Recycling is the process of collecting and processing used materials, that would be thrown away, to turn them into new products.

A landfill compaction vehicle in action.

image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_management#/media/File:Landfill_compactor.jpg

Introduction of recycling

American poster from World War II. 1942 and circa 1943

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling#/media/File:Scrap^_Will_Help_Win._Don’t_Mix_it_-_NARA_-_533983.jpg

Although recycling may seem like a modern concept introduced with the environmental movements of the 1970s, it’s actually been around for thousands of years. But, after the industrial age, a large-scale recycling plan was needed to minimize the effects of disposable objects’ mass production on the environment.

WHY?

Recycling is an important factor in conserving natural resources and greatly contributes towards improving the environment. Recycling also offers a sustainable solution to regular waste streams by lowering our input into municipal landfills and helping extend the expected life of a landfill by decades, drastically lowering our environmental impact. Product development from recycled materials is also the key to maximize the benefits of recycling. This leads to a number of economic opportunities to remanufacture products with the recovered material.

image source: https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/e6426545-5de2-4f4c-a6e5-91ad04e2b2f1 by NOAA’s National Ocean Service

HOW?

Recycling is broken down into three steps as follows:

Collecting and processing can be accomplished in several ways: some communities have curbside programs to pick up your recyclables on the street. Others have community drop off bins that you can stop by and deliver your recycling;
Once its recyclate quality is established, the recyclable material will be sorted, cleaned, baled and sent to a plant to be converted to a marketable raw material;
Products are made with recycled raw material, returned to the market and purchased by consumers, finishing the recycling loop.

image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_management#/media/File:Waste_hierarchy_rect-en.svg