Rethinking Waste

Unfortunately, only 9% of glass, plastic, and metal is recycled, with the other 91% going to landfills.

Glass can be recycled a near infinite number of times. All that needs to be done in the recycling process is to melt it down and reform it into whatever article you need. Glass must be colour sorted since certain colours can contain contaminates which may not be compatible with what the finished product will be. Metal, like glass, can be remelted and formed into new articles. Metal recycling is done primarily through using scrap yards.

 Electronics contain toxic substances, and heavy metals. Disposing of them ineffectively can impact the environment through different ways like soil contamination, and harming ecosystems and wildlife.

A major contributor to electronic waste is obsoleteness.  Consumers are encouraged to upgrade, and compared to their counterparts fifty years ago, appliances are not built to last.

E-waste is sorted into three categories: White goods (appliances), brown goods (TVs, camcorders), and grey goods (computers, fax machines, scanners, etc.). White and brown goods are less toxic than their grey counterparts, but there still is no effective way to safely dispose of these items.

The study of the effect compost has in the bioremediation of contaminants in the environment began in the nineties and continues to increase. It is a low-cost, easy technology to employ. Any organic material will eventually decay. Composting speeds up this process by creating an anaerobic environment that decays the material. Compost is rich in nutrients and has been used in agriculture for centuries.

You may have questions about what can or cannot be recycled. Anything that comes from the ground can be composted, although animal and food scraps containing meat, dairy/eggs, fats, oils, etc. should not be composted, as they can cause pest problems. Pet waste should also be avoided due to the risk of pathogens being present in the composted material.

Processing food waste is a costly process. Composting is beneficial not only because it reduces the amount of waste being brought into landfills, but also because compost is nutrient rich and can be used for agricultural purposes.