Recycling in Different Countries

“Recycling of materials is often an effective means of reducing the environmental impact of pollution, but varies in its efficiency in energy terms in different countries”

As the world continues to increase in global population, it suddenly becomes more and more important for us to find new ways of creating and reusing energy. One of the ways more developed countries choose to reuse energy is through recycling. Thankfully for me personally, I have had the chance to live in places where recycling is a cultural norm, and places where it’s barely even considered in everyday life. It’s been interesting for me to see how people choose to recycle throughout the many different countries / states I’ve lived in.

According to The Economist, “Since 1960 the amount of municipal waste being collected in America has nearly tripled, reaching 245 m tonnes in 2005.” This number will only continue to increase as we approach 2020, but luckily, many if not all states in the US are now focused on recycling and becoming greener for the future. “In 1980 America recycled only 9.6% of its municipal rubbish; today the rate stands at 32%” (The Economist.) This is a remarkable improvement, considering the US population has been increasing since 1980. It shows that people are now focusing on properly disposing their garbage and unwanted materials. When I was younger, I remember how serious my school and town were about recycling. At school, we would learn how to “reduce, reuse, and recycle” as much of our waste as possible, and we would celebrate Earth Day, and would regularly participate in city clean ups. It was a good thing for me to learn when I was young, because now, I understand the importance of recycling and living in a clean environment.

However, in the last 4 African countries I’ve lived in, recycling has not been so common, and many people choose to dump their trash in the streets, or just burn it. Burning trash is certainly has benefits and issues. Personally, I would rather have people burning their trash, rather than piling it up in the streets and gutters, but when trash is burnt, it releases CO₂ and other harmful toxins which clog up the fresh air, and leads to respiratory diseases / sicknesses. According to Power Recycling, only 10% of the generated waste in Africa is collected. “The rest ends up in illegal dump sites, gutters and drainage in Africa’s cities.” I think the main reason why many African countries still remain so dirty is education based. New generations of kids do not grow up learning about recycling in school or from their parents, the same way kids from more developed countries would. The importance of recycling has not been implanted in the brains of many citizens, which leads them to be careless with their waste products.

Evidently, recycling is an extremely important way to conserve and reuse energy. Some countries deal with this well, and others are still trying to have this idea embedded into their everyday lives. Hopefully, as a collective society, we can aim for zero waste in the near future. As we move forward, towards a cleaner and more energy efficient environment, it’s important that everyone is participating in the effort.

Citations

Donadio, Sam. “Recycling Systems in the Developing World.” Power Recycling Inc., 18 Sept. 2017, thinkpowerrecycling.com/recycling-systems-developing-world/.

“The Truth about Recycling.” The Economist, The Economist Newspaper, 7 June 2007, www.economist.com/technology-quarterly/2007/06/07/the-truth-about-recycling.