The Estuary Program works to protect Morro Bay for people and wildlife, which can include addressing human-caused impacts such as trash. We host cleanups throughout the year, including for Earth Day, July 4th, and California Coastal Cleanup Day. This blog, the third in our series on waste, focuses on the world of recycling. What is it, and how can we make sure it’s done effectively? Read on to learn more.
What Is Recycling?
According to the EPA, recycling is “the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash and turning them into new products.” While many people think of paper, metal, and glass as recyclable items, recycling also includes processes such as composting and salvaging.
There is evidence of recycling dating back to pre-industrial times. This includes shredding paper to make paper pulp or melting down metals to re-form them. In this context, recycling was done for economic purposes. It was often cheaper and simpler to recycle an existing object than to make it from “virgin” materials. Recycling and salvaging became popular again during World Wars I and II. Citizens were encouraged to recycle, reuse, and reduce so that more materials could be put towards the war effort. Recycling gained popularity again in the 1970s due to the environmental movement and rising energy costs.
Recycling has grown in popularity in recent decades with increases in e-waste, disposable products, and new types of plastic. However, recycling has also become more challenging as new synthetic materials are developed that are harder to recycle than natural items like metal or paper.
Benefits and Challenges of Recycling
There are many economic, social, and environmental benefits to recycling. Making products with recycled rather than virgin materials conserves resources and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling also reduces waste by diverting recyclable materials from landfills.
Recycling also has economic benefits. According to ecocycle.org, recycling creates nine times more jobs compared to trash management, while reuse creates 30 times more jobs. The EPA reports that in one year, recycling and reuse accounts for 681,000 jobs and $37.8 billion in wages in the United States. Excess trash can be an eyesore, polluting our natural waterways and harming wildlife. By diverting some waste into the recycling stream, these problems can be minimized.
However, recycling still faces many challenges. Because municipal recycling capabilities differ between cities, it can be challenging to determine what exactly can be recycled in your area. This leads to people throwing recyclable items in the trash, unnecessarily increasing the flow of items to landfills. On the other hand, people may put non-recyclable items in the recycling, a process colloquially known as “wishcycling.” Improperly recycled items can break sorting machines, slow down the recycling process, or contaminate a whole batch of recycling and cause it to be sent to the landfill. Recycling infrastructure is outdated or nonexistent in many places, especially rural areas. Recycling is not always well integrated into the waste management process, which can reduce the success of a recycling program.
What Is Recyclable?
To find out which items are recyclable in your area, check with your local waste management authority. Here in SLO County, solid waste is managed by the Integrated Waste Management Authority. They have an easy-to-use recycling guide on their website that details the proper way to dispose of household items. The guide also details how to prepare items for recycling. For example, plastic soda bottles should be rinsed out, and it’s okay to leave plastic caps attached. The EPA also has a detailed webpage on how to recycle common household items.
Alternatives to Recycling
Looking beyond recycling , there are other strategies to reduce waste. The EPA has developed a waste management hierarchy to show the preferred order of these strategies.
According to the hierarchy, “source reduction and reuse” should be prioritized over recycling. Source reduction means reducing the amount of waste generated when purchasing new items. This can include buying items in bulk or choosing products with reduced, reused, or recycled packaging or ingredients. Source reduction also includes buying items made with natural materials like cotton or hemp rather than opting for man-made materials like polyester or nylon.
Reuse means using an item again, rather than buying something new. An example is reusing a plastic grocery bag as a trash bag. Reuse also includes donating items so that they can be reused by others, or buying used items rather than new. The lowest levels of the hierarchy, energy recovery and treatment & disposal, occur at municipal-level waste treatment facilities rather than at home. Although they are less preferred than reduction, reuse, and recycling, they are still important elements of waste management.
So help make a difference! Get educated on what items your waste authority can recycle. Reduce the waste you generate and opt for used items rather than new. Small actions on your part can have big impacts on the environment.
Sources:
https://www.iwma.com/recycling-guide
https://www.epa.gov/recycle/recycling-basics-and-benefits
https://www.epa.gov/recycle/how-do-i-recycle-common-recyclables
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