Recycling as a Mandatory Process - Research Paper Example

Recycling as a Mandatory Process Environmental pollution is regarded as one of the greatest issues of the world today. The damages from the basic types of pollution namely air, water, soil, noise and light are mostly irreparable and their impact to the environment and its living things are growing at an alarming rate. Scientists and environmentalists continue to study the impending environmental degradation and disasters that will occur in the coming years in the belief that the irreversible damage of pollution will eventually cause the destruction of the earth. Extreme measures are now being considered in order to help nature survive and repair itself. Among the top concerns in environmental pollution involve proper waste disposal and management among every citizen and the authorities that govern them since litter generated by humans is the primary cause of pollution (Ferrara and Missios 222-223). Every day, tons of garbage is being collected in every city all over the world. All kinds of wastes coming from household consumption and industrial by-products are dumped in landfills, segregated, incarcerated, recycled or worse, discarded anywhere. Emergent concerns for municipal waste generation and disposal are rapidly increasing mainly because of the public awareness in the effects of waste generation to the environment, specifically its contribution to climate change and water and air contamination. Government as well as its citizens is now hesitant in creating new landfills and incineration facilities for fear of ground water contagion brought by toxic chemicals in industrial and electronic wastes. Municipal wastes are also swelling at a fast rate as a result of higher incomes, increase use of durable materials and packaging. Definitely the pollution that wastes carries to the environment is imminent and the impact to environmental pressures from household will probably build up in the following two decades (OECDa 82-83). Nevertheless, the issue of recycling or going green has been widely encouraged, from reusing glass and plastic bottles to utilizing old as cleaning materials in the house. In order to minimize trash, people are taught to reprocess, reuse, reutilize and recondition materials that can beneficial in saving the environment from pollutants. In 2005, household waste alone generated over 75% of municipal waste in key countries like Korea, Germany, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Slovak Republic, Luxembourg, Denmark and Spain. Each household with one person accumulates two bags of mixed trash every week while households with three persons accrue an average of 3.2 bags. To address the situation, local government units created policies that will lessen waste generation such as imposing fees based on volume of garbage and minimizing the frequency of collection. Studies show that households tend to lessen waste generation by 7.11% upon the implementation of volume-based fees. On the other hand, it has been observed that mixed waste generation decreases as the frequency of garbage collection also decreases. However, the figures gathered from these policies are not significant; consequently the need for recycling is also essential to resolve the issue (Ferrara and Missios 223-230). According to the Organisation of Economic Co-Operation and Development, Household consumption patterns and behavior have a profound effect on stocks of natural resources and the quality of the environment. As a consequence, governments have introduced a wide variety to encourage people to take environmental impacts into account in their purchases and practices. Recent initiatives include the phasing out of incandescent light bulbs, the introduction of energy performance labels for homes, and the provision of tax incentives to purchase alternative-fuelled vehicles (OECDa 15). In addition, the high volume of litter generated by the industrial sector is a huge concern for environmentalists. According to environmental policy analyst Linda Luther (1), the by-product of factories are referred to as electronic waste or e-waste which is described as “obsolete, broken, or irreparable electronic devices like televisions, computer central processing units (CPUs), computer monitors (flat screen and cathode ray tubes), laptops, printers, scanners, and associated wiring”. The rapid growth of electronics development technology has translated to large volume of generated e-waste. In 2007, the United States alone generated “2.25 million tons of television, cell phones and computer products ready for end-of-life (EOL) management, 18% (414,000 tons) were collected for recycling and 82% (1.84 million tons) were disposed of, primarily in landfills. Further, EPA estimated that approximately 235 million units sold between 1980 and 2007 were obsolete and in storage, awaiting some method of EOL management” (Luther 4). These data only cover about 2% of the municipal solid waste stream; however this figure will still continue to grow as defective and out-of-date electronic appliance or gadgets are replaced by consumers. The United States is considering the impact of e-waste seriously as a threat not only to the environment but to public health as well since most of its components contain hazardous elements. Televisions, computer monitors and printed circuit boards have cathode ray tubes which contains an average of four pounds of lead. Personal gadgets such as laptop and desktop computers and accessories like keyboards and mice have been discovered to carry amounts of arsenic, cadmium, chromium and mercury. The plastics used in cases and cables are also said to bear brominated flame retardants or BFRs (Luther 5). Even inappropriate disposal of household wastes containing hazardous elements like batteries and medicines considerably pose significant environmental and health concerns. Because of the toxic components found in most electronic wastes, it is essential that these materials are properly screened if they are still fit for reuse or better discard completely (OECDb 13). Although it is identified that e-waste are either disposed in solid waste landfills or recycled with few environmental monitoring guidelines, there is still a need for more defined policies and strong regulations concerning e-waste disposal. To properly address the situation, federal and state environmental agencies urged companies to recycle instead of dumping most of their junk to solid waste landfills. E-waste may be resold, reused or undergo refurbishing by the recycling agencies, while some may be dismantled for material recovery. These recycled products are then sold within the country or overseas. Recently, a total of twenty-three states have already ratified mandatory e-waste recycling programs and campaigned for consumer awareness concerning the possible issues with e-waste on landfills (Luther 5-9). In a recent report of the US Environmental Agency, 28% of municipalities implement recycling. Waste-to-Energy (WTE) communities