9. Discuss on the recycling
of wastes e.g. paper and aluminium.
Some of the solids wastes can be recycled. They can be classified under
the categories of reusable materials and recyclable materials. Reusable
materials can be sold to relevant manufacturers. Recyclable materials include
paper, metals, certain types of plastic, tyres and other valuable materials. They are separated and
then sold as raw materials for recycling.
Today,
recycling of materials is enhanced through government policies, environment
protection campaigns and consumer awareness. These encourage the establishment
of recycling industries all over the world. The products produced are known as
environmental-friendly products.
Recycling of waste materials helps to alleviate solid waste pollution to the environment. The benefits include the following:
1.
Reducing the
rate of depletion of natural resources.
2.
Saving the
energy used in mining and processing of natural resources.
3.
Reducing air pollution
caused by incineration, mining and processing of natural resources.
4.
Lessening the
needs for landfills sites.
5.
Saving the
start-up costs and operation costs for waste treatment.
6.
Benefiting the
community by creating more jobs other than burying or burning wastes.
7.
Educating
people through, the practice of recycling, about the importance of proper waste
disposal, thrifty use of natural resources and environment protection.
The major problem faced in recycling industry is the high costs involved in collection and separation of waste materials. However, the recycling rates of various materials have grown rapidly on a global scale because of its benefits to the environment.
Waste recycling in Hong Kong
Domestic, commercial and industrial wastes are collectively known as municipal solid wastes in Hong Kong. The major kinds of recyclable wastes recovered include paper, plastics, metals, which account for the majority of the wastes recovered. The remaining are glass, wood, tyres and textile.
Hong Kong has a substantial waste recovery industry. The waste materials recovered are mainly for export. Consequently, they are confined to those other forms of metals. According to the Environmental Protection Department, there are about 300 active waste collectors and 50 waste recyclers in Hong Kong. Major recycling industries in Hong Kong are described briefly below.
Recycling of paper
In 2000, about 57% of the waste paper generated in Hong Kong was recovered. The recovered waste paper was either recycled or re-processed locally, or exported to Mainland China and other countries for recycling. In the local waste paper recycling industry, there were about 120 private waste paper collectors and 2 paper recyclers in operation. The recycles paper produced by local recyclers were confined to those materials used for packaging.
Recycling of metals
Recycling of metallic waste has been carried out in Hong Kong for several decades the industry has been developed from individual waste collectors to large-scale collection and recycling industry. Metal wastes are broadly classified into ferrous metals and non-ferrous metals.
In 2000, about 88% of the ferrous metal wastes and 83% of the non-ferrous metal wastes generated in Hong Kong were recovered, according to the Environmental Protection Department, there are about 120 ferrous and 150 non-ferrous waste metal dealers in Hong Kong. The wastes collected are separated into different types of metals before sales to local and oversea companies for recycling.
Recycling of plastics
The recycling of plastic wastes in Hong Kong is confined mainly to clean and homogenous scraps rejected from manufacturing sources. There is very limited re-processing of post-consumer plastics such as plastic bottles and plastic bags due to the complicated processing procedures. Therefore only small proportion of the plastic wastes was recovered.
In order to facilitate the activities of plastic recovery and recycling, the internationally recognized coding system of plastics has been adopted. This coding system provides an effective means for identifying different types of plastic materials. This facilitates separation and treatments of plastic wastes. The coding system acts as a tool to educate the community and as a starting point for enhancement of the plastic recycling industry in Hong Kong.