17
Boeing 727 jets.
All About
Compost 
Composting is the controlled decomposition of
organic matter by microorganisms into a humus like product. Methods such
as windrows, compost piles and in-vessel systems generate energy and heat
that destroy many disease organisms. Water and carbon dioxide are released
into the atmosphere during composting. It takes three to twelve months
to produce compost, depending on which method is used.
Kitchen scraps and yard waste make up over 20%-30% of the solid waste dumped, each year, in the landfill.. It's this wet stuff that gets slimmy, smells terrible, rots and drips organic acids down over everything else at the landfill dissolving paint, rusting metal and carrying all kinds of toxic substances down to the aquifer. If you want to do one thing that really helps the aquifer, start this fall and make a compost pile in your backyard and compost yard waste, and kitchen scraps. It doesn't have to be complicated-keep the grass clippings and leaves on the top and tuck the kitchen stuff, vegetable peels, egg shells, coffee grounds underneath. Other less common things that can go into a compost pile include dryer lint, paper, cotton fabric. The ideal size for the pile is about three to four feet tall and about four feet wide. This doesn't mean that the pile will be that big when you start-you can start with a pile of leaves and go from there. No meat scraps, grease or milk products as these attract animals. If you want instant compost, make alternating layers of browns and greens: grass clippings(don't use grass clippings if you use herbicide like weed and feed on your yard), then a few inches of soil, then kitchen scraps, then soil, then leaves. Keep the whole thing moist and turn it now and then-lots of work and not really necessary. The pile will turn to compost eventually without all the attention. Compost is not exactly a fertilizer although it is a wonderful soil conditioner. It enhances: nutrient uptake, microbial action, and airation; moderates soil temperature, increases water holding capacity, suppresses soil pathogens, and generally improves plant growth.
Nantucket Island-just off the coast of Massachusetts has a state of the art composting plant that went on line in 1999. The heart of the plant is a multicompartment steel rotary digester, 12.5 feet in diameter and 185 feet long. The concept was developed by Swedish scientist Eric Eweson, the technology is licensed from Bedminster Bioconversion Corp. in Bensalem PA. The digester uses biological processes to turn municipal solid waste and dewatered biosolids or sewage sludge into compost. Nantucket haulers deliver MSW and sludge by truck to a tipping building where plant operators visually inspect for unacceptable materials. Solid waste must be delivered in clear plastic bags to speed inspection. A conveyor transports these materials to the digester drum where they remain for three days. Air and water is added as needed to speed digestion. The drum rotates one-half to one rotation per minute. .Next step is a screening process-pieces greater than 1" go to the landfill-the rest is placed, for 30 days, on the floor of the aeration building where a computer system measures temperature and regulated airflow through the the compost. The compost is turned daily with a front end loader. Finally, the material is screened again, large pieces go to the landfill or back to the composter and the rest is mixed off site with sand peat and bark and used by landscapers, greenhouses and nurseries. Landfill mining takes place in the winter months with material taken from the old landfill going into the digester..
Santa Monica, California-Santa Monica College
is using 300,000 worms to turn garbage into fertilizer.
The worms are expected to consume 150 pounds
of food waste daily, producing an organic fertilizer the college may one
day sell at a profit. The vermicomposting site behind the school cafiteria
cost the college $60,000. Grounds manager Tom Corpus has reduced the schools
waste disposal bill from $100,000 to $35,000 annually by recycling
cardboard, drink containers, green waste and construction and demolition
materials.
The Village of Bellport New York is a municipality
that sold, to any interested citizen, $65 composters for $10 dollars. The
city figured that reducing the volume of waste would cut down on the amount
of money it cost to run the landfill and more than pay for the cost of
the composters.