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I have heard the argument that the process of recycling uses up just as much energy as not recycling.

Some conservatives say that the process it takes to gather up all the recylclables, process them and remake new products out of them takes too much energy. Has anyone heard this view?

hmmm

Of course there is used a lot of energy in the recycling process but think of all the things that are recycled. Instead of cutting new trees people can recycle old paper and save a forest and so on.
Bu about the energetic factor of the matter… i never heard anyone saying that recycling is not good… Everyone says:

Recycling is definently a good thing, however so is “Waste-To-Energy”, but personally i believe the perfect option is to marry the two.

Recycling used to be too expensive for manufacturers to actually use, but now sinse the spike in oil prices it is much more affordable. As far as energy goes, I can say for sure which uses more energy; Starting from scratch or recycling, however by recycling you are not using additional fosil fules to creat the product, instead you are simply breaking it down and reshaping it.

I think the key is to have both “Wast-to-Energy” plants as well as recycling, perhaps one usingthe others energy making the recycling plant sustainable. Now that we have the technology to effectively stop the pollution that would normally come from burning waste materials, Wast-to-Energy plants are a viable option.

In fact they stop over 40 million tons of greenhouse gasses from entering the earths atmosphere each year. This is because they avoid the release of methane that otherwise would be emitted when trash decomposes, and the release of CO2 that would be emitted from generating electricity from fossil fuels.

Anyway, thats my 2 cents…

Adam

No I have never heard that.  I’m sure that if it did they wouldn’t be so gung ho about it.

However, it’s not just the energy used to process the recycling it’s also the land fills and where the garbage is going to be put in years to come.  With all the plastic in the dumps they will take millenia to decompose in these dumps and so therefore they become useless places and more have to be found.

So I guess part of it is measuring which is better for the planet.  A hole with lots of plastic or more energy used to recycle the plastic already made and therefore keeping the dumps only for reclamation materials like food waste.

[quote author=“SweetRiver”]No I have never heard that.  I’m sure that if it did they wouldn’t be so gung ho about it.

However, it’s not just the energy used to process the recycling it’s also the land fills and where the garbage is going to be put in years to come.  With all the plastic in the dumps they will take millenia to decompose in these dumps and so therefore they become useless places and more have to be found.

So I guess part of it is measuring which is better for the planet.  A hole with lots of plastic or more energy used to recycle the plastic already made and therefore keeping the dumps only for reclamation materials like food waste.

I agree. I also think that food wastes is something that most of us (if you have the space!) should be able to take care of on our own by composting.The more we reuse and reduce on the consumer end, the less we have to take to the dump in the first place.

I know the theory behind recycling being inefficient, and I don’t believe it. I think with things like paper it is less important but plastics come from oil and oil is limited in how much we can ultimately take from the earth and when it runs out it runs out. So we need to make what we have last better.

The waste-to-energy plants fuelling recycling plants is such a good idea. This would be a perfect solution to some of our trash issues-high recycling costs, landfill space being used up, and like you said, methane emission.

Poor countries are the only places where people recycle properly; they have the need not to waste anything, so they don’t

It probably wastes the fuel and oil by having the trucks go out and collect the recycled goods but at the same time I believe it probably saves at least a little bit more by us being able to reuse the materials.

Yes, and when I said something about it on another forum everybody called me an idiot.

I heard that the only thing worth recycling is aluminum.

Also I heard that when a landfill is full they cover it up, and make it into something like a park, and they have a system to use the gases produced from all the garbage and convert it into energy.

Often landfills are turned into things like ski restorts. I live somewhat near Mount Rumpke and there is always news of it becoming a ski resort once it is filled.

Re: Recycling in America

Of course recycling can’t be energy free… at least not yet. But I think it’s definitely a step in the right direction! It shows an acceptance of accountability. And this accountability will be important as we make new discoveries in the recycling technology.

How would recycling be energy free? You can’t do something without energy.

I haven’t heard that.  I expected that energy was used, of course, but I didn’t know how much.  We recycle pretty much everything we can around our house.

There are always advantages and disadvantages the most important thing is that the advantage should out weigh the other and we need to do all that we can to cut down consumption of our natural resources.