Waste Management Practices, 2nd Edition

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6

Recycling Solid Wastes

We are not to throw away those things which can benet our neighbor. Goods are called good

because they can be used for good: they are instruments for good, in the hands of those who

use them properly.

Clement of Alexandria (ca. 150–220 CE)

6.1 INTRODUCTION

In an era when energy conservation, material cost and availability, and solid waste management are

critical concerns to municipal administrations, scientists, and the general public, it is imperative that

the importance of recycling and the value of products manufactured from scrap are appreciated.

As we shall see, the benets from waste recycling are not solely environmental, but economic and

aesthetic as well.

As discussed in Chapter1, integrated waste management embraces a hierarchy of management

options to achieve maximum economic and environmental returns. Recycling was listed near the

top of the hierarchy and will be addressed in this chapter.

As indicated in Chapter2, recycling is not a new phenomenon. Animal manure, plant debris, and

“night soil” have been applied to agricultural lands for millennia, and rag pickers were important

recyclers in America as recently as the early twentieth century. Modern recycling can trace its roots

back to the 1960s, following citizen awareness of myriad environmental and public health concerns.

At that time, however, recycling programs often emphasized segregation of materials from the

waste stream. Unfortunately, markets were not established for the purchase and reuse of separated

materials. Manufacturers were reluctant to invest and participate in new processing technologies,

and many were not equipped to handle these so-called “secondary materials.” As a result, many

separated materials found their way to the landll. Recycling programs failed not only due to a

lack of processing but also, more importantly, due to a lack of established markets for separated

materials.

A new environmental awareness arose by the late 1980s, catalyzed by news of wash-ups of

medical wastes, decline of landll space, possible global warming, and atmospheric ozone depletion.

At this time, sanitary landlls were closing and new ones faced substantial regulatory and grass-

roots opposition to permitting and siting. The cost of disposing wastes correspondingly increased.

As a result, interest in recycling by the public and, signicantly, by industries and government

increased markedly.

In recent years, many community recycling efforts originated from efforts to reduce the

waste load to the local landll, thus saving tax dollars. Recycling drop-off centers and materi-

als recovery facilities (MRFs) were established by municipalities as a result of public pressure.

On a national and state scale, legislation has been promulgated that encourages recycling of

MSW. Some regulations are aimed at waste generators, whether the individual homeowner

or business; some take the form of guidelines or requirements for extending the lifetime of

the local landll. On the heels of federal mandates since 1990, most states set specic guide-

lines for reducing the quantities of waste entering landlls. These quotas were to be met via a

combination of source reduction, recycling, and composting. Other legislation addressed the

purchase of recycled materials. Some government ofces, for example, are now required to