INTRODUCTION

The three R's - reduce, reuse and recycle - all help to cut down on the amount of waste we
throw away. They conserve natural resources, landfill space and energy.
Plus, the three R's save land and money communities must use to dispose of waste in
landfills. Siting a new landfill has become difficult and more expensive due to environmental
regulations and public opposition.
REDUCE
The best way to manage waste is to not produce it. This can be done by shopping carefully
and being aware of a few guidelines.
Buy products in bulk. Larger, economy-size products or ones in concentrated form use less
packaging and usually cost less per ounce.Avoid over-packaged goods, especially ones
packed with several materials such as foil, paper, and plastic. They are difficult to recycle,
plus you pay more for the package.Avoid disposable goods, such as paper plates, cups,
napkins, razors, and lighters. Throwaways contribute to the problem, and cost more because
they must be replaced again and again.Buy durable goods - ones that are well-built or that
carry good warranties. They will last longer, save money in the long run and save landfill
space.

REUSE
It makes economic and environmental sense to reuse products. Sometimes it takes creativity.

Reuse products for the same purpose. Save paper and plastic bags, and repair broken
appliances, furniture and toys.Reuse products in different ways. Use a coffee can to pack a
lunch; use plastic microwave dinner trays as picnic dishes.Sell old clothes, appliances, toys,
and furniture in garage sales or ads, or donate them to charities.Use resealable containers
rather than plastic wrap.Use a ceramic coffee mug instead of paper cups.Reuse grocery bags
or bring your own cloth bags to the store. Do not take a bag from the store unless you need
one.

RECYCLE
Recycling is a series of steps that takes a used material and processes, remanufactures, and
sells it as a new product. Begin recycling at home and at work

Buy products made from recycled material. Look for the recycling symbol or ask store
managers or salesmen. The recycling symbol means one of two things - either the product is
made of recycled material, or the item can be recycled. For instance, many plastic containers
have a recycling symbol with a numbered code the identifies what type of plastic resin it is
made from. However, just because the container has this code does not mean it can be easily
recycled locally.Check collection centers and curbside pickup services to see what they
accept, and begin collecting those materials. These can include metal cans, newspapers, paper
products, glass, plastics and oil.Consider purchasing recycled materials at work when
purchasing material for office supply, office equipment or manufacturing.Speak to store
managers and ask for products and packaging that help cut down on waste, such as recycled
products and products that are not over packaged.Buy products made from material that is
collected for recycling in your community.Use recycled paper for letterhead, copier paper and
newsletters.
Reuse
To reuse is to use an item again after it has been used. This includes conventional reuse
where the item is used again for the same function, and creative reuse where it is used for a
different function. In contrast, recycling is the breaking down of the used item into raw
materials which are used to make new items. By taking useful products and exchanging them,
without reprocessing, reuse help save time, money, energy, and resources. In broader
economic terms, reuse offers quality products to people and organizations with limited
means, while generating jobs and business activity that contribute to the economy.
Historically, financial motivation was one of the main drivers of reuse. In the developing
world this driver can lead to very high levels of reuse, however rising wages and consequent
consumer demand for the convenience of disposable products has made the reuse of low
value items such as packaging uneconomic in richer countries, leading to the demise of many
reuse programs. Current environmental awareness is gradually changing attitudes and
regulations, such as the new packaging regulations, are gradually beginning to reverse the
situation.
One example of conventional reuse is the doorstep delivery of milk in refillable bottles; other
examples include the retreading of tires and the use of returnable/reusable plastic
boxes, shipping containers, instead of single-use corrugated fiberboardboxes.
Recycle
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into reusable objects to prevent waste
of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, energy usage,
air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from landfilling) by decreasing the need
for "conventional" waste disposal and lowering greenhouse gas emissions compared to
plastic production.[1][2] Recycling is a key component of modern waste reduction and is the
third component of the "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" waste hierarchy.
There are some ISO standards related to recycling such as ISO 15270:2008 for plastics waste
and ISO 14001:2004 for environmental management control of recycling practice.
Recyclable materials include many kinds of glass, paper and cardboard, metal, plastic, tires,
textiles and electronics. The composting or other reuse of biodegradable wastesuch
as food or garden wasteis also considered recycling.[2] Materials to be recycled are either
brought to a collection centre or picked up from the curbside, then sorted, cleaned and
reprocessed into new materials destined for manufacturing.
In the strictest sense, recycling of a material would produce a fresh supply of the same
materialfor example, used office paper would be converted into new office paper, or
used polystyrene foam into new polystyrene. However, this is often difficult or too expensive
(compared with producing the same product from raw materials or other sources), so
"recycling" of many products or materials involves their reuse in producing different
materials (for example, paperboard) instead. Another form of recycling is the salvage of
certain materials from complex products, either due to their intrinsic value (such as lead
from car batteries, or gold from circuit boards), or due to their hazardous nature (e.g.,
removal and reuse of mercury from thermometers and thermostats).
Advantages and disadvantages

Reuse has certain potential advantages:

Energy and raw materials savings as replacing many single use products with one reusable
one reduces the number that need to be manufactured.Reduced disposal needs and
costs.Refurbishment can bring sophisticated, sustainable, well paid jobs to underdeveloped
economies.Cost savings for business and consumers as a reusable product is often cheaper
than the many single use products it replaces.Some older items were better handcrafted and
appreciate in value.

