Recycling Broken Concrete Into Urbanite Gaining Support

The recycling of broken concrete into new materials, often called “urbanite,” is gaining a great deal of support among sustainable builders and local authorities, alike. Typically the broken concrete pieces are put in a crushing machine and reduced to smaller pieces that can be used as the aggregate in new concrete. Old rebar can simply be pulled out with powerful magnets.

Concrete is one of the most energy intensive, and hence, one of the most polluting substances used in modern building practices. It consumes a great deal of energy in the manufacturing process as well as the mining of aggregate materials. It is thought that concrete production may consume as much as 30% of the energy supplies in some Western nations.

The energy savings are tremendous and the broken concrete is kept out of landfills. Best of all, urbanite is often free to anyone who wants to haul it away, making it an ideal fill product for many types of sustainable structures.

For information on waste management visit our ‘Waste Management‘ Guide

Are We Really Running Out of Landfill Space?

Since the most massive shut down of sanitary landfill spaces in US history in 1993, there have been very few new landfills created to take on an ever-increasing total volume of waste.

Though rates of recycling have gone up considerably since then, the total rate of waste generation has also increased, to make the level of solid waste that arrives at landfills to remain nearly even or slightly higher over that same period.

The lack of new landfills is partly due to increased regulation in the permitting process for the creation of new facilities. While landfills were once little more than “rubber-stamped” into existence throughout much of the 20th century, environmental science matured in the latter third of the century and identified the true threat to water supplies (in particular) that emanated from landfills that were once assumed to be quite safe.

For information on waste management visit our ‘Waste Management‘ Guide

Plastic Resin Identification Codes On Plastic Containers

No doubt you’ve seen them on the bottom or top of plastic containers – the little numbers contained in a triangular, three-arrowed recycling symbol. These “plastic numbers” are a simple code that tells you what sort of plastic you’re dealing with, just in case you don’t have a degree in organic chemistry. They were adopted in the late 1980s by the plastic industry to improve their public image and assist with recycling efforts.

There are six generalized categories that do, or are expected to, respond to the same type of recycling procedures. It is important to note that not all of these are actually recyclable at the present time.

1. Polyethelene or PET – polyester fibers, pop and water bottles and the plastic straps that hold bundles together
2. High-density polyethelene or HDPE – the hard plastic found in bins, equipment and other rigid plastics
3. PVC – water and electrical pipes
4. Low density polyethelene or LDPE – plastic bags, tubing and some bottles
5. Polypropelene – ducting, auto parts, food containers
6. Polystyrene – styrofoam, rigid knick-knacks, video cases

There is a seventh category that includes everything else such as poly-carbonate, acrylic, fiberglass, nylon and many others you may not have even heard of. As such, the #7 designation is more of a “none of the above” that tells you what you can’t put in the bin, rather than giving an indication of what you can do with it.

For more plastic recycling information visit our: ‘Plastic Recycling Guide‘

Supporting Recycling With Your Purchases

Since recycling is a market-based solution to a public problem, improvements to it are similarly market-based whenever possible. That’s why recycling programs are most likely to be profitable and have the capital to improve when demand for recycled products is high.

This can be legislated to a certain extent. For instance, there are many states and provinces that have passed laws requiring a minimum of post-consumer recycled paper fibers in newspapers sold there. However, the most powerful force remains the purchasing power of consumers.

You can purchase products that are made from recycled products. This is most helpful to the overall recycling economy when you purchase goods from emerging markets such as the plastic “wood” that can be made from recycled carpets and plastic bags.

You can also purchase services from companies that recycle, such as “green” auto repair shops. You may also choose to purchase items that come in containers and packaging that either is made from recycled products or can themselves be easily recycled.

For more recycling information visit – ‘Recycling Guide‘ – or for more specific information view our guides listed.

Are Plastic Bags Really That Bad?

Absolutely yes! When it comes to making recycling difficult and causing a massive amount of litter, plastic bags are an environmental disaster.

For starters, the 100 billion or so plastic bags that were consumed in North America in 2006 alone required the equivalent of 12 million barrels of oil to produce. Most of these are eventually sent to the few remaining landfills, but because they so readily take flight, plastic bags are one of the most common forms of litter in both urban and rural areas.

Plastic bags are a bane to recyclers, most of whom do not take them in their sorting facilities that would seem to take nearly everything else. Instead, those that do end up there are a threat to the proper function of most sorting machines.

On the rare occasion they are recycled, these bags are turned into “plastic lumber” or other inherently non-recyclable materials.

For more information on plastic recycling visit our  – ‘Plastic Recycling Guide‘

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