The Concept of Sustainable Development - Research Paper Example

Recycling Worldwide ecological situation nowadays is characterized with a strong influence of anthropogenic factor on ambient natural environment. This influence is revealed not only through the state and quality of environment, but also through economic, social and ecological processes in the area. A man during his life is constantly using natural resources and producing waste and garbage, which influence the environment around him. A usual man produces about 2 kilograms of waste every day and more than 1.5 tons of garbage per year (11 Facts About Recycling). Thus a man makes impact on his personal and family lives at present, and threatens future life of his next generations, who will not be able to live the same life as this man does. To prevent such results, the concept of sustainable development emerged. This concept became popular in the 80-es of 20th century. The main idea of it is that a man should live in such a way, so that he will not prevent his future generations to live at least in the same way, as he does (Bartlett 2012). Some of the principles of sustainable development state, that a man should be careful with using resources, and should not just spend them irretrievably. It became important to find new methods to compensate and displace the used resources to preserve ecological system. The idea to process the waste products and use them as secondary materials became very popular among the supporters of the sustainable development concept. Thus, recycling became one of the instruments for communities how to get to the sustainable development path. Recycling is a process of reusing waste products and garbage or retrieving them back into operation. This process is considered to be one of the methods to restore all the waste generated (Tam 2006) The importance of recycling today is significant and is of global value. Recycling helps to solve ecological and resource-saving problems. First of all, the resources on the Earth are limited and cannot be compensated as fast as they are being used (some of them require the time of life of several generations). Then, when waste is thrown into environment, it usually becomes its pollutant. It takes several centuries for some materials to decay in natural environment. Besides, product waste and other products, the useful life of which is over, are usually (but not always) a cheaper source of materials than natural sources. Using secondary material resources can save the costs for waste utilization, new resource purchase, transport and labour costs etc. New jobs for those, who are engaged in recycling; less pollution of water, air and soil; preserving natural resources; increasing the duration of life of different species and inhabitants in certain areas are among other benefits, which a community may get from recycling. According to the World Bank the total annual amount of recycled waste metal and paper products are 400 million tonnes and 175 million tonnes accordingly (World Bank 2012). This helps to reduce the annual extraction of the materials from natural sources. Moreover, using recycled materials in production processes requires much less energy resources compared to using original natural resources. According to the research (Morris 2005), production of plastic and aluminium from recycled materials requires 14-20 times less energy, than if the original resources were used in the same processes. To process recycled paper products in manufacturing requires 2 times less energy than processing primary natural recourses (Morris 2005). However, only 30% of waste is being recycled, though it is possible to recycle about ¾ of all garbage and waste products. To organize recycling may be costly for an enterprise, as the process usually demands installation of new technologies and equipment. However, the benefits of recycling will justify the costs with time (even if the costs exceed the economic benefits), as the effect of recycling is not only economic, but ecological and social as well. Besides, there are a lot of international funds, who are eager to help with organization and funding of the programs, which deal with recycling. Recycling is one of the stages in Waste Management Hierarchy. The position of recycling is approximately in the middle of the Hierarchy, being more favoured option than recovery, treatment and disposal, but less favoured option than prevention and reuse (Non-Hazardous Waste Management Hierarchy). Recycling can be performed on an industrial level (by a plant or a factory, etc.) while processing industrial waste products, or by individuals at home or during their usual life in their communities, which deal with household waste. Household waste includes paper, food leftovers, plastic, metal, clothing and textiles, glass, leather, rubber and other products or materials. A household waste can be a thing, which is broken, rotten or is just not needed any more. Individuals can contribute to preserving environment and save some of their money for buying brand new things, if they recycle some of the waste, they produce. There are a lot of programs, which provide people with compensation for deposited bottles, cartons, etc. to the recycling center. The main ways of consumer waste recycling include sorting garbage (glass, plastic, paper, food, batteries etc.), which is later used by different recycling technologies; and composting (producing fertilizers out of food and plant waste) (How to Recycle). The most popular materials for industrial recycling are paper, metal, glass and plastic (Letsrecycle.com news). About 30% of all waste, produced by people in the world, belongs to paper products. Paper recycling is an important source of paper production, as recycled paper makes about 1/3 of raw materials