Disadvantages are also apparent:

Reuse often requires cleaning or transport, which have environmental costs.Some items, such
as freon appliances, infant auto seats, older tube TVs and secondhand automobiles could be
hazardous or less energy efficient as they continue to be used.Reusable products need to be
more durable than single-use products, and hence require more material per item. This is
particularly significant if only a small proportion of the reusable products are in fact
reused.Sorting and preparing items for reuse takes time, which is inconvenient for consumers
and costs money for businesses.Special skills are required to tweak the functional throughput
of items when devoting them to new uses outside of their original purpose.Knowing the
standards that legacy products conform to is required for knowing what adapters to buy for
newer products to be compatible with them, even though the cost of adapters for such
applications is a minor disadvantage.Being a rather minor disadvantage, metal that is
repurposed later on can sometimes contain rust, seeing as it sometimes ages before reuse.

Advantages of Recycling
1. Protects Environment: The foremost benefit or recycling is that it helps in protecting
the environment in the most balanced manner. While many trees are cut down continually,
recycled paper made from certain trees is re-used repeatedly to minimize felling/
deforestation. With re-cycled paper as an outstanding example, a number of other natural
resources can be reused this way.

2. Reduces Energy Consumption: A large amount of energy is consumed by processing raw

materials at the time of manufacture. Recycling helps to minimize energy consumption,
which is crucial for massive production, such mining or refining. This also makes the
production process very cost-effective and beneficial for manufacturers.
3. Reduces Pollution: Industrial waste today is the main source of all types of pollution.
Recycling of industrial products such as cans, chemical, plastics helps to cut down pollution
levels considerably, as these materials are re-used, instead of throwing them away
irresponsibly.

4: Reduces Global Warming: Recycling helps to alleviate global warming and its ill effects.
Massive waste is burned in heaps which produces large amount of greenhouse gas emissions
such as CO2 and CFCs. Recycling ensure that the burning process is minimized and any
waste is re-generated as a useful product with no or minimal harmful impact on the
environment. Recycling produces less greenhouse gases as industries burn fewer fossil fuels
for eco-friendly products.

5. Judicious and Sustainable use of Resources: Recycling promotes judicial and

sustainable use of resources. This process ensures that there is no discriminate use of any
material when available in plenty in the present. Recycling is encouraged at all levels, starting
from school to corporate offices and at international levels. This means we can preserve all
precious resources for our future generation, without any compromise in the present.

6. Conserves Natural Resources: If old and used materials are not recycled, the new
products are made from extracting fresh raw materials from beneath the earth through mining
and extraction. Recycling helps in conserving important raw materials and protects natural
habitats for the future. Conserving natural resources such as wood, water and minerals
ensures its optimum use.

7. Reduces Amount of Waste to Landfills: Recycling old and waste products into new
products reduces the amount of waste that go to landfills. This helps in reducing water
and land pollution as landfills are a major source in contributing to destruction of natural
environment. Recycling programs keep 70 tons of waste from being deposited into landfills
every year.
Disadvantages of Recyle

1. Not always Cost Effective: Recycling is not always cost-effective. Sometimes, there may
be a need to establish separate factories to process reusable products. This may create more
pollution as they would go under the process of cleaning, storage and transportation.

2. Recycled Products May not Last for Long: Recycled products are always not of durable
quality. Such items are mostly made of trashed waste, picked up from heaps other waste
products which are of fragile or overly used. For this reason, recycled products are cheap
and last for a shorter period.

3. Unsafe and Unhygienic Recycling Sites: Recycling sites are often unsafe and unhygienic.
Places where all sorts of waste is dumped are conducive for debris formation and spread of
disease and other dangers caused by harmful chemicals and waste. This not only causes
widespread pollution but is harmful for dedicated people who recycle such products. Such
waste if mixed with water, leads to leach ate formation and leads to toxification of water
bodies including drinking water.

4. Not widespread on Large Scale: Although recycling is an important step to

minimize pollution, unfortunately this process is just a small part of long-term
success. Recycling often occurs at a small scale- homes or schools and has failed to be
useful at a large level such as at industries or holistically at a global stage. Saving
paper at schools cannot be compared to oil spills or massive tree felling at at industrial
level.

5. High Initial Cost: Setting up new recycling unit involves high cost. This huge cost
can come up as a part of acquiring different utility vehicles, upgrading the processing
facility, educating residents by organizing seminars and other programs, disposing of
existing waste and chemicals etc.
After weighing, the pros and cons of recycling, one can wisely take crucial steps
involved in this process. Understanding the impact of recycling is essential on a large-
scale which if done effectively can bring in massive positive results, beneficial to
mutual existence of human beings and environment.