The Potential of Recycling in Mitigating Global Climate Change - Report Example

TO RECYCLE OR NOT: The potential in mitigating climate change The Potential of Recycling in Mitigating GlobalClimate Change Introduction Mother Teresa once said that she only feels angry when she sees the waste that could always be used in other words recycled. The question of whether climate change is taking place has shifted to how fast the change is taking place. Therefore, this leads to the question what we are doing to reverse this state of affairs. Recycling is one of the many ways we could take(UNEP, 2009). According the United States Environmental Protection Agency (2009) recycling is a process where transformation of collected materials into new products takes place. These are materials usually thrown away at all levels. Recycling is beneficial in the process of environmental conservation because greenhouse gases produced by wastes contribute to climate change (Recycling Basics, 2015).Recycling plays an important role in mitigating climate change. In the UAE recycling efforts are still minimal. This paper explores the advntage that recycvling could bring to the UAE and its contribution globally hence answering the question whether UAE should adopt recycling to mitigate climate change and global warming or not. How does Recycling Mitigate Global Climate Change? Apart from the direct benefits received fromrecycling such as preventing toxic wastes from piling up,other benefits accruefrom recycling.Solid waste production at the household level and its dumping in landfills by authorities leads to greenhouse gasesemission. Thesegreenhouse gases, such as methane and CO2, lead to global warming. They trap the heat by forming a blanket-like layer. TheUnited StatesEPA (2009) estimates that cutting back on waste production to match that in the 1990s could reduce the production of greenhouse gases. One way of achieving this is through the stepping up of the national level of recycling from its current rate of around 28% to35%. This is in contrast to just dumping the waste that leads to an increase its contribution to global warming(EPA, 2011). This is through the anaerobic decomposition that would result. Anaerobic decomposition ofdumped wasteproduces methane gas that is more potent thanCO2 (EPA, 2011).According to IPCC (2007), methane gas produced from anaerobic decomposition in landfills has far more potency than CO2 over a 20 year period. In addition, it has more immediate short-term effect on the heat that is trapped in the atmosphere. In comparison to the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere, removal of methane is easier and its’ results are immediate. The removal directly connects to the reduction of landfills that result through recycling the products that is acontributor to the landfills(Watson, 2009). In a pro-recycling website with sources from the EPA and The Union OF Concerned Scientists, the author asserts the significant benefits resulting from recycling. He projects that a national recycling rate of 30% would reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the removal of around 25 million cars from the road(How Recycling can Help Stop Global Warming, 2007).When amaterial is recycled it cuts down on new manufacturing reducing the overall emissions thatare the number one driver of global warming and climate change(EPA, 2011). A big percentage of the amount of waste produced affects the amount of GHG produced and finallyleads to climate change. A change in consumption and disposal tendencies couldtherefore make a big difference. One can reduce the impact on climate change at each stage. Recycling at the household even in terms of alternative uses of waste has the potential to reduceGHG emissions.For example, in 2005, EPA partners reported that recycling activities at the source of the water resulted in avoidance of GHG emissions(Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions,  2009). With this in mind, we can therefore see the one way in which recycling contributes to mitigating climatechange and global warming. When certain limits are crossed either because of natural orman-made changes, pattern disruptions occur and the effects are felt throughout the world (Recycling & Global Climate Change, 2009). One such pattern is climate. Because of global warming, people witness extremes in weathersuch as storms floods and droughts. In order to mitigate these effects, there is need forchange. Implementation of this change will be on the manmade causes of the climate change. Here the focus is on man’s activities of solid waste dumping that lead to global warming and climate change. Sincedumpinghas already taken place focus shifts to reducing the amount of dumped waste. Here the point of recycling comes up. Recycling will help reduce emissions two fold;first, there will be reduced extraction of new materials through mining and manufacturing, and there will be reduced emissions resulting from wastedumping(Recycling & Global Climate Change, 2009). Because of wastage of materials,there is an enormous amount of energy use in the replacement of the materials through manufacturing (Climate Change and Recycling, 2014). Recycling adds to greenhouse gas savings, for example in the use of recycled materials in manufacturing, the energy savings are tremendous (Climate Change and Recycling, 2014). Up to five tons from the use of recycled steel, paper, or even glass lower carbon emissions. In addition recycling a ton of paper saves about 24 trees used in papermaking (Climate Change and Recycling, 2014). Trees are actively involved in carbon sequestration that reduces greenhouse gas emissions. This is opposed to incineration and dumping that leads to a production of methane and CO2 into the atmosphere. Therefore,recycling has high potential to mitigate the global impacts of emissions(Climate Change and Recycling, 2014). Another article acknowledges that global warming is a big issue these days. It states that the bestwaytoreduce global warming is to recycle paper. Recycling of disposed paper uses up to 65% less energy, this consequently reduces emissions. Wastewater treatment from pulp and paper making industries produces methane and nitrous oxide, which is a greenhousegases thatcontributes to global warming. Using recycled paper will avoid this since recycling paper uses up to 80% less water(The Connection Between Recycling and Global Warming, 2015). (Workplace, 2015) Newton(2015) asserts that the first action that most people consider taking in the event of global warming is recycling. Forexample, he mentions the recycling of used batteries, which have the potential to releaseheavy metals into the atmosphere and add to global warming. In another book by Langholz (2013), research done in America found that packaging materials constitute one-third of thelandfills. As mentioned above land full produce methane and therefore undertaking recycling will avert this and reduce climate changes. In a research done in North Carolina State University in quantifying emissions of GHGreductions associated with recycling hot mix asphalt, compared to dumping it in a landfills the study found that: recycling asphalt results in decreasedCO2emissions by up to 16kg, GHG emissions also reduced by up to 9kg (Acton, 2012).In 2012 after Hurricane Sandy caused massive