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True Facts About Waste
Solid waste answers aren’t always what we would expect them to be. Here
are a few good examples of just how counter-intuitive the facts are:
- Organic materials
don’t biodegrade in landfills, at least not very quickly.
That’s because modern landfills are designed to keep out those elements
that cause degradation — sunlight, air and water. As a result, the
microbes that break down food and paper are not abundant enough to do their
jobs. The
result? Newspapers and other items can remain intact for up to 50 years!
- It’s not always beneficial to recycle glass. A study by Argonne National
Labs concludes that if a recycling facility is more than 100 miles away,
compared with the nearest landfill, it takes more energy to transport the
glass than
would be saved by recycling. Why might this be true for glass, but not
for other materials?
- Steel recyclers like to be located near incinerators. The reason
is that an early step in the incineration process is to use large magnets
to pull out magnetic
metals before burning. (They don’t burn!) Thus, large quantities
of recyclable metal are available from one place.
- Speaking of incinerators, strict legislation
in various countries has led to vast improvements in their operating
efficiency. In one new incinerator
in Germany,
for example, the air leaving through the stack is said to be cleaner
than the air coming in!
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