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Beware: you’re probably doing recycling wrong!
Trash and recycling truck Doing recycling wrong can endanger the whole process. Including the people who work in it. But we all make mistakes in recycling. We put materials out to the curb that don’t...
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Recycling with robotic sorting and artificial intelligence
Robot recycling sorters We toss our recycling into a single container. Then a truck hauls it to a materials recovery facility (MRF). Sorting it is monotonous and potentially dangerous work for humans....
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The cost of convenience in careless recycling
It has been hard enough to get people to recycle at all. Too many people put too many wrong items in recycle bins. Recycling problems create expensive headaches. The cost of convenience in careless...
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What does the Chinese crackdown on recycling mean?
Tipping floor at material recovery facility (MRF) Last August, the Chinese government announced new restrictions on importing recyclables. Starting in 2018, it will no longer accept imports of two...
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How to dispose of Christmas lights
So you have strands of Christmas lights that don’t work anymore. Or maybe they’re so tangled you can’t put them up anywhere. Or maybe you’ve finally replaced your strings of large incandescent lights...
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Recycling rare earths by recycling agricultural waste
Rare earth oxides. Clockwise from top center: praseodymium, cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, samarium, and gadolinium. Rare earth elements are in high demand for consumer electronics and many other...
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The continuing recycling crisis: what can be done?
Port of Shanghai. How many of those shipping containers are full of American recyclables? At one time, China bought nearly half of America’s recyclables. Western states became especially dependent on...
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Recycling in the wake of the Chinese crackdown
Trash and recycling truck Once upon a time, American cities could easily sell the recycling they collected to China. Not anymore. China stopped accepting 24 kinds of materials in January 2018 and added...
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Recycling artificial turf
As more and more installations of artificial turf reach the end of life, disposal becomes a big issue. It seems the human race habitually puts innovations to use without thinking through all the...
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One year after the Chinese recycling ban
Material recovery facility (MRF) In the 1990s, China actively sought to import plastic to develop its manufacturing capacity. It did not pay equal attention to developing its waste management...
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Recycling concrete: processes and benefits
You have probably seen waste concrete piled up at demolition sites. Some experts estimate that half of all the concrete ever used has been made in the last two decades. Recycling concrete helps solve...
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Recycling at a crossroads
I noticed a strange combination of articles in a recent Google alert. According to one headline, “The Media Pivots Away From ‘Recycling is Dying’ Message” But the very next item in the list proclaimed,...
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Glass recycling in a crisis
We Americans have long taken glass recycling for granted. We’re going in the wrong direction with it, and it will get worse before it gets better. Unlike plastic, glass has no chemical properties that...
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Advanced plastic recycling technology
Mountain of plastic trash Our system of plastic recycling doesn’t work very well. Fortunately, advanced plastic recycling technology exists. It just hasn’t yet become economically feasible. Recycling...
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Holiday waste reduction and recycling tips
Most of us want to do the right thing by the environment, but it’s more difficult around Christmas. Americans throw out about 25 million tons more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year than any other...
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Can plastic-eating bacteria boost recycling?
Processing plastics for recycling Current technology in plastic recycling can’t handle most of the plastic waste we generate. Biological plastic recycling is on the horizon. Scientists are looking into...
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The plastic recycling crisis and how cities are coping
Mountain of plastic trash In 2018, China stopped accepting all but the cleanest shipments of recycling. Thus began a worldwide recycling crisis. Especially a plastic recycling crisis. For a while, it...
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What happens to recycled plastic bags?
Plastic shopping bags We recycle about 500,000 tons of plastic bags and other films every year, and the amount is growing. Unfortunately, that’s only about 5% of what we use, but it’s a start. Have you...
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How COVID-19 has devastated recycling
Trash and recycling truck The COVID-19 pandemic has had a bad effect on recycling. And the recycling industry was already reeling. Yet demand for recycled metal, paper, glass, and even plastic remains...
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Innovations in plastic recycling technology
Plastic-eating bacteria Traditional plastic recycling isn’t working very well. Innovations in plastic recycling technology are on the horizon that can make big improvements. Plastic recycling has long...
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