Right through history, recycling has existed in one form or another. Even as long ago as 400 BC indications of earlier recycling are known to have occurred. Archaeological studies show that ancient waste dumps contained less of what is known nowadays as household waste, like pots, utensils and ash, which demonstrates that individuals were, even back then, keen to reuse products during a period when natural resources weren't so freely available.

Indeed it may be argued how the old 'rag-and-bone' man was just an early recycler collecting unwanted goods on his horse and cart, before reusing or transforming the recovered items into new things.

During periods such as the World War Years, recycling and re-use were crucial as natural resources became a lot more difficult to find. In addition to food being rationed, certain materials like metal and fibre werenormally permitted only for use by the government in support of military operations, to fulfill manufacturing requirements often in the production of weaponry.

Due to rising power costs, the requirement to recycle aluminium increased in the 1970's.. As a material aluminium utilises significantly less energy within the production process than alternative materials. Plus it was much prized because of its non rusting qualities. The demand for aluminium saw the emergence of scrap metal dealers who were willing to pay money in return for good quality metal. Also, in the 70's in areas of the United states, the first vehicles were seen to be collecting waste with a separate trailer for gathering of recyclable items being towed behind the vehicle. This was mainly for large bulky things such as bedsteads and old carpets.

To the late 1980's, early 1990's and as the importance of handling the intercontinental environmental state accelerated amongst worldwide governments, the debate upon recycling really began to get energy. In the UK, the authorities imposed recycling targets upon Local Authorities along with the introduction of fresh legal guidelines upon the waste products industry, recycling initiatives really began to take off. The once widely recognised waste disposal firms, began to call themselves waste management firms and demonstrated with the offer of waste collection and recyclable material collection that waste had to be managed more effectively. Local skip companies needed to become better at what they did.

Nowadays, many hundreds of materials and resources may be recycled, including paper, card, glass and plastics, to mobile phones, electrical items, printer cartridges, textiles, clothing and concrete.

What Exactly is Recycling?

The term recycling identifies the process of converting second hand materials into new or nearly new materials to avoid the need for potentially useful materials or products to be dumped. Essentially it is diverting waste materials from landfill.

Recycling takes on an important role in a modern world where climate change is high on the environmental agenda. It reduces the requirement to unnecessarily send waste materials and products to landfill or other waste disposal options. Consequently this lessens the demand and the reliance upon consuming fresh or new natural materials, cuts back energy use and air and rain water pollution, all of which contribute to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Significant contributions to improving the natural environment.

Recycling is probably most evident through the recycling solutions now provided by local authorities for household refuse and recycling collections and also contemporary waste management firms who typically give a full range of waste and recycling collection solutions.

Many offices and retail outlets require a professional collection service visit www.biffa.co.uk to get information of the professional services offered.

Within the waste materials sector, the regular marketing activity is all around the waste materials hierarchy - 'reduce, reuse, recycle and recover'. This four R slogan is a basic message created for a far reaching audience. Think about how you can lessen your waste. Can the waste material products or materials be reused? Could the waste product or material be recycled or retrieved? Many questions to think about.

The waste material hierarchy is often a strategy which a lot of waste material management companies and local bodies look at when establishing new waste management schemes. The system is meant to concentrate the thought process around avoiding waste material being generated to start with. Take into account the options for reuse and recycling but ultimately minimise the amount of waste produced at the end of the cycle. The slogan has been adopted particularly well in the public sector.

And so the focus is very much on the overall production process. The waste material hierarchy expands much wider than to waste management firms and local bodies. Working groups have already been established to bring many industries together to look at the entire waste cycle. By way of example, the manufacturer of a product has to take into account how a product will be made. Could components be used which could eventually be recycled or reused? Can the amount of packaging that surrounds the item be reduced? When the item reaches the shop, is it necessary for the product to be located within an outer box? Once the retailer sells the merchandise, what will the consumer do with the excess elements of the acquisition, i.e. the packaging? How will the packaging be recovered and where will it go? Will it go back to a recycling facility, for onward shipment to a reprocessing facility, where the cycle starts all over again?

How are Materials Collected for Recycling?

Legislation now dictates that most waste material must be processed to reduce the quantity of recyclables and unnecessary waste material heading direct to landfill. Since 1996, the UK government has enforced a landfill levy on all waste material discarded within landfill. The rate of levy has increased considerably lately rising from the original level of £8 per ton, to today's rate of £40 per ton. The UK government has previously announced that this will increase further to £48 per ton from the end of 2010/11. This cost applies to all general waste streams, although there is a lesser rate for inert products. Delivering waste material directly to landfill is an expensive option and choosing appropriate processes to divert waste away from landfill has become a priority.

Thus, the message to everybody is crystal clear, segregate your waste materials to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. Traditionally, at home or in the office, the instant you place waste in the bin , it's forgotten about. Another individual will collect it and take it away. These days, in the home and at the office, recycling is being stimulated with the supply of containers in which to place specific recyclable materials. At home, the children are often the keen recyclers.

Perhaps the most common materials to be seen being recovered for recycling are paper, card, glass, metals and plastics. But the opportunity to recycle many materials or products continues to grow.

Because of the huge quantities of rubbish accumulating, the process of anaerobic digestion is an infinitely more eco-friendly method of transforming waste into a valuable resource.

