With rising global climate changes, dwindling natural resources, its high-time that we start to take recycling more seriously. Recycling and waste management is much more than a fad; in fact it is a requirement, considering the kind of world we live and the direction towards which our ecosystem is headed. With melting glaciers, rising water levels, high urbanization and formation of mega cities and concrete jungles, it is important that we stay true to the idea of recycling. There are several materials that you can recycle but one of the biggest on the planet is paper.
The most used, and unfortunately a rather indispensible commodity, we use paper for writing, printing, advertising, and as a means of storage. In fact there are so many uses for paper it’s hard to fit them all in a single post. To produce paper we need to cut down trees; unfortunately, trees are the lifeblood of an ecosystem and while chopping trees down for paper production, we are fiddling with nature and putting our wildlife and ecosystems sustainability at risk.
Therefore, it is imperative that you recycle paper as best as you can. Remain mindful that not all kinds of paper are recyclable. Paper towels, wax paper, tissue papers cannot be recycled but, printing paper, magazines, catalogues brochures and cardboards etc. are all recyclable.
The Process
Once you have separated the paper that can be recycled, it’s time to deposit them in the recycling bin. From here the local waste management company takes up the reigns. They take recyclable material to a recycling plant. This is where the transformation begins to take shape. The recycling plant segments the paper further, splitting them into various grades and types.
The separated paper is then cleaned with soap and water so as to remove all ink and other materials such as gloss, pins and paper clips etc. Once the paper is cleaned, the paper is put into a large holder which mixes all the paper together to form ‘slurry’. New materials are added to this slurry to give different textures and tendencies to the paper. From the same slurry you can get cardboard boxes as well as printing paper.
The slurry is then laid out flat and thin, courtesy of large rollers, before they are laid out to dry. Once dried, these large sheets are cut, chopped, and sent back to the stores for commercial use. This process is so streamlined that it’s impossible for the users to discern whether the paper was ever recycled in the first place.
Source: www.recycling-guide.org.uk
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