So, you put your recycling out and think "I'm doin' my part!" In reality, much of what you put in your recycling ends up being thrown into the regular garbage, particularly plastics with a number higher then 2.
I'm not saying recycling is a bad thing as I'm sure millions of metric tonnes of waste have not ended up in landfills. What we need to remember is that recycling requires energy and produces it's own waste as well.
You need electricity to run the lights and conveyor belts the recyclables come in on to be sorted and that piece of paper you wrote on, you need water and I'm sure some other chemicals to break that paper down before it can be made into a new piece of paper.
So, here is my ideal recycling facility. It would be powered by green energy via geothermal, wind, and solar panels, and have a sophisticated water recycling system to minimize it's need for additional water.
Hmmm, now I have to see how many recycling facilities actually meet any of the aforementioned criteria. I'm sure there has to be a least one right?
No comments:
Post a Comment