Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique

Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Appliquées d'Alger (ESSAA)

‫املدرسة العليا للعلوم التطبيقية – الجزائر‬

Higher School of Applied Sciences- Algiers

From trash to treasure: recycling

Written by:
Imatouken Melissa
2nd year organic process engineering

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Table of contents:

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………03

What is waste?...............................................................................................................04

What is recycling?.........................................................................................................04

Recycling of organic waste ……………………………………………………………………..………..05

How to implement recycling in Algeria by using chemistry?......................................06

The importance of recycling ………………………………………………………………….…………09

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………….……..09

Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………………….…..10

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Introduction:
After the effects of global warming and overpopulation have become known to men
the process of saving the earth is becoming more and more urgent. Researchers and
scientists all around the world are proposing different solutions to combat pollution
such as: use of green energy, protecting forests, and of course recycling.

Because chemistry brought the problem of pollution into the world, it doesn’t seem
unreasonable to look to chemistry for a solution. Such a solution will require that
today’s chemists figure out how to undo the work of their predecessors. As they
develop new materials that might not be as difficult to deal with as today’s waste.
With such developments, it’s conceivable that, one day, chemists might deliver a
plastic bottle that can be reusable infinitely. But until then we need to work on
recycling the most we can.

In most developing countries, the recycling rate is relatively low compared to the
average developed nation and Algeria is no exception, there is little to no accessibility
to recycling services and collection programs, unlike curbside recycling pickup, found
in many parts of North America and Western Europe. Which leads me to the point of
my project: how can we solve the problem of waste and pollution in Algeria? The
answer in my opinion is recycling.

Various pictures of the trash and pollution problem in Algeria

What is waste?

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First things first, waste is everything that no longer has a use or purpose and needs to
be disposed of. The term certainly applies to discarded material, but there are specific
definitions for each type of detritus and rubbish; which affects how they are regulated
and handled, especially in professional settings.

Sources of waste can be broadly classified into 5 types:

 Industrial (hazardous and toxic, it is non-recyclable)

 Commercial and Domestic (75% recyclable)
 Agricultural (mainly toxic chemicals and pesticides)
 Water treatment (sewage)
 Biomedical (comes from hospitals and can spread diseases)

Organic wastes are materials originating from living sources like plants, animals,
and microorganisms that can be broken down into simpler organic molecules;
organic wastes produced in nature by various means can exist either in a solid-state
or liquid state.

The most common sources of organic wastes include agriculture as well as household
and commercial activities. Green waste like food wastes, food-soiled paper, non-
hazardous wood waste and landscape waste (dead leaves and cut down branches or
trees) are some of the examples of biodegradable or organic wastes. Even though
most of the organic wastes in the soil add up nutrients and minerals for soil fertility
and plant growth, inappropriate disposal practices might cause severe damage to the
earth, it has been an important source of pollution in the environment.

Recently, however, the concept of organic waste management and recycling has
been introduced and implemented in 1st world countries.

What is recycling?
Recycling achieves the objective of keeping materials out of the landfill by turning
them back into raw materials that will be used again to manufacture new products or
items. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the properties
it had in its original state.

Recycling is broken down into three steps as follows:

Collecting and processing of the waste, it can be accomplished in several ways;

some communities have curbside programs to pick up your recyclables on the
street others have community drop off bins that you can stop by and deliver
your recycling.

Materials are then sorted, cleaned, baled and sent to a factory to be converted
to a marketable raw material.

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 The raw material is processed into energy or the making of new products that
return to the market and are purchased by consumers. This completes the
recycling loop.

Recycling of organic waste:

The need for organic waste recycling has increased over the years as waste
management became an emerging issue in most metropolitan cities. Organic waste
account for most of the waste created in nature which then directly affects urban
living systems due to their high moisture content.

In order to deal with these issues, various treatment methods and practices have been
formulated and implemented throughout the world. The primary objective of organic
waste recycling is to maintain a sustainable cycle where the biodegradable fraction of
organic waste is converted into useful organic manure or fertilizer through different
recycling techniques but the overall process of it begins with the collection of waste
materials which are then passed through various steps to obtain a usable form of
organic matter.

The general steps/mechanism of organic waste recycling can be explained as below:

Collection: The first step is the collection of waste materials which can either
be on a small scale in a kitchen or on a large scale in industries. A sufficient
amount of waste matter needs to be collected in appropriate bags so that they
can be moved to the site of recycling.

Decontamination: the decontamination of waste in order to avoid its harmful

effects. This step is particularly important while dealing with organic waste
from industries. Besides, any non-biodegradable substance like glass, plastic,
and bricks, if present, should be removed during this step.

Preparation: Before the organic waste is added to a recycling system, it should

be prepared. The method of preparation employed depends on the type of
recycling method chosen. For, e.g., composting requires shredding and
stacking of organic waste, whereas an immobilized enzyme system requires
immobilized enzymes (some methods might even require a period of
stabilization prior to recycling, in which case, the time should be designated).

Recycling process: Depending on the nature of the organic waste and desired
end products, an appropriate method of recycling should be adopted. Human

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 wastes like sewage and fecal wastes should be recycled via anaerobic digestion
whereas sewages can be treated with thermophilic digesters.

