There are many different types of recycling. Most people know about recycling paper, plastic, and glass, but a wide range of other materials can be recycled. A well-run recycling program will ensure that every material has a place in the system. It’s important to remember that only some types of material can be recycled at home either through wheelie bins, or by taking the waste to your local waste disposal site. Some things must go through specific processes before they’re ready for reuse. Some materials must be sorted by hand to remove contaminants or broken pieces before they can be recycled. Others require special equipment for their processing. Here are the different types of recycling, each with its process.
Paper recycling
Paper is probably the most common recycled material, meaning there are many different processes for recycling paper. Each process depends on what kind of paper you recycle and whether it contains any other materials like cardboard or plastic. The first step in paper recycling is to sort the paper. This means separating the different paper types so they can be recycled into different products. In general, newspaper can be recycled into newsprint, and office paper can be recycled into other types of office paper, but there are many variations depending on where you live. Next comes grinding and shredding, which breaks up large pieces of recyclable material into smaller pieces that can be processed more easily by machines at the processing facility. This process often uses a hammermill or similar machine to grind up your recyclables into tiny pieces before they go through additional steps, such as washing or sorting them by type, if necessary, before they can be used in manufacturing new products.
Those wishing to dispose of commercial waste can find a business waste disposal company that they will be able to hire regular waste containers and arrange collections at their convenience.
Mechanical recycling
The mechanical recycling process is similar to that of chemical recycling. Rather than sorting by material, it all starts with a bigger machine. This machine filters out any contaminated or broken item and separates what’s left into the categories you see at your local recycling center. The items are then placed on a conveyor belt to be ground down before they’re melted and recycled into new products.
Energy recycling
Energy recycling refers to the recovery of wasted energy from various sources, such as thermal or electrical energy from industrial processes, heat from exhausts or solar panels, and kinetic energy from wind turbines or watermills. This can be accomplished by using the waste heat directly in heat exchangers (exhaust gas recirculation), by using it to produce electricity (thermal power stations), or by storing it in batteries (in electric cars).
Chemical recycling
Chemical recycling is recovering useful chemicals and materials from a product or waste stream. Chemical recycling is used to manufacture new products, reduce the amount of waste directed to landfill sites and protect the environment from harmful chemical spills. This involves reusing waste materials that might otherwise be disposed of as hazardous waste.