RECYCLING OF NATURAL

AND MANUFACTURED MATERIALS

Learning Objectives: Students should be able to:

1. explain, with examples, the impact of the continual re-use of

materials in nature;

2. discuss the importance of and difficulties encountered in

recycling manufactured materials;
 RECYCLING OF NATURAL
AND MANUFACTURED MATERIALS
Recycling of manufactured and other waste materials

Recycling changes waste materials into new products. Recyclable materials

can be divided into two categories:
 Biodegradable materials: these can be decomposed by the action of living
organisms, mainly bacteria and fungi. They include waste from the food
industry, farmyard and garden waste, most paper and bagasse from the
sugar industry.
 Non-biodegradable materials: these cannot be decomposed by living
organisms. They include glass, plastics, rubber, construction waste,
synthetic fabrics such as nylon, and metals such as iron, steel, aluminium,
copper and lead.
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AND MANUFACTURED MATERIALS

Recycling of manufactured and other waste materials is

important because it:
 Prevents wastage of potentially useful materials.
 Conserves natural resources by reducing the quantity of
fresh raw materials used in manufacturing.
 Reduces energy usage.
 Reduces the quantity of waste requiring disposal.
 Reduces pollution of air, land and water
 RECYCLING OF NATURAL
AND MANUFACTURED MATERIALS
Difficulties encountered in recycling manufactured materials

Several difficulties are encountered when trying to recycle materials:

 It can be difficult to persuade households and industries to separate
their waste into different types.
 It is more difficult to collect, transport and store waste items when
separated into different types.
 It can be time consuming because items have to be cleaned before they
are recycled. Also, different manufactured materials can have very
different properties and they have to be sorted into their different types
before recycling, e.g. there are many different types of plastics.
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AND MANUFACTURED MATERIALS
Difficulties encountered in recycling manufactured materials
 It can be hazardous because recyclable materials have to be separated
from any toxic materials before they can be recycled, e.g. the acid has
to be removed from lead batteries before recycling the lead.
 It can be uneconomical in small countries such as the Caribbean
islands because it is labour and energy intensive, and the quantity of
recyclable materials generated by these countries is insufficient to
maintain the full-time operation of recycling plants.
 Most small countries do not have the facilities to use recycled raw
materials.