The History of Recycling and its pros and cons

The History of Recycling and its pros and cons

Introduction

Recycling is the process of converting waste material into useful products to reduce air and water pollution, reduce the usage of energy, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, and helps in lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The process of recycling has been practiced by people all over the world since time immemorial, with thorough advancements observed along the way. Recycling involves varieties of materials ranging from plastics, metal, paper, tires, glass, and textiles (Kaya, 2016). There has been evidence of various waste and metal being melted down for reuse.

This paper will look at the history of recycling and the benefits it brings to the people and the environment at large. It will also highlight the disadvantages of recycling.

The History of Recycling

The process of recycling can be dated back to the fourth century BC, whereby scarcity of resources was witnessed, and ancient studies of archaeology showed less household waste of pottery, broken tools, and traces of ash, which was construed to mean that recycling took place. Recycling of paper took place in Japan in 1031 as shops resorted to selling repulped paper as waste paper became a valuable material for making paper sheets. In Britain, dustmen collected wood ash and coal fires, which were the raw materials used in making bricks (WERRETT, 2012). This helped in reducing the cost of acquiring fresh raw materials in producing the same products.

Industrialization saw a rise in demand for affordable materials, and as such, ferrous scrap metals were deemed to be cheaper compared to acquiring the virgin ore to serve the same purpose. In the 19^th century, railroads bought and sold scrap metal while the automobile industry and steel industry purchased scrap in the early 20^th century (Da Cruz et al. 2014). In Great Britain and Ireland, beverage bottles and cans were recycled with a deposit refund at selected drink manufacturers- Schweppes to be precise in early 1800 while Sweden introduced a system of recycling with refundable deposits in 1884 and beverage cans of aluminum nature in 1982.

In the late 19^th century, the chemical industries invented new materials with the hope of turning valueless products into more valuable stuff. During World War II, recycling caused significant issues for various governments across the world as the wars caused financial constraints and shortage in raw materials hence leaving the concerned countries with no alternative but recycle materials and reuse them. In the 1970s, massive investments in recycling were witnessed as a result of the rising costs of energy (Durr, 2016). Extensive improvements in the whole process of recycling have been observed as demand for materials increased over the years due to the increase in population.

Benefits of Recycling

The process of recycling has brought about significant benefits to the world and people as well. This includes; helps in the conservation of natural resources since the recycled materials offer alternatives, prevents pollution by minimizing the process of collecting virgin raw materials, promotes security in the economy by tapping sources of materials locally, helps in the reduction of energy consumption, helps in the creation of jobs in recycling industries, helps in lowering landfills usage, saves money. Finally, recycling helps in minimizing global warming .

Cons of Recycling

Some disadvantages come up as a result of recycling, and they include; the emission of greenhouse gases that contributes mainly to global warming and climatic changes, hygiene in the recycling sites is pathetic which can lead to the outbreak of diseases hence affect the population, the durability of the recycled products is minimal since the product is of low quality and finally, considering that setting up of new recycling plants requires lumpsum amounts of capital thus bringing the issue upfront capital costs.

Conclusion

The recycling process is a common practice done by people all over the world as a means of trying to cope with the arising problems of scarcity of raw materials used in the various production industries and due to population increase, which has led to encroachment of the available resources. It is also done to create new employment opportunities for the people, thus improving their living conditions. Recycling is a way of ensuring that the is proper use of the raw materials, which will not entrench the resources for future use.