Recycling: Where Does It Go?
I fill my recycling bin every week with paper, plastic, glass, and steel and then pretty much forget about it. I assume “they” will take care of everything and make sure the recyclable materials end up in the right spot and are re-made into useful products. The trip from my house to a new product can actually be long and circuitous.
National Geographic's Green Guide has a visual example: an interesting feature showing the step-by-step process for recycling ink jet printer cartridges Over one billion cartridges are discarded each year, and several companies are working to increase the recycling rate. Cartridges mailed to recycling centers are disassembled and the components separated for processing. Plastic casings are shredded and sold for remanufacturing into other plastic products. Metals and foam are separated by gravity in a water bath and shipped out for use in new products.
I know I'm a techie geek, but it's pretty cool to get a window into a process I usually take for granted.
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