1. Recycling and Energy

2. Facts and Things to Ponder…
Mixed Paper and Cardboard
Recycled newspaper saves 34 to 60% of the total energy needed for virgin newsprint.
Recycled cardboard saves 24% of the total energy needed for virgin cardboard.
Approximately 65,000 to 75,000 trees are needed to produce paper for the Sunday edition of the New York Times.
4.5 million tons of office paper is thrown away each year in the United States.
The average American uses 650 lbs. of paper per year.
Producing recycled white paper creates 74% less air pollution, 35% less water pollution, and 75% less processed energy than producing paper from virgin fibers.
In Alaska, much of the cardboard recycling goes to cellulose production

3. Facts and Things to Ponder… (Cont.)
Aluminum
Recycling aluminum takes 95% less energy than making aluminum from raw materials.
On Average Two out of three aluminum cans were recycled in the United States
Americans throw away nearly $1 billion worth of aluminum cans every year.
Nearly 75 percent of all aluminum ever produced is still in use today.
Infinitely recyclable and highly durable
Photo:

4. Facts and Things to Ponder… (Cont.)
Glass
Recycling glass saves 30% of the energy required when producing glass from raw materials (soda, ash, sand and limestone). Crushed glass, called cullet, melts at a lower temperature than the raw materials, which saves energy.
Refillable glass bottles use 19,000 Btu's of energy as compared to 58,000 Btu's used by throwaway glass bottles.
Photo:

5. Facts and Things to Ponder… (Cont.)
Plastics
The main raw materials used in making plastics are petroleum and/or natural gas.
Enough plastic bottles are thrown away each year to circle the earth four times.
Approximately 88% of the energy is saved by producing plastic from plastic as opposed to manufacturing plastic from the raw materials of oil and gas.
By using plastic in packaging, American product manufacturers save enough energy each year to power a city of 1 million homes for three and a half years.
Improvements in energy efficiency made through the use of plastics in the last decade save more than 53 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually. This saves American consumers a total of more than $4 billion each year.
Recycling plastics info from University of Cambridge presentation:

6. By recycling ONE TON we save…
Material
Savings
Plastic
Aluminum
Glass
Cardboard
Newsprint
Paper
Steel
Energy
5,774 kWh energy
14,000 kWh of energy
42 kWh of energy
390 kWh of energy
601 kWh of energy
4,100 kWh of energy
642 kWh of energy
Resources
16.3 barrels (685 gallons) of oil
39.6 barrels (1,663 gallons) of oil
0.12 barrels (5 gallons) of oil
1.1 barrels (46 gallons) of oil
1.7 barrels (71 gallons) of oil
 9 barrels (380 gallons) of oil
1.8 barrels (76 gallons) of oil
Landfill
30 cubic yards of landfill space
10 cubic yards of landfill space
2 cubic yards of landfill space
9 cubic yards of landfill space
4.6 cubic yards of landfill space
3.3 cubic yards of landfill space
4 cubic yards of landfill space
Environment
7.5 pounds of air pollutants from being released
7,000 gallons of water and
15 trees
60 pounds of air pollutants from being released, 7,000 gallons of water, and 17 trees
in 2016, the average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential utility customer was 10,766 kilowatthours (kWh), an average of 897 kWh per month, 30 kWh/day. According to the US energy information administration.
*Data from California Waste Management

7. What is Embodied Energy? How does it apply to Recycling?
Embodied energy is the energy consumed by all of the processes associated with the production of a good, from the mining and processing of natural resources to manufacturing, transport and product delivery. To determine the embodied energy of a good we sum all the energy used to manufacture the good.

8. Embodied energy of PET Bottles
Oil derivatives
(with embodied energy)
Total plant energy
(inc. transport, heat, light…)
PET
production plant
PET granules
(with aggregated embodied energy)
Energy/kg PET= ∑
total energy in kg of PET out ∑
Energy mortgage
Bottle blow- molding plant
Total plant energy
(inc. transport, heat, light…)
Energy/Bottle= ∑
total energy in # of bottles out
Energy mortgage

9. But there is still more energy to account for…Life Cycle
To determine the total energy needed for any good to get to your hands, a Life Cycle Analysis must be done.
Life cycle analysis takes into account the energy used from production to delivery and disposal.
By recycling the life cycle analysis can yield lower total energy values than if disposed in the landfill.

10. Embodied energy of Recycling a PET
Used plastic bottles
(inc. collection transport energy)
Total plant energy
(inc. transport, heat, light…)
Polymer sorting, cleaning, dicing, packaging plant
Recycled PET granules
(with aggregated embodied energy and contaminates)
Energy mortgage
Plant for use of recycled PET
Total plant energy
(inc. transport, heat, light…)
Energy mortgage
Energy/kg of martial= ∑
total energy in
kg of material out

11. Embodied energy of various types of plastics
Commodity plastics
Embodied energy, virgin material (MJ/kg)
Price*, virgin material
($/kg)
Embodied energy, recycled material (MJ/kg)
Price*, recycled material ($/kg)
PET/PETE
(Soda bottles)
2.0 – 2.1 ≈ 60 - 64
1.1 – 1.2
HDPE
(Milk gallon jugs)
1.9 – 2.0 35 45
0.84 – 0.97
PVC
(Pipes)
1.4 – 1.5 40
0.77 – 0.99 PP
(cosmetic packaging)
1.8 – 1.85
0.99 – 1.1
PS (Foam/plastic bowls/cuttlery)
1.5 – 1.6 50
0.75 – 0.86
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE)
High-density polyethylene (HDPE)
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
Low-density polyethylene (LDPE)
Polypropylene (PP)
Polystyrene (PS)
Other types of plastic (see list below)
The messages:
Both the embodied energy and price of recycled plastics are about half that of virgin material
The lower price reflects the lower quality of the recycled material, limiting its use
Because of this the contribution of recycling to current plastic consumption is small

12. Recycling Facilities

13. Recycling Plastics

14. Recycling Relay

15. What is Recyclable at ASD?
Brown paper bags
Cardboard – corrugated boxes
Clean pizza boxes
Copy paper
Colored paper
File and hanging file folders
Gift wrap
Glossy paper
Index cards
Magazines, catalogs, and junk mail
Manila folders
Newspapers and paper inserts
Paperback books
Paperboard – cereal boxes, paper towel rolls
Paper egg cartons
Plain and windowed envelopes
Post-It notes
Telephone books

16. What is Recyclable at CURBSIDE?

17. x x x NOT RECYCLABLE AT ASD! NO PLASTIC BAGS NO Plastic Bottles
NO Aluminum Cans
NO binder clips
NO food-soiled items
NO hard-cover books
NO milk cartons
NO paper plates, cups, napkins
NO paper towels, tissues or food wrappers
NO plastic bags or straps
NO paper ream wrappers
NO wax-coated paper
NO waxed corrugated cardboard x x x

18. Recycling Relay How did you do….?

19. THANK YOU!