that are known for independently producing energy from collected garbage are also encouraged to perform this process to determine the potential success of recycling. After ten years of testing the compatibility of recycling and WTE, it was confirmed that the two technologies are not only compatible but perform better together as well. With the tandem processes, recycling in WTE communities increased from 21% to 33% in ten years. Further, recycling is continuously being done in WTE plants both onsite and offsite. Onsite WTE recycling includes recovery of ferrous and nonferrous metals, reuse of ash, and retrieval of other useful materials. Offsite recycling programs involves public or private, residential or commercial programs such as “compost and mulch operations, artificial reef construction, household hazardous waste management, mercury reduction efforts, battery recycling, used oil management, public and school outreach programs, computers and other electronic deconstruction, Christmas tree collection, aseptic packaging programs, and management of such materials as chipboard, sheetrock, pallets, bulky waste, telephone books, latex paint tires, and plastic film” (Kiser). Of course WTE facilities are highly familiar with recycling technological process and waste management therefore their recycling programs are understandably progressive and innovative. Thus if recycling is mandatorily imposed on all states and some programs that the WTE facilities are conducting offsite will be adopted, an extensive amount of municipal waste will be reduced. To guarantee a successful recycling platform, initiatives must begin at home. If every household starts to recycle their own wastes then garbage disposal will drop at a significant rate. Several implications will transpire such as the decrease in government taxes for garbage collection, upsurge of household savings and lessening of pollution in the environment. Moreover, recycling can also be a source of additional income for families. Certain companies are willing to pay for used electronic chips, batteries, or any particular parts of laptops and cellular phones. Some known brands of shoes offer a free new replacement for old shoes carrying the same brand. There are also supermarkets that conduct monthly recycling programs wherein they provide vouchers or cash in exchange of used bottles and papers. Indeed in this worldwide economic crisis, salvaging useful items from trash can bring extra earnings in the household (OECDb 25-32). Also, there is a rapid escalation in markets for possibly recyclable materials. Among these potentially income-generating discarded products are aluminum, waste oils, waste plastics and used rubber tires. Vast markets for the said materials are increasing and are delivered to recycling facilities in the United States and European countries. Public authorities directly support these programs by creating collection schemes for recycled materials, implementing deposit-refund systems and establishing public earning schemes. Though the business is thriving, certain barriers and challenges are still posing threats in these markets. The lack of information in the value of secondary materials, misconception with regards to the quality of products made from recycled items and poor knowledge in technology and product design and material use are all obstacles that markets for recyclable materials must learn to develop and outgrow (OECDb 11-15) With all the possibilities that recycling and proper waste management brings, the key to its success basically rely on public response and support. As governments of diverse countries encourage their citizens to build environmentally sustainable waste management by upholding different approaches and schemes, the public are gradually becoming attentive to the impact of accumulated waste to the environment, to their household income and their health. For instance, in a survey conducted in ten countries, the respondents revealed that a policy that can provide economic incentives to the household may influence behavioral change. That is, if the families lessen their trash outputs then the price for garbage collection fees also drop (Kiser). Furthermore, the role of information and education about the environment and the effect of household waste to the ecology are essential factors to recycling. Study shows that people who are aware with environmental concerns are more likely to adopt practices and decision making that avoids harm or negative effects against their surroundings. For example, members of environmental groups that promote recycling prefer to use biodegradable products at home, school or workplace. Some buy car hybrids that lessen or avoid usage of fuel while a few even go to the extent of creating energy efficient or solarized homes. They are inclined to live what they preach and serve as living examples of living green (Ferrara and Missios 232). Subsequently government programs on environmental conservation must reinforce environmental awareness and behavior change of the public to further strengthen their campaign. As OECD reiterates, “increased awareness of the environmental impacts of consumption choices may also increase the political acceptability of policies, facilitating their implementation. Once in place, enforcement costs may also be reduced since the policies are more likely to be seen as justified by households” (OECDa 16). Policies can influence the public’s social and environmental perception and norms in the long run. People have a tendency to imbibe whatever the government imposes as a common good and eventually reshape their norms and values. Thus policy makers need to consider every aspect of human behavior and acceptance in creating new rules and strategies to ultimately achieve a progressive result. Nonetheless, recycling is a very safe and economical way of saving the ecosystem from pollution. However government policies on environment conservation and waste management must be appropriately imposed to fully realize its potential success. The positive effects of recycling in key countries call for the implementation of mandatory recycling program in local municipalities. With this, household and industrial waste will significantly reduce that will essentially help the nature restore itself. It could be an ambitious task but drastic measures are needed in order to save the environment. Works Cited Ferrara, Ida and Missios, Paul. “Recycling and Waste Diversion Effectiveness: Evidence from Canada”. Environmental and Resource Economics 30.2 (2005): 221-238. Print. Kiser, Jonathan V. L. “Recycling and Waste-to-Energy: The Ongoing Compatibility Success Story”. The Journal for Municipal Solid Waste Professionals (2003). n.d. Web. 22 Jul 2012. Luther, Linda. Managing Electronic Waste: Issues with Exporting E-Waste. DIANE Publishing. 2010. Print. OECD. Greening Household Behaviour: The Role of Public Policy. OECD Publishing. 2011. Print. OECD. Improving Recycling Markets. OECD Publishing. 2006. Print. Read More