What
happens to OUR rubbish?
Once
the dustmen have taken our rubbish away, most of it gets dumped
in huge landfill sites. Most sites eventually get covered
with soil, but they cannot be used to grow crops, and they
are not strong enough for buildings. Then, all the rubbish
inside them begins to decompose and many poisonous gases and
liquids seep out into the soil.
Some
seep into the water supply. Fires on landfill sites are also
common because chemical reactions take place below the surface.
Other rubbish is burned in incinerators - but sometimes that
releases toxic fumes and leaves poisonous ash behind.
Why
recycle?
Recycling
material to make new products costs less and requires less
energy than using new materials. Recycling also reduces pollution,
either by reducing the demand for high-pollution alternatives
or by minimizing the amount of pollution produced during the
manufacturing process. Recycling also decreases the amount
of land needed for trash dumps by reducing the volume of discarded
waste.
What
can we recycle?
Just
about any material can be recycled. On an industrial scale,
the most commonly recycled materials are those that are used
in large quantities-metals such as steel and aluminium, plastics,
paper, glass, and certain chemicals. For example:
