المواد القابلة لإعادة التدوير
Reducing and Reusing Basics
The most effective way to reduce waste is to not create it in the first place. Making a new product emits greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change and requires a lot of materials and energy – raw materials must be extracted from the earth, and the product must be fabricated then transported to wherever it will be sold.
As a result, reduction and reuse are the most effective ways you can save natural resources, protect the environment and save money. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlines various methods for reduce and reuse below.
Benefits of Reducing and Reusing.
- Reduces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
- Prevents pollution caused by reducing the need to harvest new raw materials.
- Saves energy.
- Reduces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change.
- Helps sustain the environment for future generations.
- Reduces the amount of waste that will need to be recycled or sent to landfills and incinerators.
- Allows products to be used to their fullest extent.
- Saves money.
Ideas on How to Reduce and Reuse
- Think Green Before You ShopReduce associated greenhouse gas emissions by thinking green when you shop.
- Reduce your food waste by shopping smart, buying what you need, composting food scraps, and donating unused food to food banks or sheltersMore ways to reduce your impact.
- Reuse or repurpose items such as old clothing, cloth grocery bags, and containers to prevent waste.
- Buy used items to reduce waste as well as the emissions created by producing new materials or disposing of them in landfills. Donate unused clothing, electronics and building materials to make sure others can reuse them too!
- Buy products made with recycled content. Check labels to see if a product or its packaging is made from recycled materials.
- Know before you throw. Know what items your local recycling program collects and encourage your household to recycle right and recycle more.
- Learn about what else you can do at home, at school, at work and in your community!
- Maintain and repair products, like clothing, tires and appliances, so that they won’t have to be thrown out and replaced as frequently.
- Borrow, rent or share items that are used infrequently, like party decorations, tools or furniture
Recycling Basics and Benefits
Recycling is the practice of gathering and processing waste materials to create new goods. Recycling benefits community, economy, and the environment. Only recycle products that cannot be reduced or reused. The waste management hierarchy must be observed, which classifies various waste management systems from most to least sustainable. The hierarchy prioritizes waste reduction, reuse, then recycling.
Recycling System Overview
The recycling process is made up of three steps that are repeated over and over again. This creates a continuous loop which is represented by the familiar chasing arrows recycling symbol.
EPA describes the three steps of the recycling process below:
Step 1: Collection and Processing
Businesses and consumers generate recyclables that are separated at source then collected by a private service providers usually. There are several methods for collecting recyclables, including curbside collection, drop-off centers and recycling banks.
After collection, recyclables are sent to a recovery facility to be cleaned, and processed into materials that can be used in manufacturing. Recyclables are bought and sold just like raw materials would be, and prices go up and down depending on supply and demand in the market.
Step 2: Manufacturing
After processing, recyclables are made into new products at a recycling plant or similar facility. More and more of today’s products are being manufactured with recycled content.
Recycled materials are also used in new ways such as recovered glass in asphalt to pave roads or recovered plastic in carpeting and park benches.
Step 3: Purchasing New Products Made from Recycled Materials
You help close the recycling loop by buying new products made from recycled materials. There are thousands of products that contain recycled content. When you go shopping, look for the following:
– Products that can be easily recycled
– Products that contain recycled content
Separation at Source
Separation at source is the first and most critical step in recycling and recovering the value of waste. It is also an important step in managing your waste on-site in a smooth and cost-effective manner.
Waste in any facility is generated from multiple sources and comes in various types of material for instance, glass, paper, plastics, food scraps, etc. When the waste gets mixed up in waste bins extra efforts are needed to segregate it later to recover the material for recycling.
In addition, some material may get polluted and hence becomes difficult to recycle, for instance, when plastic is strongly polluted with food scraps or other types of plastics and leftovers, it either would be recycled into lower value plastic or becomes very expensive to segregate and clean rendering which leads to unprofitable recycling process. Separation at source refers to ensuring that waste from the start doesn’t get mixed.
Separation at source can take place through various strategies. One for instance could choose to have a deep separation by putting dedicated recycling bins for paper, metal, glass, plastic, food scrapes, and others. This is an example of an advanced separation at source leading to the highest chance of recovery of the value in waste. More simple strategies could focus on separating food and organic waste in one type of bins (referred to as wet waste) and everything else in a separate bin (referred to as dry waste). This strategy is based on the fact that it is much easier for recyclers later to separate dry waste such as metals, plastics and paper from one another than having to separate them from wet waste (organic waste). This strategy is easier to implement but recovers less of the value of waste. Bins are typically marked through signs and colors and the process sometimes requires awareness raising to the facility staff. Also, sometimes, your clients would need communication on the purpose of separation and how it is done.
Another strategy is to focus on separating at source only in certain part of your facility or for a single stream. For instance, simply putting a special bin for paper waste close by to employees’ desk or close by printers. Or for instance, putting a bin for coffee cups close by coffee selling places in the facility.
