Recycling

Recycling is the process of turning used materials into new ones. Instead of throwing old paper, glass, metal, or plastic into the trash, people collect these items and send them to factories. The factories break the items down and use them to make new products. Recycling saves energy, cuts pollution, and keeps trash out of landfills.

The idea is not new. People have reused materials for thousands of years. Ancient Romans melted down old bronze coins to make new ones. During World War II, families in the United States saved rubber, metal, and paper to help the war effort. Modern curbside recycling, where trucks pick up bins from homes, started in the 1970s.

Different materials are recycled in different ways. Paper is soaked in water until it turns into a soft pulp. The pulp is cleaned, pressed, and dried into new sheets. Glass is crushed into small pieces called cullet, then melted in a hot furnace and poured into molds. Aluminum cans are shredded, melted, and rolled into thin sheets that become new cans. A single aluminum can may be back on a store shelf in as little as 60 days.

Recycling saves a surprising amount of energy. Making a new aluminum can from recycled metal uses about 95 percent less energy than making one from scratch. Recycling one ton of paper saves about 17 trees. Every glass bottle that gets recycled keeps sand, soda ash, and limestone in the ground where they started.

Plastic is the hardest material to recycle. There are many different kinds of plastic, and most kinds cannot be mixed together. Many plastic items that people put in recycling bins never actually get recycled. They end up in landfills or burned for fuel instead. Scientists and companies are working on better ways to break plastic down, but the problem is far from solved. Some experts argue that cutting back on plastic use matters more than recycling it.

Recycling works best when people sort their items correctly. A greasy pizza box can ruin a whole batch of paper. A plastic bag tangled in the machines can shut down a whole sorting plant. Rinsing bottles, checking labels, and keeping trash out of the recycling bin all help.

The next time you drop a can into a blue bin, it is starting a journey. Within a few months, that same aluminum may be back in your hand, holding a different drink.