Can recycling save energy and what is the importance of 5 R's of waste management?
Recycling often saves energy and natural resources. Natural resources include land, plants, minerals, and water. When we use materials more than once, we conserve natural resources. The most energy-intensive part of the glass-making process is the heat necessary to melt the mineral mixture. Because recycled glass still needs to be re-melted to make new glass products, the energy savings from recycling glass are relatively small roughly 10-15%. Recycling saves energy by lowering the demand for the production of new usable materials. Since the same materials are being reused over and over again, fewer raw materials will need to be extracted from the Earth and converted to new usable materials. Recycling water on site or nearby reduces the energy needed to move water longer distances or pump water from deep within an aquifer. Tailoring water quality to a specific water use also reduces the energy needed to treat water. Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Repair are also known as “the most important 5R's” of waste management. The concept of 5R's is to decrease the amount of things we use and simultaneously also decrease the amount of things we throw away. In practice the 5 Rs will break down the waste lifecycle into stages so that businesses can identify actions they can take to reduce the amount of waste and pollution they produce. There are four basic approaches to responsible waste management. The three R's - reduce, reuse and recycle are three approaches and the most environmentally preferred. Reducing, reusing and recycling waste helps save landfill space by keeping useful materials out.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Methodology
- Research Methodology