Recycling can get confusing sometimes. Like every industry, terminology grows and takes on new meaning.
- The surrounding environment. Ambient usually refers to the surrounding outdoor air, water, or land.
Absence of oxygen. Some organisms, such as certain soil bacteria, thrive under anaerobic conditions in the soil.
The biggest threat to recycling is contamination and it takes all different shapes. Basically, anything that can corrupt the quality of the overall recycling load is a contaminant.
In recyclables (plastic, metal, glass, paper, and cardboard), it's usually when food waste is left in the containers. 1 unwashed container can contaminate 10 more and cause them all to be trashed.
When cardboard and paper are stained with oil, paint, or food, it's also contaminated. The stains affect the quality of the fiber for future use. A greasy pizza box is the easiest example.
In plastic films, soft plastics like candy wrappers and chip bags contaminate the rest of the plastic bundle.
The worse items for contamination are diapers and medical waste. Whether it be needles, masks, or rubber gloves, the handler now needs to throw them away to prevent causing illness for other staff along the recycling stream.
A mixture that consists largely of decayed organic matter and is used for fertilizing and conditioning land. Most compost is made of food scraps, leaves, lawn clippings, and clean organic waste.
This typical means the 5 components of recycling that are picked up by your trash hauler, often in a bin or box.
In the North Country, this is Paper, Cardboard, Metals, Plastic, and Glass.
Curbside recycling is an important step in the waste stream.
Simply defined, hazardous waste is waste with properties that make it dangerous or capable of having a harmful effect on human health or the environment. Hazardous waste is generated from many sources, ranging from industrial manufacturing process wastes to batteries, and may come in many forms, including liquids, solids gases, and sludges. This definition was generated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The material results from decayed plant and animal matter. It provides nutrients for plants and helps keep water in the soil.
Not to be confused with Humas, which you put on food.
- Any place where wastes were disposed of by dumping waste and covering it.
- There are three main kinds of landfills:
- Sanitary landfills are disposal sites for non-hazardous solid wastes at which the waste is spread in layers, compacted to the smallest practical volume, and covered with the material at the end of each operating day.
- Secure chemical landfills are disposal sites for hazardous waste. They are selected and designed to minimize the chance of release of hazardous substances into the environment.
- Old landfills were built without modern-day protections; these may contain hazardous wastes. Many of these landfills are being investigated and cleaned up under the State's remediation program.
- As organic wastes within a landfill break down, gases such as methane and hydrogen sulfide are produced. The production of these gases drops off over time.
- An odorless gas produced in newer landfills as organic material (previously living things or material derived from living things) breaks down. Methane production drops off as a landfill gets older.
Organic waste generally refers to biodegradable, compostable waste from homes, businesses, institutions, and industrial sources. Examples include food scraps, yard and garden trimmings, and food-soiled paper products.
This is the same as curbside recycling. It is your paper, cardboard, plastic, metal, and glass.
Even though there are many other items that can be recycled. Local authorities measure the quantity of recycling in the region by counting "recyclables" in tons.
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Single-stream recycling is a system in which all recyclables, including newspaper, cardboard, plastic, aluminum, junk mail, etc., are placed in a single bin or cart for recycling. These recyclables are collected by a single truck and taken to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) to be sorted into various commodity streams for sale to markets, where it is processed into feedstock which can be used in the manufacture of new products.
- Non-liquid, non-soluble materials ranging from municipal garbage to industrial wastes that contain complex, and sometimes hazardous, substances. Solid wastes also include sewage sludge, agricultural refuse, demolition wastes, and mining residues.
Source-separated recycling is “separating materials by type at the point of discard so they can be recycled.” For example, there may be separate streams of metal, glass, paper, and plastic; or there may be one stream for paper and one for mixed containers.
The work of supervising or taking care of something, such as an organization or property
Stewardship is an ethical value that embodies the responsible planning and management of resources. The concepts of stewardship can be applied to the environment and nature, economics, health, places, property, information, theology, and cultural resources
Sustainability consists of fulfilling the needs of current generations without compromising the needs of future generations while ensuring a balance between economic growth, environmental care, and social well-being.
The raising and production of earthworms and their by-products. Worms such as red wigglers are used for breaking down organic matter into a rich soil additive called castings or vermicompost.
Large compost piles benefit greatly from adding worms to expedite the process.
