Nowadays, environmental trends are gaining a lot of popularity all over the world. There is no surprise that people have started to become more involved in taking better care of our planet. Trouble is that environmental trends’ popularity has appeared as a result of the fact that negative environmental changes are becoming more obvious. Global warming, heavy pollution, and major threats to biodiversity and natural resources are only a few of the negative effect of the reckless actions of humans. Therefore, reducing waste and recycling more have become two of the top priorities of the green initiatives taking over every industry. There are new developments in the fields of recycling and waste management taking shape for a reduced negative impact on our planet.
What is the circular economy?
The concept of the circular economy is currently a popular one. It is mostly promoted by the European Union, but also by several national governments, and many businesses from all around the world. The bases of the concept have been born from a collection of separate ideas from several different fields. It is defined as a perspective of sustainable development. Circular economy leads to sustainable development through the processes of turning resources in an extraordinary number of products. It aims to redefine growth, focusing on positive social and environmental benefits. A huge number of companies have embraced this concept as a plan for their sustainable growth. A growing number of innovative and green business practices are becoming viable opportunities for companies to adopt. The waste and recycling industry is making incredible steps into helping the circular economy principle to grow. Corporations, startups, governments, and universities from all around the world collaborate with them on finding profitable solutions that promote the recycling-waste culture.
What are recyclable materials?
The process of recycling is easy to be defined. It represents the process of taking used materials which are no longer useful and making brand new products with them. Waste reduction is not an issue that should only be put on the shoulders of large corporations. It is certainly true that the biggest negative impact on the environment is produced by corporate pollution. However, waste reduction is a problem which should be taken into consideration by each individual in order to create a bigger positive impact on this initiative. Recycling needs to start with the people separating recyclable materials produced by their households. The separated materials will be collected and processed by recycling programs. Afterward, they are sold to manufacturers who transform them into new products.
Unfortunately for our planet, not everything can be recycled yet. However, there are a few main categories of materials which can be recycled and converted into new goods.
Aluminum cans
Aluminum cans are one of the most recycled materials. They are 100 percent recyclable and can be reprocessed over and over again. Recycled aluminum has a great impact on the reduction of waste and decreasing the negative effects on our planet. Turning recycled aluminum cans into new ones uses 95 percent less energy than what making new ones would take.
Plastic bottles
When it comes to waste, plastic bottles are the most common materials that end up in the landfills. Making plastic out of recycled resources uses about two-thirds less energy than making new plastic. Recycling plastic bottles does not only reduces pollution but also lowers greenhouse gas emissions. The most commonly-used plastics used is polystyrene. It is slow to biodegrade which makes it a nightmare for the environment. Polystyrene can be recycled when being disposed of to reduce its negative impact on our planet.
Paper
Almost every paper item can be processed and turned into a new product. Recycling paper is a great way for conserving resources, saving energy, and avoid huge amounts of waste that end up in the landfills.
Glass
It is wonderful to know that all types of glass can be recycled. All of it can be remelted and reused for making brand-new products. It saves energy used to produce new glass and landfill space.
Waste management and recycling trends
Nowadays, bad waste management and pollution can no longer be accepted. With widespread knowledge about their negative effects on our environment, new emerging recycling and waste management trends are taking shape.
Increased legal action
One of the most popular trends regarding waste management is the growing legislation designed to implement green initiatives all over the world. many countries are not only encouraging their citizens but also legally force them, to become more environmentally-friendly. Residents of some regions are being required to follow certain set guidelines in waste disposal. Otherwise, they risk having to pay huge fines and even jail time. Another legal action which seems to be embraced by more and more countries is to ban significantly polluting materials. Plastic and polystyrene are two of the materials which are already banned in many parts of the world. They are slow to biodegrade and they are the most common materials which end up in landfills.
Technological innovation
In our modern world, the waste and recycling industry is beginning to embrace technology as part of innovation. There are critical infrastructure improvements which can enable better sorting and recycling facilities. Waste data and reporting are advancing with the help of technology which will trigger a better organization of waste management. Also, digitalization is the most commonly used green business practice. By going paperless while storing all the business data on cloud-based storage solutions, businesses are significantly reducing paper waste.
Population control
Unfortunately, the biggest source of waste is people themselves. The increasing populations lead to a higher probability of waste production and challenges. Therefore, city expansions are no longer being left to chance.
Bad waste management is a problem that is so widespread all over the world. The increasing population and the projected spikes in waste production, make countries fear that they are going to face huge challenges. Waste reduction and recycling form a causal relationship. This means that waste reduction is only possible as a result of the growing trend of material recycling.