Recycling began in the mid 1980’s. Before this
time, 75% of New York States waste was poured into the Atlantic
Ocean. This, of course, was environmentally harmful. Our states
waste was also being placed in landfills. Recycling started to make
more sense when landfill rates were getting higher and higher.
In 1989 the Waste Management Law was passed. New Yorkers began to
separate their garbage. Recycling began in New York City as a
voluntary program in 1986, but it 1989, it became mandatory.
By recycling, we are helping our environment. Recycling can only
work if we consumers actually recycle. It is also necessary that we
recycle the right way.
Recycling is collecting materials from the solid waste stream and
processing them into new products for people to buy. It involves the
following three steps: collecting and separating our recyclables,
processing these materials, and re-manufacturing products from these
materials. Consumers help this process along by cleaning and
separating recyclable products from trash.
The types of materials collected for recycling vary from city to
city. Items that can be recycled include paper, glass, cardboard,
cans, and plastic. When these items are recycled, our dependence on
landfills and incinerators is reduced. Recycling also protects our
health and environment. Recycling conserves our natural resources,
too. When consumers recycle, it helps save materials and energy.
Recycling also cuts down on pollution. We should reduce the amount
of garbage we generate by purchasing and using recycled products
wisely. We should reuse and recycle all materials as much as
possible. Consumers are the key in this process. When consumers send
clean and separated recyclables to the recycling facility, recycling
works best.
However, everyday consumers throw away countless items that should
be recycled. For example, in 1998, OCRRA (Onondaga County Resource
Recovery Agency) found that almost ten percent of Onondaga trash was
cardboard, newspaper, and magazines. These are items that should
have been recycled. When consumers don’t recycle recyclable items,
those items only add to a landfill instead of being remade into new
products. Another problem is dirty recyclables. Factories melt
plastic, but they can’t remove all the impurities.
Additionally, many consumers don’t realize the importance of
separating their recyclable items. When consumers don’t separate it
causes problems in the recycling process downstream. At the
recycling facility, much time and money is spent on separating what
consumers didn’t separate.
A bigger problem occurs even further downstream at the factories
that reuse recycled products. For example, a paper mill may buy
recycled paper with glass impurities. These pieces of glass can ruin
machines. Which are expensive to repair and replace. When glass
mixes in with paper it breaks a machine, the paper mill experiences
downtime. Which is further cost. Finally, if glass impurities are
too much then the paper mill might stop buying recycled paper. This,
of course, would mean more trees get logged to make the new paper.
In Onondaga County, OCRRA has been trying to improve recycling
efficiency by trying to get the consumers to recycle better. It is
currently studying what consumers throw away and recycle. OCRRA
hopes to find what consumers need to recycle more to make recycling
in Onondaga county work better.
OCRRA is also attempting to educate consumers. It is promoting the
idea that “two bins are better than one.” Consumers also get
educated about recycling through OCRRA television commercials.
In conclusion, the consumer is the key to success of recycling. We
need to recycle as much as we can to help our environment; taking a
few minutes out of our day to clean and separate our recyclables is
the beginning of an efficient recycling process. When consumers
realize how important it is to clean and separate their recyclables,
they will improve what recycling already is today.
For continued recycling success, consumers will always be the key.