Screening and grading: The obtained residues or compost are then screened
into different sizes to be used for different purposes depending on the
application of the end products.

How to implement recycling in Algeria by using chemistry:

During the process of organic waste recycling, the wastes are subjected to different
forms of treatments, resulting in the conversion of waste into compost or
vermicompost that can then be utilized. Biological treatments are among the most
convenient and effective alternative for treating organic waste. This is why after a few
days of research I chose two different methods, one for the general public to apply
(composting) and the other for the government (thermophilic anaerobic digestion),
as they are easiest and most effective to be put into practice in Algeria.

Composting:

Composting is the process of decomposition of organic

material where the organic material is acted on by soil
organisms resulting in the recycling of nitrogen,
phosphorus, potassium, and other soil nutrients into
humus-rich components.

Composting is an aerobic process that takes place under

correct conditions of moisture and biological heat
production, even though all organic matter can be
composted, some materials like woodchips and paper take
much longer to compost than food and agricultural wastes.
Aerobic composting occurs in an open system, and
therefore in the presence of oxygen. During this process,
bacteria (which are a type of microbes) use oxygen and
carbon compounds to fuel their growth. The end result of
aerobic composting is carbon dioxide, water vapor, and a
dark-brown or black organic material. This material, called
compost, is about half the volume of the original material
and can be used to enrich soil in farm fields and gardens.

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The overall process of composting includes both the composting time followed by a
period of stabilization to produce a final stable product that can then be applied to
the land.

There are different composting systems ranging from simple, low-cost bin
composting to highly technical high-cost reactor systems; compost bins are most
suitable for use in houses to compost simple kitchen waste and garden cuttings.
Aerobic composting does not require expensive equipment, unlike anaerobic
composting. It involves drying the waste and stirring it to maximize its exposure to
oxygen (it is a fairly low-tech process). If every house in Algeria had a composting bin
it would reduce the domestic waste by half!

An example of homemade composting bin

thermophilic anaerobic digestion:

Thermophilic anaerobic digestion is the process of rapid fermentation of organic

wastes by activating fermenting microorganisms at high temperatures and little to no
oxygen. A rapid thermophilic digester works eight to ten times faster than a natural
decomposition. In a thermophilic digester, the feedstock is fed into the digester with
heat forced through the material to support the growth of anaerobic microbes
(thermophilic digestion is an exothermic process that maintains a thermophilic
condition at 55-65°C).

Anaerobic digestion is similar to the decomposition of organic waste in a landfill, but

it is more controlled and releases fewer pollutants into the atmosphere. First, the
waste is ground up, because small chunks break down faster than large ones. Then
these chunks are loaded into a closed container, called a digester. There, anaerobic
microbes consume the organic material to produce carbon dioxide (CO2) and
methane (CH4) and a product that looks like slurry, called a digestate.

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The methane gas produced may be collected and used directly as a fuel for cooking or
heating or it can be burned to generate electricity. Unlike the production of methane
from gas wells, anaerobic digestion is a renewable source of energy.

In Europe, energy crops are grown and dedicated to anaerobic digestion, they are
called biogas plants, Algeria has a lot of un-used agricultural lands, especially in the
countryside, so growing energy crops could also be a way to reduce the carbon foot
print in the future.

The many uses of the products from anaerobic digestion

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The importance of recycling:
Organic waste recycling has multiple advantages that
help prevent the problems that arise with the
accumulation of waste products in nature. Some of the
common advantages or significances of organic waste
recycling are:

Recycling of biomass or biowastes allows for the generation of energy in the

form of biogas by recycling processes like anaerobic digestion.

The conversion of organic matter into compost helps save resources as

compost can be used as a biofertilizer which avoids the use of other chemical
fertilizers.

The separation of organic and inorganic wastes also improves the efficiency of
non-organic recycling.

One of the most important significances of organic waste recycling is the

reduction of pollution in the air, water, and land as it reduces problems like
odor generation or gas emissions.

Landfills tend to increase the emission of greenhouse gases, and the recycling
of such wastes into less harmful wastes decreases such emissions.

Conclusion:
Ongoing research spans all the major areas of organic chemistry and encompasses a
variety of topics such as enzymatic processes, synthesis of biologically important
natural products, novel organometallic catalyst development and much more.
Therefore, we were not surprised to learn that chemistry is at play in the recycling
process. Thus, organic chemistry is undoubtedly serving as the core chemical science
for the advancement of science and technology with clear goals to benefit human life
and society. This characteristic feature of organic chemistry is very unique and
unparalleled to any other disciplines in chemical sciences.

It is very clear that Algeria is behind in terms of the eco-friendly and green
movement, but if we teach the next generation the importance of saving the earth and
we give them the right tools to do so; I truly believe that we could achieve amazing
progress.

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Bibliography:
 https://microbenotes.com/organic-waste-recycling/
 https://organicchemistryproject.weebly.com/recycling-plastic.html
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste
 https://recyclemontana.org/what-is-recycling-and-why-recycle/

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