Resource recovery
[3] Life-cycle analysis (LCA) can be used to compare the resource recovery potential of different treatment technologies.
Here, the term refers to approaches to recover the resources that are contained in wastewater and human excreta (urine and feces).
Resource recovery can be enabled by changes in government policy and regulation, circular economy infrastructure such as improved 'binfrastructure' to promote source separation and waste collection, reuse and recycling,[5] innovative circular business models,[6] and valuing materials and products in terms of their economic but also their social and environmental costs and benefits.
[8] Similarly, wastes currently stored in industrial landfills and around old mines can be treated with bioleaching[9] and engineered nanoparticles[10] to recover metals such as lithium, cobalt and vanadium for use in low-carbon technologies such as electric vehicles and wind turbines.
[11] A limiting factor of resource recovery is the irrevocable loss of raw materials due to their increase in entropy in our current linear business model.
Recycling is a resource recovery practice that refers to the collection and reuse of disposed materials such as empty beverage containers.
The most common consumer products recycled include aluminium such as beverage cans, copper such as wire, steel food and aerosol cans, old steel furnishings or equipment, polyethylene and PET bottles, glass bottles and jars, paperboard cartons, newspapers, magazines and light paper, and corrugated fiberboard boxes.
The recycling of complex products (such as computers and electronic equipment) is more difficult, due to the additional dismantling and separation required.
[13] These include water, energy, and fertilizing nutrients nitrogen,[14] phosphorus,[15] potassium, as well as micro-nutrients such as sulphur and organic matter.
Since the 1970s, there has been increasing interest in treating the wastewater to protect the environment, and efforts focused primarily on cleaning the water at the end of the pipe.
In addition, waste gas from the process (such as methane) can be captured and used for generating electricity and heat (CHP/cogeneration) maximising efficiencies.
Anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW) has been found to be more environmentally effective, than landfill, incineration or pyrolysis.
The resulting biogas (methane) though must be used for cogeneration (electricity and heat preferably on or close to the site of production) and can be used with a little upgrading in gas combustion engines or turbines.
Local, regional, and global air pollution; accumulation and distribution of toxic wastes; destruction and depletion of forests, soil, and water; depletion of the ozone layer and emission of "green house" gases threaten the survival of humans and thousands of other living species, the integrity of the earth and its biodiversity, the security of nations, and the heritage of future generations.
Many supermarkets encourage customers to use their reverse vending machines to deposit used purchased containers and receive a refund from the recycling fees.
In 2010, CNBC aired the documentary Trash Inc: The Secret Life of Garbage about waste, what happens to it when it is "thrown away", and its impact on the world.
[31] Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a pricing strategy that promotes integrating all costs associated with a given product throughout its life cycle.
