Although recycling is now common across the country, there is still much room for improvement. The EPA estimates that seventy five percent of municipal solid waste is recyclable, but the US only recycles about thirty five percent. Improving recycling rates is one way that we can ensure a sustainable future of waste management. One example of a successful recycling program is in San Francisco where they enforce mandatory recycling and composting, the goal: zero waste by 2020. They have already succeeded in diverting eighty percent of waste from landfills (Teitelbaum, 2015). Simple ways to improve recycling include education and goal setting. In some work places setting a goal rapidly increases recycling rates (Lingard, H., et al., 2001). Working
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It is used in many small nations to reduce the amount of land needed for waste storage. The most efficient way to incinerate waste is to harvest its energy in the process. These waste to energy facilities burn waste, to boil water, to power steam generators. Using this process one ton of waste can produce two megawatt hours of heat and two thirds of a megawatt hour of electricity. The resulting ash can be cut down to just five percent of the original waste volume when compressed, dramatically reducing the demand for landfill space. Some opponents of incineration say that it reduces recycling rates. Although this may have some validity, incineration may be sustainable for post-recycling residual trash processing (Waste Management …show more content…
Although many countries with high recycling rates use it for residual waste, the incentive for recycling may be lower in countries that incinerate. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden burn at least fifty percent of their waste and only recycle about thirty percent of their waste while Germany incinerates fifteen percent less and recycles fifteen percent more. One study found that recycling saves on average three to five times the amount of energy that incineration produces. Plastic products are among the most energy rich fuels to use in an incinerator as they are fossil fuel products. Burning plastic can also produce harmful byproducts; burning all waste forms greenhouse gasses. The United States only incinerates twelve percent of our waste, but we harvest little of the energy from it. Further, incineration is neither the most efficient or environmentally conscious method of recovering energy from waste (Seltenrich, N.,
It is used in many small nations to reduce the amount of land needed for waste storage. The most efficient way to incinerate waste is to harvest its energy in the process. These waste to energy facilities burn waste, to boil water, to power steam generators. Using this process one ton of waste can produce two megawatt hours of heat and two thirds of a megawatt hour of electricity. The resulting ash can be cut down to just five percent of the original waste volume when compressed, dramatically reducing the demand for landfill space. Some opponents of incineration say that it reduces recycling rates. Although this may have some validity, incineration may be sustainable for post-recycling residual trash processing (Waste Management …show more content…
Although many countries with high recycling rates use it for residual waste, the incentive for recycling may be lower in countries that incinerate. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden burn at least fifty percent of their waste and only recycle about thirty percent of their waste while Germany incinerates fifteen percent less and recycles fifteen percent more. One study found that recycling saves on average three to five times the amount of energy that incineration produces. Plastic products are among the most energy rich fuels to use in an incinerator as they are fossil fuel products. Burning plastic can also produce harmful byproducts; burning all waste forms greenhouse gasses. The United States only incinerates twelve percent of our waste, but we harvest little of the energy from it. Further, incineration is neither the most efficient or environmentally conscious method of recovering energy from waste (Seltenrich, N.,