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The recycling is the physiochemical or mechanical process with which a matter already used undergoes a treatment cycle that allows to obtain a new raw material or a new product.
Thanks to recycling, the disuse of materials that can be potentially useful is prevented, at the same time that the consumption of a new raw material is reduced when new products can be obtained. In this way, garbage production in the world is reduced in two ways when the recycling process is done.
History of recycling
The origins of recycling go back many years BC, to the extent that trash It has existed from the moment in which the human being appeared on the planet: since the first civilizations it is that the accumulation of waste has been a problem that has been increasing.
Undoubtedly, one of the moments that changed the history of recycling was the Industrial Revolution, the moment in which the production of new goods, allowing many companies to mass-produce their materials for the first time.
However, the financial difficulties caused by the crisis of 1929, and then by the Second World War, meant that the amount of waste was limited to the bare minimum, which was decreasing until the 1970s: at that time the public interest began for recycling, and measures to encourage this practice.
It can serve you: Examples of Environmental Problems
Mechanical and source recycling
Recycling is a fundamental action in the commercial and industrial process, as well as in the home environment. The most widespread recycling is mechanical recycling, a physical process by which elements such as plastic They are recovered for later use.
However, there is also the recycled at source, which is to engage in research, development and production of objects using less means: by using less raw material, less waste is produced and natural resources are better used.
Waste separation
One of the essential elements for recycling is the waste separation, to the extent that not all products are equally suitable to face the recomposition process: they are called recyclable materials to those who can re-use.
In this sense, generalizing the separation of waste is an essential action that must be done from the public sector, for which a differentiation was made between the colors of the containers: blue is mainly intended for paper and cardboard, yellow for plastics and cans, green for glass, red for hazardous waste, orange for organic waste, and gray for the rest of the residues that do not belong to those groups.
Examples of recyclable materials
| Transport boxes |
| Food packaging |
| Papers, both printed and unprinted |
| Common letter envelopes |
| Aluminum |
| Food industry transport packaging |
| Disposable cups, plates and cutlery |
| Pots |
| Bottles of alcoholic beverages |
| Ferrous metal |
| Containers from food and drink |
| Cosmetic jars |
| Bills |
| Forms |
| Folders |
| Cardboard packaging |
| Perfume and cosmetic packaging |
| Cotton fabrics |
| Linen fabrics |
| Fabrics of 100% natural origin |
| Soft drink cans and containers |
| Sheets torn from notebooks |
| Newspapers |
| Journals |
| Plastic chairs (as well as more furniture elements of this material) |
See also: Examples of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
