In class the other day someone asked about if it was worth the process to recycle newspapers. After doing some research, I have found that it is important to continue/start to recycle newspapers. According to a website from Newton, Kansas about recycling, it takes about 17 trees in order to create 1 ton of newspaper, and on average, Americans buy 65 million newspapers each day. However, only about 4 or 5 out of every 10 papers are actually recycled. It is good to recycle paper because it is able to reduce air and water pollution up to 50%, and by recycling one ton of paper we are able to save up to 7,000 gallons of water and 4,100 kwh of electricity each year.
The process of recycling newspaper has multiple steps. First the paper has to go through a de-inking mill where it is washed in a solution containing warm water and chemicals which turns the paper into mush. The mush is then spun and screened to remove the ink and other unwanted particles within the paper. After that the mush is then air treated in a flotation cell. A flotation cell is a water-mineral tank where the surfaces of the selected minerals are made water resistant. Those particles that repel the water then attach to air bubbles thus floating to the top of the tank where the unwanted particles in the froth can be eliminated. The mush is washed one last time, bleached and mixed with tree pulp. It is then squeezed to remove the water and then dried and pressed for shipment.
It is a big process for paper that can typically be recycled 5-7 times, but recycling is actually the most effective way to use money to dispose unwanted newspapers. Typically, it costs $30 per ton to recycle trash. By recycling, Americans can save $20-$45 by eliminating the process of sending it to a landfill or burning it. Newspaper can be composted and only leaves a minuscule amount of ink in the compost, the ability to recycle and save trees would be a much more logical way to dispose of newspaper. Newspaper can be recycled and used for other products as well like: cereal boxes, egg cartons, pencil barrels, grocery bags, tissue paper, and cellulose insulation materials. As a result, the effect that recycling newspapers can create other necessary products that are used daily, but can also help save the destruction of trees as well.
2 comments:
dang we use a bunch of newspaper! i would have thought that though. And i also would have concluded that we should keep recycling news paper-i feel like it is really easy to turn an old news paper into a new one since the type of paper is really weak.
This topic is quite interesting. In my politics class, my professor asked us to subscribe New York Times. Some students asked immediately why we couldn't read online. My professor answered we might find serendipities when reading real newspaper. So if we cannot change the fact that we have to deal with a great amount of newspaper, it is better that we can reused it. Most of the time, people don't bother to recycle the newspaper because they don't know how to do it. Your entry provide detailed steps in recycling newspaper. And they are really helpful.
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