Recycling is a process in which certain types of materials, daily recognized as waste, are reused as raw material for the manufacture of new products. In addition to having different physical properties, they also have a new composition chemistry - the main factor that differentiates the reuse of recycling, concepts that are often confused.
This process is important nowadays, because it transforms what would or is already in the trash into new products, reducing waste that would be released into nature, while saving raw materials, often from non-renewable resources, and energy. To produce recycled aluminum, for example, only 5% of the energy needed to manufacture the primary product is used.
Thus, it is important to separate these materials, so that they are not sent together with the garbage that is not recyclable, having no other destination than to occupy space in landfills and dumps. The text "Selective collection at home” explains this process well.
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In our country, almost all disposable cans and PET bottles are recycled. However, plastics, steel cans, glass, among other materials, are little considered in this process, reinforcing the statistics that show that only 11% of everything that is thrown in the garbage can, in our country, is, in fact, recycled.
In Brazil, Curitiba (PR), Itabira (MG), Santo André (SP) and Santos (SP) are the cities that most recycle their materials.
By Mariana Araguaia
Graduated in Biology
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
ARAGUAIA, Mariana. "Recycling"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/biologia/reciclagem.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
