In today’s modern society, many different processes are used to obtain raw materials and manufacture them into useful products that support all facets of life throughout the world.  Whether obtaining metals used for making aluminum cans or cellular phone components, or whether harvesting trees needed to make newspapers, or when extracting oil needed to produce plastic for water bottles, each of these processes can involve mining, harvesting, transportation, chemical processing or other similar industrial methods to develop these raw materials for use in the manufacturing of a given product.  Because of the environmentally exhaustive and intrusive nature of these processes, it is increasingly more important to expand alternative and sustainable methods of obtaining raw materials that can help to preserve our natural resources and sustain a healthy environment for generations to come.

One such sustainable method to acquire raw materials for industry is to recycle them from products destined to be discarded. Fortunately , recycling efforts in the United States are not a new concept.  In fact, recycling has been a relatively common practice in the United States for many decades.  The practice of recycling was critically important during the years leading up to and during World War II when the need for manufacturing materials was at a high, and materials recycled accounted for appx 25% of the nation’s waste stream at that time.¹   In the decades following, recycling efforts had slowed somewhat but with the emergence of concerns towards the health of our environment and sustaining our natural resources, recycling nationwide is again on the upswing. Studies supporting this trend have since reported a rise in our nation’s post consumer compositing and recycling from 7.7% in the early 1960’s, to around 30% in the present decade.¹

Recycling of the more common re-usable materials such as paper, glass, plastic, tin and aluminum are still the cornerstone of the nation’s recycling efforts.  However, in more recent decades recycling has also focused on Iron, steel and other more rare metals such as copper, lead, gold, silver, platinum, lithium and palladium.  Many of these rare metals are used in today’s high tech electronics, jewelry, automotive components and batteries.   As such, recycling of the more rare metals has begun to focus on electronics and batteries.  The average American household uses approximately 28 different high-tech electronics ranging from cellular phones to personal computers, tablets, smart tv’s and audio devices.²  The rare metals used to manufacture these types of products come from natural deposits of minerals and ores that are increasingly difficult to obtain due to the high demand for these products and the depletion of known reserves of these metal ore’s.   In 2018 alone, it has been estimated that Americans generated 2.7 million tons of discarded electronic devices.²  It is also known that by incinerating these devices as waste or by the process of oxidation of these metals when left in landfills, there is a potential for the release of toxins into the environment. The resulting release of such toxins from incinerated or degrading electronic devices is known as “E-Waste”.   In an effort to conserve the use of natural resources, limit energy consumption and reduce E-Waste pollution, the EPA has developed models for Sustainable Management of Electronics and Stewardship.²  One of the staples of this model is to employ the use of recycling and re-use of the metals in these products, and further prevent them from being discarded into the environment.  These programs and models have led to the increased use of recycling, take-back, drop-off, and trade in programs throughout the electronics and recycling industry.   

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¹ Stanford University -Stanford.edu -Benefits of recycling

² EPA/Electronics/basic information-about-electronics                                                                                                                                            

Benefits of Recycling

ENERGY SAVINGS:

Recycling of re-usable materials significantly helps to keep our energy costs down.   For example, the recycling of aluminum cans saves 95% of the energy needed to produce the same amount of aluminum from virgin resources.¹   Similarly, the recycling of 1-Ton of news paper can save as much as 601kwh of energy that is needed to process new paper.  The combined energy used to manufacture these products new as opposed to recycling them is equivalent to the annual output of 15-power plants! ¹

LANDFILL WASTE REDUCTION:                   

The recycling of re-usable materials can greatly reduce the need for space within the nation’s landfills.  The following examples show just how much landfill space is needed to store these discarded materials; ¹

• One ton of discarded Aluminum will take up to 10 cubic yards                                   
• One ton of discarded Newspaper will take up to 4.6 cubic yards                
• One ton of discarded Office paper will take up to 3.3 cubic yards
• One ton of discarded Plastics will take up to 30 cubic yards                                                    
• One ton of discarded Steel will take up to 4 cubic yards                                                             
• One ton of discarded Glass will take up to 2 cubic yards                                                                                

ENVIRONMENTAL and NATURAL RESOURCE PROTECTION:      

There are many processes which are used to locate, mine, extract, harvest, transport and then process raw materials for the manufacturing of products needed to support everyday life. These many different processes can attribute to considerable negative effects upon our environment and places a strain upon the stability of our natural resources.   With the known prevalence of the many different raw materials comprised within waste generated from discarded manufactured goods, it becomes increasingly apparent how recycling can play a critical role in preserving our natural resources. In 2014 it was estimated that Americans generated 258 million tons of trash and were able to recycle approximately 66.4 million tons of this material. ¹   By taking further actions aimed at recycling raw materials and by continuing to instill the use of recycling-based manufacturing, there will continue to be less overall need for tree harvesting, fossil fuel extraction, mining of metal ores, minerals and other raw materials from our natural resource reserves.

Recycling practices also offer a valuable layer of protection to the environment by contributing to; Less degradation and development of land, less use of water, longer landfill lifespans, a reduction in the use of fossil fuels used for processing and by considerably reducing the overall waste stream and the pollution that is created by waste disposal methods and the processing of new raw materials.

For more information about the benefits of recycling, electronics take back programs or general recycling services in your area, view the EPA website or contact your local health department or solid waste collection provider.      

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¹ Stanford University/Stanford.edu/ Benefits of recycling-2016