2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16
Thousands of films have already been shot and millions of pages have been written about the importance of protecting nature, but the level of pollution on the planet is growing every year. The situation is close to catastrophic. However, once you are in a dead end, it is not necessary to stay there. Many civilized countries have long realized how important it is not to throw away garbage, but to turn it into recyclable materials and recycle. What is this - recyclables, and how are things going with it in Russia?
What is recyclable?
Recycled or recycled is a type of waste that can be used as a resource for further processing. According to the domestic classification, 5 types of hazardous waste are distinguished (all waste is a priori hazardous, read toxic). Gradation is carried out according to the degree of danger to nature and the ability of waste to biodegrade:
- The first class of danger includes the notorious mercury lamps, materials containing mercury and arsenic,transformer oils. There are not very many such wastes, but they are extremely toxic both for humans and for the natural environment. The first class of waste must be recycled, because when it enters the natural environment, it poisons everything around.
- The second hazard class includes, for example, batteries and accumulators, which are also recyclable.
- As a rule, most municipal solid waste falls into the fifth and (less) fourth hazard classes. It is practically non-hazardous and low-hazardous waste. Since they do not poison the natural environment, in our country they are simply taken to landfills and stored there.
Why do I need to recycle?
Despite the fact that basically all household waste is taken to landfills (more like landfills), today the practice of providing city districts with recycling points is gaining momentum.
It is very important not to pass by these beautiful bins, but to bring there all the garbage from the house that matches the markings on them. Batteries, thermometers, mercury lamps pollute the soil, making it toxic and unsuitable for crops and growing seeds. On such a land, no birds will sing, no flower will bloom. Is this how we want to live?
Thousand cubic meters of forest is cut down annually for the production of books, magazines and paper. Meanwhile, it is the forest that gives us the opportunity to live on the planet, as it provides oxygen. By cutting down forest belts, people are also deprived of natural noise isolation and odor absorbers from industry. That's whyit is simply necessary to hand over waste paper.
Types of secondary raw materials
At the moment, technologies have been invented in the world to process 95% of all materials. The most common types of recyclables are:
Waste paper. Previously, in schools, everyone handed over waste paper, arranging competitions for who would hand over the most, and received prizes for this. Childhood ends, and the collection of waste paper ends with it, and very in vain! Recycling points in the form of waste paper are located in any city, and there are a lot of them in megacities. It is enough just to search the Internet and make a good habit of taking newspapers and cardboard boxes there. New developers very often put containers for collecting paper and cardboard for every 3-4 houses. Take a walk around the area, meet a lot of new and useful things! It is important to understand that glossy magazines and juice bags (Tetra Pak) are not waste paper
- Plastic. Plastic packaging and bottles have become a source of pollution of the oceans and the entire biosphere. Animals that accidentally swallow plastic often die. Habitats of many species are being destroyed, food chains are being disrupted. This is not a joke at all. There are many plastic recycling points, information is available on the Internet for each city.
- Scrap metal. This includes aluminum cans.
- Glass container. Glassware is a recyclable material that accumulates in huge quantities in landfills, but is very easy to recycle. Glass is easy to clean, making it easy to recycle into new packaging.
Required for recycling
There are also those wastes that must be recycled:
- Batteries. With batteries and rechargeable cells, things are more complicated. In Russia, only a few plants have the technical ability to recycle batteries, as this is a complex and expensive process. Sometimes the distance from the city to the factory turns out to be catastrophically huge. However, batteries should never be thrown into the trash. For them, recycling is carried out in the form of eco-boxes.
- Mercury lamps and thermometers. Like batteries, mercury is toxic to nature and humans; it cannot be buried in landfills. Ecoboxes are also installed for lamps and thermometers.
It is important to understand that a broken thermometer cannot be disposed of on your own. It is necessary to call the demercurization service, which will eliminate the accident and neutralize the premises and waste.
Reception and processing
In Russia, in fact, there are a huge number of recyclable items, it's just that people are poorly informed about them. The most common among them are ecoboxes and ecomobiles. The map of ecoboxes can be found on the Internet, and it really is a huge network. Sometimes such an eco-box is installed in a neighboring house or school, but we simply do not know about it.
Ecomobile travels around the city and takes all kinds of waste - from light bulbs to broken household appliances. It is enough just to find out the mode of operation and parking of the eco-mobile. Stationary collection points for glass containers, scrap metal andwaste paper.
Home Processing
Recyclable is not only waste and a resource for recycling. Practically harmless waste can be used in everyday life. Sometimes this is a great medium for inventing recycled homemade crafts and decorations.
- You can make a pond out of an old bathroom, you just need to connect the imagination and the next of kin.
- Waste tires can become flower beds and decorate the lawn.
- Glass and plastic containers will take on a new life if you decorate them with scrapbooking decorations, paint, add appliqué and generally use your imagination. Hand-made today at the peak of popularity!
- Any hostess knows that nothing is better than juice and yogurt boxes for seedlings!
"When a blade of grass is plucked, the whole universe shudders," says the Upanishads. Nature has a huge resource of tolerance, but it is not eternal either. The idea of living in harmony and respect is the only true policy in relations with nature.