The means of collecting items or waste to be recycled is also escalating and ever more noticeable within local communities. Dedicated collection sites, often referred to as bring bank sites, are popping up in supermarket car parks to encourage customers of the store to return such items as bottles, newspapers or cardboard to the containers on their way into the store. Shoppers are therefore encouraged to bring back their recyclables.

Local Authority waste material collection crews or their appointed personnel will collect refuse and recyclables from the roadside typically in front of your property. Collection from domestic premises generally continues to be the duty of the local council many have now employed the supply of bins in which to gather particular recyclable materials or products. The services do vary from council to council.

In the business and commercial field, waste materials management contractors offer standalone storage containers in which the customer deposits the correct waste stream or recyclable resources ready for collection. The particular bins will often be clearly tagged as to which recyclable product ought to be placed within that container or bin. Alternatively, the bins will be colour coded to identify which recyclable materials need to be placed within which bins. Waste management companies also may have to deal with special requests from the customer.

One of the keys to a successful recycling initiative is informing the public about what can be recycled and how. In the commercial world getting the co-operation of shop floor employees is crucial. The introduction of any recycling scheme must ensure that in asking employees to separate waste for recycling, it does not become time consuming and affect the effectiveness of what employees should be doing in their work. The introduction of any recycling scheme should be kept simple.

The Recycling Process

Several collection systems exist for the collection of the recyclable products . Whichever collection system is employed , the materials are taken to a recycling centre where they will be segregated from other wastes.

To begin the recycling process from the collection perspective, the more recyclable material that can be segregated at source, i.e. at home or in the work place, the more efficient it will be for the waste collector. For this reason separate containers are supplied to the waste producer to stimulate segregation at source. If card can be collected using a truck, that will collect no other waste material, the card can be kept uncontaminated and as a consequence will have a greater value when it actually reaches the processing plant. Likewise, dedicated glass collection vehicles are employed to collect only glass. In addition to the obvious health and safety reasons and the weight of collected glass, it will have a greater value if the collected glass load is not mixed with other waste materials.

Once collected, the recyclable resources may be taken direct to a reprocessing plant, if the load contains only that specific type of material. So a separate glass collection vehicle could take the load straight to a glass processing plant. It is more likely that the glass will have to be bulked up for onward shipment to the processor.

If blended recyclables are collected such as paper and card within the same container, it might be required for the collector to take the load to a materials recycling facility to unload and allow the load to be segregated into distinct paper and card bundles for onward transfer to a paper or card processing plant. Whatever method is employed, the recyclable material gathered will most likely be segregated or cleaned before proceeding through to a reprocessing plant to be processed to a new useful resource and eventually used as a new product or in manufacturing. Inert materials can be a useful by product at landfill, for example shredded tyres to help grip on access roadways.

Recycling has currently turn out to be a way of life and it is very quick to establish waste recycling systems at home or in fact in a business or work place.

The Increasing Significance of Recycling

In the UK around 35% of waste materials collected from homes is recycled or composted. While in the business and industrial area, the quantity of waste material sent to landfill has declined considerably recently as well as the volume of waste material now being diverted for recycling or reuse by this market has grown above the quantities going to landfill.

Landfill continues to play an important role in the management of waste throughout the UK as not all waste materials can be recycled and several are more suited to landfill disposal than by some other means. Nonetheless, it's not just the increasing expense of disposing of waste directly in landfill that is making recycling a far more attractive option for corporations. Landfill is now scarce, with several experts hinting that the amount of space accessible across all UK landfill sites, has under 10 years existence remaining before all sites are reckoned to be filled. Such countries as Dubai have filled parts of the coastline with their waste and created useful land area to extend the boundaries of their kingdom.

In recent times, waste materials management companies have had to change their focus, and start to take into account and spend money on technology, such as energy from waste facilities, anaerobic digestion plants and mechanical biological treatment plants, as alternate options to landfill. Local Authorities also have changed their views by undertaking detailed strategic reviews as to how waste material under their jurisdiction needs to be taken care of. In some instances this means unitary authorities are implementing plans to introduce long-term agreements, usually around 25 years in length, through which to manage all of their waste materials management requirements. These agreements will most likely include the need to develop a facility through which to deal with all waste material created throughout the region by sorting all waste streams. The deals could also incorporate the collection of waste and recyclables from households across the region. So the issue of waste management has been evolving rapidly. The days of just throwing anything in the dustbin have vanished and the advent of new technologies are upon us. The introduction of new technologies will play a huge role in the future of waste management.

Conclusion

Recycling has become a lifestyle and is maturing all the time. It has evolved through the years from a thing that was undertaken without any real thought behind it. The trusty rag and bone man was just trying to make a living. Today, many blue chip firms are setting out plans for a 'zero to landfill' waste strategy, where the purpose is very clear - reduce waste, reuse waste and recycle waste, but no waste must end up in landfill. Some companies have announced ambitious target dates by which to accomplish such policies.

Many properties across the country now have some kind of container in which to keep separate waste for recycling. The decision to separate newspapers, aluminium cans and plastic bottles are almost the norm. Whilst in industrial and commercial areas, there is an increasing selection of items to take into account for recycling like printer cartridges, office paper, metal and electrical equipment.

Ideally the whole process would be a complete cycle such as it was in the days of the horse. However the advent of new technology will increase further the way in which our waste is to be managed in the future, but it is highly improbable that we will ever reach the ultimate waste free society. There will always be a need for waste to be disposed of somewhere, somehow.