Sometimes it may seem tiring and useless, but differentiating waste based on the material it is made of is one of the most important practices to be adopted every day to reduce the environmental impact .
For those unfamiliar with this management system, it consists of the waste collection activity by the company in charge directly from the citizens’ homes, thus avoiding the use of large bins along the streets of the cities and trying to increase the practice of separate collection.
Secondary raw materials
Paying attention to separate collection gives the possibility of classifying waste on the basis of the different recycling properties, thus favoring their transformation into the so mcalled secondary raw aterials, a new type of raw material that is part of the production cycle as a material. basis for the creation of new products.
In fact, the second raw materials represent a new and cheaper source of supply for those companies that often cannot bear the p rice of raw materials whose purchase and disposal cost is undergoing an exponential increase in many cases, thus combining environmental and economic efficiency.
The recycling and reuse of waste also represents a considerable saving at the municipal and state level, the amount of which can therefore be reinvested in public goods and services.
Economic, environmental and social benefits
The transformation of waste into secondary raw materials also requires certain specific technologies, the implementation of this production sector in fact generates the birth of a new market, new businesses and therefore new jobs.
Basically, the better it will be carried out in households, the better it will be possible to start a circular production process without hitches and additional costs. The gestures of daily life significantly determine the environmental impact generated by each individual (in the US, a citizen produces about 25.9 tons of carbon dioxide in a year)1. For this reason, an improvement from this point of view of the daily activities by individual citizens can significantly increase civic education and awareness of respect for the environment.
Separate collection is a very simple practice that, if done correctly, truly reduces the environmental impact that weighs on us, improving the environment in which we live and reducing pollution.
As we have already written in our Media Section, increasing a good and efficient waste management is one of the main points of our Zero Waste Zones, plastic and waste in general are a very serious problem in our society and no one will be able to solve it except we act first.
Here is a small summary of advices to carry out a correct separate collection:
- Paper and Cardboard: empty and crush the boxes. Remove the cellophane from the magazines. Eliminates adhesive tapes and other non-cellulosic materials. In order to be recycled, the paper must be clean so do not give away greasy, dirty or contaminated paper with foreign substances;
- Multi-material: always empty the containers and squeeze them lengthwise. Remove organic residues from plastic trays, jars and plates before throwing them away. The poly-laminate cartons for drinks and food are collected with the multi-material: crush them before giving them;
- Glass: empty the jars and bottles and make sure they are free of organic residues before throwing them away. If the caps and lids are not glass, remove them and place them in the multi-material. Be careful not to give crystal, pyrex or ceramic objects to the glass: small fragments of these materials could make it impossible to recycle;
- Organic: compostable disposable tableware can be thrown away in the organic together with food residues. The ashes from the chimney must cool for at least 48 hours before being thrown into the container. Organic waste must be disposed of in roadside containers or tubs in tightly closed compostable bags;
- Unsorted : trans fer to unsorted waste only what cannot actually be recycled. Close the bag well before throwing it out and make sharp or pointed objects harmless;
