Recycling Organic Matter, Glass, Paper, Wood, Steel, and Aluminum

Posted on Feb 14, 2025 in Geology

Recycling Organic Matter (Compost)

Organic matter (compost) is a substance resulting from the moist, aerobic fermentation of organic fractions of municipal solid waste (MSW) in the presence of oxygen. This process achieves two key objectives: reducing the vast quantities of garbage generated daily and producing a product that can improve and recover soils for cultivation. The quality of compost depends on three factors: the quality of the organic matter, the biological fermentation process, and the mechanical purification and refining process.

Glass Recycling

Glass is obtained from a mixture of sand, soda ash, and limestone (98%). The remaining 2% consists of other substances such as lead, boron, or metal oxides that modify the properties of the glass and its appearance. The vitrifier is sand, sodium carbonate promotes fusion, and limestone stabilizes and imparts hardness and resistance to atmospheric agents. Manufacturing involves fusing raw materials at temperatures of about 1,500 ยบ C. Once cast, it should be mixed and shaped before cooling to achieve its final finish.

Benefits of Recycling Glass

  • Melting recycled glass occurs at lower temperatures than the original raw materials, saving energy.
  • Saves raw materials (1,200kg per ton of recycled glass).
  • Decreases the amount of solid waste going to landfills, resulting in environmental improvement and cost reduction of treatment.

Paper Recycling Process

The phases of recycling paper are:

  1. Collection: Authorized companies collect paper and cardboard from designated collection points in urban containers or from companies and institutions.
  2. Classification: Recovered documents are classified into various categories, ensuring that each type of paper will produce a new paper with similar characteristics.
  3. Baling: Paper from different categories is then pressed into large bales, each containing a specific type of waste paper.
  4. Storage: The bales are stored at the sorting facility, awaiting transport to paper factories.
  5. Transport: The bales are transported by trucks to paper mills, which use waste paper as a raw material.

Wood Recycling

Wood for recycling mainly includes industrial pallets, packaging, and wood derivatives in general, in addition to using useful parts of felled tree limbs and leftover wood from cut trunks. Recycling wood is important because it saves energy, facilitates certain production processes, lowers the price of raw materials, and, most importantly, saves millions of trees from being felled each day.

Recycling Steel and Aluminum

The recycling process for steel and aluminum is summarized in the following steps:

  1. Collection and classification of different metals.
  2. Aluminum and steel products are pressed to be taken to the recycling plant.
  3. Once in the plant, materials are crushed. Both are separated by a powerful electromagnet.
  4. Aluminum is melted and cast into ingots.
  5. Aluminum ingots are melted and passed through rollers to form thin sheets, serving as raw material for various products.
  6. Steel is separated from other potential accompanying materials by chemical and electrochemical processes.
  7. Pure steel is washed and melted to make ingots.
  8. Ingots are melted and passed through rollers to form thin films as well.