destruction of propertya research by Michigan state university asserted that recycling could help in reducing the adverse effects of climate change(Long, 2012). Conclusion Therefore, as all above studies have shown recycling plays and continues to play an enormous role in mitigating and reducing climate change resulting from global warming. UAE should therefore undertake and promote recycling in order to benefit from its’ climate change mitigating benefit. Concerted efforts in the UAE are therefore needed towards increasing efforts in recycling will go a long way in reducing the adverse effects of climate change. Though recycling alone will not completely mitigate climate change, its contribution will be critical. Recycling has a great potential in mitigating the negative effects of climate change and even potentially slowing down the process.I strongly believe that global warming and climate change are occurring at increased rates. The occurrence of floods,storms, and droughts has increased. The above research studies assert energy use reductions with recycling compared to new manufacture reduces GHG emissions all of which have a positive effect on climate. These all reduce emissions that in turn reduce the rate of global warming, and in the end reduce climate change. From the research, success stories of how much potential recycling has in the reduction of emissions of CO2 and other GHG emissions are present. For example in a case study in America it was found that a third of the total landfill represents dumped packaging material which, if recycled, has the potential to reduce the amount of methane gas that is produced from the landfills. Recycling should start at the household level through efficient use of resources and recycling of wastes. In this way, the process of recycling is easier up the chain and we can all reap the benefits of a safe environment. Reduced climate change impacts that result from GHG emissions that form a blanket and result in global warming will reduce. This is in contrast to what has been occurring in the past few years in terms of floods and other abnormal climate events. Annotated Bibliography Acton, Q. A. (2012). Advances in Climate Change and Global Warming Research and Application. New York: ScholarlyEditions. ( I chose this source because of its up to date information and being a published research report the information is reliable.) Climate Change and Recycling. (2014). Retrieved April 29, 2015, from Califonians against Waste: http://www.cawrecycles.org/issues/ghg (I chose this website because of its focus on recyling.Information is focused on research and therefore very relevant to my research) EPA. (2011). Source Reduction and Recycling: A Role in Preventing Global Climate Change. EPA.(I chose this website because of reliability of the data published.EPA is a state agency and therefore information is very reliable) EPA . ( 2009). Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions. New York: EPA  Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response .(I chose this website because of reliability of the data.EPA is a state agency and therefore information is very reliable) How Recycling can Help Stop Global Warming. (2007). Retrieved April 29, 2015, from Help Stop Global Warming: http://www.help-stop-global-warming.com/global-warming-recycling.html(I chose this website because of its specialisation on recycling and global warming and threfore information is accurate) IPCC. (2007). "Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis, Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.". New York.(I chose this report as a source mainly because of the organisation IPCC which is a very reliable source) Langholz, J. (2013). You Can Prevent Global Warming (and Save Money!). New York: Andrews McMeel Publishing.(Being a published book information is true and reliable) Long, B. (2012). Reduce, recycle and reuse to decrease climate change-More energy conservation could affect the occurence of major storms like Hurricane Sandy. Michigan State University Extension.(Being a university published article information is accurate since it has been subjected to a study or research and reviewed by a panel) Newton, I. (2015). 200 Ways To Fight Global Warming. New York.(As applies to books being already published means data is reliable) Recycling & Global Climate Change. (2009). Retrieved April 29, 2015, from http://www.all-recycling-facts.com/global-climate-change.html (I chose this website because of specialisation in recycling which is the aim of my research) Recycling Basics. (2015, February 18). Retrieved April 29, 2015, from EPA: http://www2.epa.gov/recycle/recycling-basics (I chose this website because of reliability of the data.EPA is a state agency and therefore information is very reliable) The Connection Between Recycling and Global Warming. (2015). Retrieved April 29, 2015, from GREEN GUARDIAN: http://www.doitgreen.org/green-living/connection-between-recycling-and-global-warming (I chose this site because of the relevance of information published in it to my research) UNEP. (2009). COPENHAGEN SEAL THE DEAL-Power Green Growth ,Protect the Planet. United Nations Environment Programme (p. 22). Copenhagen: UNEP.(Information published by the UN is accurate and reliable) Watson, R. (2009). A Fast, Cheap Way to Cool the Planet. Wall Street Journal.(I chose this articlee because of reliability of the publisher Wall Street Journal.) Appendix A Self-reflection I started this research by identifying that climate change is a very controversial issue in today’s world. The amount of wastes in a world with an ever-increasing population is also becoming an issue. To tackle the issue of climate change different efforts have to be combined. One such effort in which the UAE can undertake is recycling. I started by determining the state of research in the UAE which is very minimal and ascertaining that this is one way in which the UAE may be involved in. Resources to aid the UAE were mainly concentrated on assuring the UAE that indeed recycling held promise in mitigating climate change. Ifound the articles on recycling especially interesting. Initially the knowledge I had about recycling were mainly the re use of thing to prevent pollution and promote savings. With the further readings,I was able to appreciate the massive potential that recycling held in promoting the fight against climate change. I was able to understand the threat in terms of emissions that waste that was left in the landfills posed in terms of GHG emissions. I began writing the essay by a reflection of the state of climate change both in UAE and the world and the rapid changes that are associated with it. At first, it was difficult but with the further readings,I was able to understand the issue better. Further information to support my research was aided by information from the municipal council who were especially helpful in providing insights on the state of wastes in the landfills. I feel that recycling is a very important topic that is not receiving much focus, as it should in the UAE. In other area such as China, they identified this long ago and have stepped up efforts to recycle and reduce wastes. I feel that my research findings if adopted by the UAE government will really go a long way in the fight against global warming. Read More