Beside giving you the chance to sell the recyclables or at least get a discount from the service provider, there are many other benefits. Separation at source sends a message that your institution cares about the environment and is trying to increase recycling chances. In addition, it leads to less bottlenecks in collection and managing of waste in your facility. For instance, if you separate food waste from other types of waste, you can focus on removing food waste from bins more frequently leading to cleaner environment and less effort in emptying the dry waste bins. Separation also allows you to tune the size of bins to the type of waste generated in a certain area (for instance, larger food bins close to food courts in a mall). Separation at source, is truly the most critical step in a successful recycling industry.
How Do I Recycle Common Recyclables
Deciding to recycle items is just the first step. You also want to make sure the items are recycled correctly.
Below you will find common recyclables and related recycling information.
For general tips on how to recycle correctly, visit Recycling 101 on EPA website.
Paper/Cardboard
Paper makes up high percent of municipal solid waste (trash) generated each year.
The recovered paper is used to make new paper products, which saves trees and other natural resources.
Look for products that are made from recycled paper when you shop.
Better yet, consider if you really need to print in the first place.
Examples of paper/cardboard items that could be recycled:
- Newspapers.
- Magazines & books.
- Pizza boxes if they don’t have grease.
- Mail & envelopes.
- Paper containers and boxes if they are not contaminated.
Plastics
Be aware that Some types of plastics are not accepted in recycling programs.
When possible, purchase products made of recyclable materials or from recycled plastic materials.
These symbols on the bottom of plastic bottles and containers were created to identify the type of plastic used to make the container.
This can help you determine whether the item is recyclable by your service provider.
The resin number is contained in a triangle that looks very similar to the recycling symbol. However, this symbol does not necessarily mean it can be collected for recycling in your place.
Aluminum
Both aluminum cans and foil can be recycled.
Metal
Ferrous metals (iron and steel) have very high rate of recycling.
Glass
Glass, especially glass food and beverage containers, can be recycled over and over again.
Food
Food in general cannot be recycled, few food items could be recycled or upcycled. However, throwing food into the trash is not the best management option. It is recommended to reduce food waste by buying only what you need and by eating your leftovers. Composting is an environmentally-friendly method of food waste disposal as well.
Used Oil
Never dump your used motor oil down the drain — the used oil from one oil change can contaminate one million gallons of fresh water. By recycling your used oil, you help keep our water supply clean. Additionally, it takes only one gallon of used oil to produce 2.5 quarts of new motor oil compared to 42 gallons of crude oil. Many garages and specialized companies accept oil for recycling.
Tires
Most garages are required to accept and recycle your used tires -through specialized service providers- when you have new ones put on.
Electronics
About 38.5 percent of electronics could be recycled. Electronics cannot be recycled curbside, but they can be dropped off at specific collection sites. Specialized service providers offer several options to donate or recycle electronics, including cell phones, computers, and televisions.
What Do Your Recyclables Become?
Preventing Wasted Food
Most people don’t realize how much food they throw away every day — from uneaten leftovers to spoiled produce to parts of fruits and vegetables that could be eaten or repurposed. Preventing food from going to waste is one of the easiest and most powerful actions you can take to save money and lower your climate change footprint by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and conserving natural resources.
Benefits of Preventing Wasted Food:
- Save money by buying only what you need, eating what you buy, and avoiding throwing away food.
- Reduce your environmental and climate change footprint, by:
- Conserve resources and energy. When food is wasted, the land, water, energy, and other inputs that are used in producing, processing, transporting, preparing, storing, and disposing the food are wasted as well.
- Reduce GHG emissions. More than 85 percent of GHG emissions from landfilled food waste result from activities prior to food entering a landfill, including the production, transport, processing, and distribution of food. Plus, when food decomposes in a landfill, methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is emitted.
Build your entity waste management plan
One of the most important steps towards efficient reduce, reuse, and recycling practices is to build your waste management plan.
For more information about that, please refer to Waste Management Planning section.
Recycling banks
Collaboration with GAM is taking place to pilot two “Recycling Banks” in Amman as new and innovative solution that aims to encourage the “separation at source” practices and test new business models of urban recycling, in terms of proposed requirements, actual volumes, and quantities.
People, entities, and collectors will be able to deliver recyclable waste directly to the recycling bank, and get rewards as well.
Contract RSP
In the transformation journey of the commercial facility generating waste towards reducing, reusing, and recycling waste, various measures will require the support of service providers and recyclers to ensure effective engagement of both. Waste management and recycling services can be diverse and at times hard to define.
It is of critical importance to:
- Choose suitable licensed service providers.
- Choose the right package of services.
- Develop appropriate and fair contractual service agreements.
A directory containing a list of service providers and recyclers in Amman was developed by the USAID Recycling in Jordan. The services offered by each service provider as well as scope of services are also indicated in the directory.
This can facilitate the search for the most suitable service providers. The list can also provide options for recycling of waste, by type of waste, through recyclers operating in the area of the commercial facility. The list does not necessarily represent all service providers and recyclers in the market, but rather those identified by the USAID Recycling in Jordan.
Moreover, it is the responsibility of the waste generator to check for the licensed service providers that can satisfy their performance expectations as per the best contract agreements. Please refer to Services Provider Directory for more information.
For more information about recyclable materials and options, we encourage to visit recycling page in The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) here.
