The truth about recycling  

The Economist has a look at the effectiveness of recycling programs (one small step towards cradle to cradle manufacturing) in "The truth about recycling".

As the importance of recycling becomes more apparent, questions about it linger. Is it worth the effort? How does it work? Is recycling waste just going into a landfill in China? Here are some answers. ...

Studies that look at the entire life cycle of a particular material can shed light on this question in a particular case, but WRAP decided to take a broader look. It asked the Technical University of Denmark and the Danish Topic Centre on Waste to conduct a review of 55 life-cycle analyses, all of which were selected because of their rigorous methodology. The researchers then looked at more than 200 scenarios, comparing the impact of recycling with that of burying or burning particular types of waste material. They found that in 83% of all scenarios that included recycling, it was indeed better for the environment.

Based on this study, WRAP calculated that Britain's recycling efforts reduce its carbon-dioxide emissions by 10m-15m tonnes per year. That is equivalent to a 10% reduction in Britain's annual carbon-dioxide emissions from transport, or roughly equivalent to taking 3.5m cars off the roads. Similarly, America's Environmental Protection Agency estimates that recycling reduced the country's carbon emissions by 49m tonnes in 2005.

Recycling has many other benefits, too. It conserves natural resources. It also reduces the amount of waste that is buried or burnt, hardly ideal ways to get rid of the stuff. (Landfills take up valuable space and emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas; and although incinerators are not as polluting as they once were, they still produce noxious emissions, so people dislike having them around.) But perhaps the most valuable benefit of recycling is the saving in energy and the reduction in greenhouse gases and pollution that result when scrap materials are substituted for virgin feedstock. “If you can use recycled materials, you don't have to mine ores, cut trees and drill for oil as much,” says Jeffrey Morris of Sound Resource Management, a consulting firm based in Olympia, Washington.

Extracting metals from ore, in particular, is extremely energy-intensive. Recycling aluminium, for example, can reduce energy consumption by as much as 95%. Savings for other materials are lower but still substantial: about 70% for plastics, 60% for steel, 40% for paper and 30% for glass. Recycling also reduces emissions of pollutants that can cause smog, acid rain and the contamination of waterways.


A brief history of recycling

The virtue of recycling has been appreciated for centuries. For thousands of years metal items have been recycled by melting and reforming them into new weapons or tools. It is said that the broken pieces of the Colossus of Rhodes, a statue deemed one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, were recycled for scrap. During the industrial revolution, recyclers began to form businesses and later trade associations, dealing in the collection, trade and processing of metals and paper. America's Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), a trade association with more than 1,400 member companies, traces its roots back to one such organisation founded in 1913. In the 1930s many people survived the Great Depression by peddling scraps of metal, rags and other items. In those days reuse and recycling were often economic necessities. Recycling also played an important role during the second world war, when scrap metal was turned into weapons.

As industrial societies began to produce ever-growing quantities of garbage, recycling took on a new meaning. Rather than recycling materials for purely economic reasons, communities began to think about how to reduce the waste flow to landfills and incinerators. Around 1970 the environmental movement sparked the creation of America's first kerbside collection schemes, though it was another 20 years before such programmes really took off. ...

As yesterday's post on The Shockwave Rider (apparently in need of some editing but I'll offer my usual excuse that these things are assembled in great haste - the idea that it could be turned into a book was quite amusing - has anyone ever done a book length book review before ?) has left me a little tired, I'll just include the links for the rest of today's news.

Other links:
The Economist - Irrational incandescence. The power of negawatts.
The Economist - Hydrothermal cooling. Use the temperature gradient Luke !
The Times - Chinese Drop Biofuel Plans as Food Prices Rise. Someone sees sense.
Beyond the Beyond - Hey Kids, Watch Climate Crisis Destroy Entire Planet in Real Time!
SMH - Battle To Clean Up King Coal. Its kind of like the battle to clean the Augean stables, but harder.
The Australian - Coal Profit Washed Away. Just another vicious feedback cycle, in action.
The Australian - Heavy Falls Fail To Fill The Dams. Got your water tank yet ?



The Australian - Hughie giveth a bit too much. Shame none of it fell in the dam catchment areas.

At the time of New Orleans being wrecked by Hurricane Katrina, Tim Flannery warned anyone who'd listen that the east coast of Australia would soon be copping a lot of batterings, another symptom of climate change. But no one in government here was listening. They're still not listening.

Perhaps the rainfall represents a sort of religious revival, God responding to the PM's call for public prayer. As George W. Bush constantly reminds US voters, God votes Republican. So perhaps the President has lent him to John Howard to help win the election. ... If God is the only way Howard can deal with climate change, will he also have us pray for reduced interest rates? Lower petrol prices? To hell with the separation of church and state, let's pray for better health care and education.

The Australian - Origin To Build $780 million Power Station In Queensland
SMH - Dozens Killed In India, Pakistan Heatwave
SMH - Surprise: less oxygen could be just the trick. Biochar is the new black.
Energy Bulletin - MP warns South Australia about peak oil
Energy Bulletin - Book review: The Last Oil Shock
Energy Bulletin - Top UK scientist says biofuels are scam
WorldChanging - Working Networks (points to Wiser Earth and Appropoedia)
Mongabay - A Wiser earth ?. It would struggle to get much stupider.
Technology Review - Greener Jet Fuel. Well - greener than kerosene anyway.
IHT - Trees and crops reclaim desert in Niger. See - things can get better.
Mongabay - Geoengineering Earth's Climate Could Stop Global Warming But Carries Big Risks
Centre For Responsible Nanotechnology - Big Risks Of Geoengineering
Daily Reckoning - Rio Tinto Iron Ore Expansion Creates Investment Opportunities - "What about labour shortages? Last week, Peter Costello worried out loud that Australia might run out of workers. Hmm. There are plenty of bloggers, financial planners, and analysts we know that have a healthy pair of hands that could be put to better use. ". Hey - steady on there - its not nice out at the mines...
Daily Reckoning - Ron Paul For President - Does He Have A Chance ?. Probably not - but at least he is trying.
Energy Bulletin - Al Gore wants to be President. Just think if he hadn't had the 2000 election stolen from him.
Think Progress - Powell: Close Guantanamo Now, Restore Habeas. Growing a pair at last ?
The Guardian - The US plans permanent military bases in Iraq, confirming to many that it really was all about oil. You're kidding me. No way !
Huffington Post - Bill Richardson: I'd Leave No Troops in Iraq. But who would man the bases ? Good to see another Democrat starting to show some spine.
Daily Mail Torture is NEVER justified...and our spineless leaders must find the courage to tell that to Bush. Big UK conservative donor decides funding NGOs is the best way to spend his money.
Wired - A Shocking Idea - Nerves Might Run On Sound, Not Electricity
The Guardian - George Bush insists that Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. So why, six years ago, did the CIA give the Iranians blueprints to build a bomb? (don't believe everything you read in the newspaper...)
Anthropik - Neocolonialism & the New Map
Cryptogon - Angelina Jolie Joins Council on Foreign Relations. Look out for the centrefold in next month's "Foreign Affairs".