 Recycling helps our environment stay clean.  An enormous progress has been made over the year because of the bins.  They ordered paper, cans, cardboard and other materials to enter into the blue bins.  Recycling has been around for thousands of years, and will continue to have the same process over and over again.  People started to recycle as early as 400 b.c.  In the history of recycling, for the United States, the first city to mandate recycling was Woodbury, New Jersey. History of Recycling

REDUCE The 17 trees saved by recycling one ton of paper can absorb a total of 250 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the air each year.

Recycling Facts Recycling Facts  The average American uses 650 pounds of paper each year.  100 million tons of wood could be saved each year if all that paper was recycled.  Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour.  About 80% of what Americans throw away is recyclable yet our recycling rate is only 28%.

Recycling Graph Recycling Graph

Where Do Recycled Items Go?

 Step 1 The recycling truck unloads materials. Materials are carried along a conveyor belt to a V screen separator. The V screen separator divides out newspaper, cardboard, and other paper items. Heavier materials like plastic, metal and glass fall through the separator to a conveyor belt below. The collected paper products are bundled to get ready for processing. Plastic, metal and glass items continue their journey onward.  Step 2 Materials are recovered from the recyclables using a two step process. First, giant magnets attract ferrous metal. These items are iron, tin and steel. The magnets remove ferrous metal products from the belt and puts them in a bin where they can be prepared for a metal mill.

 Step 3 Since aluminum products like soda cans, are not magnetic, they continue along with the plastic and glass recyclables towards a eddy current rotor. Eddy currents create strong fields of energy around non magnetic materials. Now its time for physics to step in. The eddy current causes aluminum items to shoot away from the other items on the belt and into a collection bin.  Step 4 By now paper, ferrous metals and non magnetic metals have been sorted from the bunch. That leaves plastics and glass to continue along the belt. During the next step an optical scanning system recognizes plastic materials and pushes them off the belt into a bin using a blast of air.

 Step 5 Now only glass remains on the belt. The heavier glass items reach the end of the belt and are collected in a bin. That completes the separating process.  Step 6 Here’s what happens to each material after it has been separated.  PAPER: The paper is loaded into a machine that removes ink from the paper. Paper degrades each time it is recycled so it can’t always be used to make new paper.  METAL: Using very high heat (up to 2800 F) the metal becomes a liquid. The liquid goes into molds and becomes metal bars that can be used for bridges, aluminum cans, and much more.  PLASTIC: The number on the plastic is sorted into different groups. It is then turned into flakes and melted down.  GLASS: The glass is crushed into tiny pieces. It is then melted down and is used for doorknobs, tile, and even jewelry beads.

How does recycling help the environment ?

Recycling reduces the garbage placed in landfills, which helps the environment by reducing the need for new landfills. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there are over 3,000 active landfills in the United States and over 10,000 old municipal landfills. active Modern landfills are sealed tightly in an attempt to protect the environment from contamination, they also inhibit degradation of organic waste. Items that consumers purchase because they are biodegradable and therefore, are supposed to decay quickly, are taking decades to decay when sealed off from air and water. Papers, including newspapers, are a major filler of modern landfills. If individuals would recycle all of their newspapers, they could significantly prolong the use of each landfill, not to mention save many trees from being cut down.

Help the world by recycling

References  WONDEROPOLIS.ORG  Read more: How Does Recycling Help the Environment? | eHow.com does_ _recycling-help- environment.html#ixzz1c5o9NjnS How Does Recycling Help the Environment? | eHow.com does_ _recycling-help- environment.html#ixzz1c5o9NjnSHow Does Recycling Help the Environment? | eHow.com does_ _recycling-help- environment.html#ixzz1c5o9NjnS