| Re: Recycling
Recycled aluminium has exactly the same properties as "new" aluminium and is much cheaper to produce - no ore mining or extraction - it just needs to be melted and reformed.
Cutting down a tree and pulping it is easy when compared to mining and extraction, as is converting hydrocarbons to plastics.
Other materials tend to loose a lot of quality when recycled, paper and cardboard fibres can become too short, ink needs to be removed and the paper then bleached. Plastics need to be sorted, and also contain lots of additives that need to be removed such as colourings. The very nature of plastics (long lasting, resistant) also mean that reforming them takes a lot of energy. |