Assess the impacts of recycling on the environment. Give examples to support your paragraph.
Positive Impact
Preservation of the ecosystem and
biodiversity - protecting their habitat from
waste and exploitation can save countless
species from extinction. Proper disposal of e-
waste entails reduced environmental hazards.
Conservation of natural resources - By
recycling plastic, paper, metal or glass -
minerals can be collected and reused hence no
need to drill for new raw materials.
Energy savings - save more energy through
recycling than from extracting, refining and
producing from raw materials.
Reduction of greenhouse gases emission -
Organic waste composting in landfill reduces
methane emission and nurtures richer and
sustainable soils [methane traps heat better
and exacerbate climate change]
Negative Impact
Facts/Evidence
Germany has the highest recycling rate of
68.3% according to Eurostat 2018 thereby
aligning itself to broader goals of protecting
its diversity.
With a recycling rate of 52% in 2019,
Switzerland too aims to protect its
environment and surrounding biodiversity.
With the highest recycling metal rate, Japan
leads the way as testified by the Tokyo
Olympics that presented medals made from
recycled products.
Russia - land of magnanimous natural
resources introduced the law on production
and consumption waste in 2019 that aims to
extract raw materials from waste and
reintroduce them in the production cycle.
In 2018, 3.7 million tons of aluminium were
produced by recycling in the United States,
which can power up to 8M homes with
electricity.
In 2014, over 89 million tons of municipal solid
waste recycled in 2014 in the USA saved over
322,000 GWh of energy – enough to provide
electricity to 30 million homes.
Sweden stands out as a close to net-zero
economy with a weight-based waste charge to
incentivize household recycling.
India being the largest e-waste producer
accounted for 1.7M tones in 2014 only. As a
solution, India created a new job - India’s
waste pickers to retrieve recyclable waste.
Facts/Evidence
Lead to more pollution [air, water and soil]
from transportation to recycling which can be
detrimental to the environment
E-waste is sent to poorer countries for
recycling hence causing more pollution
especially since bigger countries like China
have stopped welcoming waste from other
countries.