GARBAGE RECYCLING
Universal Waste Rule
Waste recycling and recovery are important goals of the RCRA regulatory program. In the course of managing the RCRA Subtitle C program, EPA became aware that subjecting certain commonly recyclable materials to full hazardous waste management was overly burdensome on the generators and handlers of such materials and often had the effect of discouraging waste recycling. In response, EPA issued a provision to RCRA known as the Universal Waste Rule in 1995.
Recycling of E-waste
Formal E-waste recycling plants have developed rapidly in China since 2009. By June 2018, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) had announced that 109 formal E-waste recycling plants qualified for funding subsidy. These plants are located in 29 provinces, but are mainly distributed in central and eastern China. With the rapid increase and comprehensive coverage afforded by these licensed recycling plants, the layout of the formal sector for recycling E-wastes has been preliminarily completed. In the formal sector, recyclers are mainly employing the best available recycling
Container Glass Recycling Processes
While waste recycling has become regarded as the waste management option of choice, it has to be recognized that it carries its own environmental and financial burdens [39]. Conceptually, converting postconsumer glass into cullet is a straightforward process of collecting material and removing contaminants, followed by color separation and crushing to feedstock size ready for inclusion in the batch melt, but in practice this is often difficult to achieve. Furthermore, in the drive to achieve high levels of recycling, sight is often lost of the aim of optimizing the environmental gains, or at least this becomes of secondary importance.
In Table 15.8 some key characteristics of container glass recycling have been classified according to the end use of the cullet. Using cullet to produce containers is the most environmentally benign option, not only because of the energy saved in the batch melt, but also because the used glass containers can be fed back into the product loop continuously. The ability to do so depends on their being sufficient demand, which in turn requires that the cullet supplied meets the manufacturer's specification for color mix and purity, for example, in the U.K. the WRAP PAS 101 specification and in the United States the Glass Packaging Institute's ‘High Quality Cullet’ guide.
Empty Cell Glass Container Cullet
Empty Cell Closed Loop → Open Loop
Empty Cell Market Demand → Regulatory driven
Type of recycling Product to product Material to material Material substitution
Type of use Used in container glass production Used in other glass production Used in nonglass applications
Typical end products Glass bottles Fiber glass insulation Aggregates and substrate
Secondary energy saving/t (batch melt) ≥ 1.5 GJ ≥ 1.5 GJ 0
CO2 emissions avoidance kg t (batch melt) 215–250 200–230 0
Maximum cullet proportion 90% 50% 10%–20%
Continual loop recycling Yes No No
Sources: Enviros Consulting Ltd., 2003. “Glass Recycling—Lifetime Carbon Dioxide Emissions,” British Glass Manufacturers Confederation, Sheffield; Butler and Hooper, 2005. “Dilemmas in optimising the environmental benefit from recycling: A case study of glass container waste management in the UK,” Resources Conservation and Recycling 45, 331–355.
