On average, every person in the United States produces more than 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms) of garbage every day. Every year millions of tons of garbage are produced in the United States alone. This garbage fills a lot of space in landfills, the places used for garbage disposal. Disposing of aluminum cans, glass bottles, and newspapers in landfills is expensive and pollutes the land, air, and water. Recycling is one way to reduce the amount of trash that is thrown away. As a result of recycling, waste materials are recovered for use in new products.

What gets recycled

Aluminum cans, glass bottles, newspapers, magazines, and plastics are among the items most typically recycled. Composting is a form of recycling in which certain food wastes, such as apple cores and peels, are mixed with grass clippings and leaves. The food wastes decay, and people can use this nutrient-rich mixture in their gardens. Even water is recycled. Before water that has been used in homes can be put back into the water supply, it must be cleaned and purified at a wastewater treatment plant.

Types of recycling

There are two types of recycling: internal and external. In internal recycling, the waste products from manufacturing processes are reused within the same factory. Internal recycling is common in the metals industry. For example, when copper tubing is being made, the ends of the tubes are usually trimmed. These copper ends are melted down and used to make new tubing.

The process of external recycling involves several steps. People collect recyclable materials, such as old newspapers or bottles, in their homes. Then they either bring the recyclables to a recycling facility themselves or leave them out for collectors to take away. At the recycling facility the recyclables are sorted, cleaned, and prepared to be sold. Industries then buy the material and use it to make new products.

Recycling programs

The U.S. Congress passed the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in 1976 to encourage states to develop recycling programs. Successful recycling programs share three common features. First, the public must be aware that disposing of garbage in landfills is expensive and pollutes the environment. Second, an inexpensive method for collecting and separating recyclables must exist. Third, it must make economic sense for industries to buy and use recyclable materials. If industries are not making a profit using recyclable materials in their products, they will stop buying them.