ABC of Paper Recycling for Kids: Keep It Separate.
The first vital stage in recycling paper is to keep it separate from general waste. Once paper has become mixed with other kinds of garbage it cannot be recovered. Perhaps yOll already save your old newspapers and magazines for special collection, or perhaps you are involved in a voluntary papercollecting program in your community or at school. These programs are beginning to spread. But, of course, separating and collecting paper is not the whole story. The next two stages are to repulp it, and then to make new products from it. All this involves a lot of cooperation and organization.
The word "recycle" gives a good idea ofhow the process works. You canthinkof recycling as a circle. First come the consumers -people who have used the paper and are willing to sort and separate it from the rest of their garbage. Then the paper must be collected and transported, whether by local authorities, voluntary groups or commercial dealers. Next there need to be mills ready to buythe waste, and be able to process it. Thenthere has to be a use for the pulped fibers -new products to be made. Finally, the circle comes backto the consumers -people wanting to buy and use those products.
Another way to describe this circle is to say that there has to be a regular "supply" of wastepaper, and there also has to be a steady "demand" for recycled paper products.
When you look more closely, you will find that there are different circles within the main circle. Paper comes in many different grades, and those grades are used for particular purposes. So, different types of paper tend to be collected from different places. For example, the waste collected from offices and commercial premises is mainly high-quality white typing paper and computer paper. High-quality paper also comes from factories or printing works in the form of "off-cuts" -the bits left over when, for example, books are made. The waste from people's homes is mainly lower-quality paper in the form ofnewspapers and magazines. The waste from stores and supermarkets is almost entirely cardboard and corrugated packaging. Each of these has to be processed in a mill designed to deal with that particular grade. And the quality of the original paper will affect the new use to which it can be put.
All this explains why the first stage-sorting and separating is so important.
- Published: 2012-06-25T10:42:05-07:00
- Author: Laura Schmidt, Dumpster Rentals Customer Supp
