Asphalt and glass draining pipes

Some American cities have been using recovered glass to pave their streets: it’s the so-called “glasphalt”, which substitutes the aggregate with glass fragments. It is estimated that the City of New Jersey, which generates 50.000 tons of mixed glass per year, can use a maximum of 150.000 tons in that process, …

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Feeding cattle with newspapers

In Illinois, USA, a scientist intends to feed cattle with recycled newspaper. He believes it can be transformed into forage that would satisfy over 30% of cattle nourishment needs. A large-sized animal, according to the centrist, could eat up to 4,5 kg of paper daily

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Precautions in paper recycling

A widely explored myth is that waste paper recycling saves forests and preserves natural resources. On the contrary, cellulose is always obtained from cultivated trees, a renewable resource. And the energy consumed in recycling paper is in some cases many times greater than the energy used in its fabrication from …

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Consumption in the USA

To give an idea of the amount of nondurable products consumed in the US and consequently of the potential for solid waste recovery, we shall quote some bits of information from Tom Heyman’s “In an Average Lifetime”: “During his life, the average American will consume 20.301 bottles of beer, 460 …

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Energetic balance in paper incineration and recycling

According to the Department of Energy, paper incineration produces 8.000 Btu/pound while recycling recovers only 2.000 Btu/pound. That means that in order to obtain a balance between the two methods, the paper would have to be recovered as pulp for four times at least, compromising the quality of the fibers

Mais »

Asphalt and glass draining pipes

Some American cities have been using recovered glass to pave their streets: it’s the so-called “glasphalt”, which substitutes the aggregate with glass fragments. It is estimated that the City of New Jersey, which generates 50.000 tons of mixed glass per year, can use a maximum of 150.000 tons in that process, …

Mais »

Feeding cattle with newspapers

In Illinois, USA, a scientist intends to feed cattle with recycled newspaper. He believes it can be transformed into forage that would satisfy over 30% of cattle nourishment needs. A large-sized animal, according to the centrist, could eat up to 4,5 kg of paper daily

Mais »

Software for recycling

Migros, a Swiss chain of supermarkets, in partnership with the Swiss Secretariat for Environmental Protection, developed a software that carries out a comparative analysis of various types of containers regarding each phase of its production, utilization and final disposition. This program quantifies and sets grades for each energy unit consumed, …

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Recycling is not always environment protective

Recycling campaigns in some cities in the United States and in Western Europe encourage the population to take their recyclable domestic solid waste (glass, plastic, paper, cardboard paper, metal, etc.) to proper disposable units, usually large and colorful plastic containers installed in public places, to be removed to sorting centers or …

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