for paper and other products manufacturing (writing and typing paper, money, masks, bandages, bedding, pots, insulation etc.). Recycling paper helps not only to save forests, but also water, oil, and energy. Technology of paper recycling includes its mixture with water and special substances (which help it to merge together), further heating, transformation into suspension, depuration, and finally using for new paper production. Paper can be recycled a limited number of times, as its physical characteristics change with every time and do not allow to make it continuously (Paper Recycling). Metal recycling technologies depend mostly on the type of metal, which is being processed: ferrous or non-ferrous. However, the general recycling process is the same for all metals and includes collecting and separating different types of metal from each other, crushing metal for simplification of further processing, melting, extracting and purification. Non-ferrous metals (bronze, copper, aluminium, tin and others) are more valuable than ferrous (steel, iron), as they are more rare and are used for production of higher-priced products (electronics, batteries, etc.). However, the amount of ferrous scrap metal is usually bigger than non-ferrous waste metal. Value of scrap metal depends also on its age, amount, purity, density. The costs for metal recycling are less than for mining and extracting metals from natural sources, as recycling helps to save up to 75% of energy costs for ferrous and up to 95% for non-ferrous metal processing. Most metals can be recycled infinite number of times (Metal Recycling). Glass is also a material, which can be infinitely recycled, as it does not lose any of its qualities after recycling. The process of its recycling does not need any prior preparatory activities, other than its sorting from other materials. The glass waste is considered to be one of the major constituents of urban waste because of glass weight and bulk. Its processing into other useful goods also helps to reduce littering and amount of garbage in city areas, and save energy. Glass can be recycled into glass products (bottles, containers, utensils) and other goods (abrasive, insulation materials, ceramic products, filtration accessories, artificial field surface, bricks, decorations etc.). Technology of glass recycling includes stages of crashing glass into cullet, removing metal and other substances out of it, melting, dyeing, manufacturing products (The Glass Recycle Process). Plastic recycling can be done through different processes: physical melting or chemical transformation. Depending on the type of recycling, plastic can preserve or lose its physical characteristics. Plastic recycling is a challenging process for industries, as the number of times plastic can be recycled is limited (sometimes it may be only once); even if plastic preserves its characteristics, it cannot be used for producing the same type of product (a plastic bottle will never be a plastic bottle again); and the process of plastic recycling is rather costly compared to manufacturing plastic products from primary resources. The most significant effect, which is produced by plastic recycling, is ecological, as it helps to reduce the number of plastic waste in environment (Plastic recycling). Thus, recycling plays important role in transition of communities and individual enterprises to the path of sustainable development. It helps not only to reduce amount of waste and garbage in environment, but also preserve natural resources and energy. The most popular materials, which are being recycled, are paper, metal, glass and plastic. Each of them can be recycled by both: businesses and individuals. Recycling of waste by businesses is usually a costly process, as it requires installation of special technologies and acquisition of equipment. However, the industrious volumes of waste recycling contribute the most to reducing air, water and soil pollution compared to those, made by individuals. Roles of individuals in recycling waste is mostly in collecting, sorting and depositing certain products (like glass and plastic bottles, newspapers, old metal items etc.) to special waste recycling centres, which process the waste products further. References 11 Facts About Recycling. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-recycling Bartlett, Albert A. (2012). The Meaning of Sustainability. Teachers Clearinghouse For Science And Society Education Newsletter, 31(1), 1-17. How to Recycle. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.recycling-guide.org.uk/recycle.html Letsrecycle.com news. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.letsrecycle.com/latest-news/ Metal Recycling. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/RecyclingMetal.php Morris, J. (2005). Comparative LCAs for curbside recycling versus either landfilling or incineration with energy recovery. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 10(4), 273-284. Non-Hazardous Waste Management Hierarchy. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/waste/nonhaz/municipal/hierarchy.htm Paper Recycling. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/paper/ Plastic recycling. (1997). Retrieved from http://www.lotfi.net/recycle/plastic.html Tam, Vivian W.Y., Tam, C.M. (2006). Evaluations of existing waste recycling methods: A Hong Kong study. Building and Environment, 41(12), 1649-1660. The Glass Recycle Process. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.all-recycling-facts.com/glass-recycle.html World Bank. (2012). Urban Development What a Waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management. Retrieved from http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2012/07/25/000333037_20120725004131/Rendered/PDF/681350WP0REVIS0at0a0Waste20120Final.pdf Read More