Material recovery

Material recovery
See also
Waste stream Non recurring cost Environmental problem Non value added activity Closed loop recycling Waste management Returns of goods, waste and recyclables logistics subsystem Life cycle assessment Clamshell packaging

Material recovery is also known as materials recycling. It is a method consisting of chemical, thermal, mechanical or biological processing of the waste to regain materials or energy product for secondary use. It is related to environmental management. Resource recovery reduces amount of solid waste. The biggest environmental improvement comes from reduced energy consumption .

Material recovery from mixed household waste may cause reductions in resource consumption and fossil fuel. To this end legislation has been introduced to promote recycling and energy recovery. Potential terminations for separating recyclable and biogenic materials are conducted by waste refineries .

People have to be aware of sanitary and environmental benefits of the material recovery. It is needed to propagate a reuse of materials and decrease in consumption patterns .

Recycling Technologies

There are the following types of recycling technologies  :

• Distillation,
• Energy recovery,
• Decanting,
• Thermal desorption,
• Solvent extraction,
• Use a Construction Material,
• In Situ Vacuum Extractions,
• Pumping and Recovery,
• Freeze- Crystallization,
• Chemolisys,
• Thermolysis.

Advantages of recycling

Recycling provides the following advantages :

• Reduces solid waste,
• Limits greenhouse gas emission,
• Can save space on garbage dump,
• Limits water and air pollution,
• Reduces energy use.

References

• Alter H., (1983) Materials Recovery from Municipal Waste: Unit Operations in Practice, Marcel Dekker INC, New York and Basel
• Marmolejo L.F., Diaz L.F., Torres P., García M., Burbano M.H., Blanco C., Erazo K., Pereira J.F, (2010) Influence of Handling Practices on Material Recovery from Residential Solid Waste, Sustainability, MDPI, Open Access Journal, vol. 2(7),July.
• Means J., Smith L., (1994) Recycling and Reuse of Material Found on Superfund Sites, United States Environmental Protection Agency
• Miller G.T., Spoolman S.E, (2012) Cengage Advantage Books: Sustaining the Earth Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning
• Smoley C.K., (1993) Material Recovery Facility Design Manual, CalRecovery and PEER Consultants
• Tonini D., Dorini G & Astrup T.F,(2014)Bioenergy, material, and nutrients recovery from household waste: Advanced material, substance, energy, and cost flow analysis of a waste refinery process,Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C)

Author: Agnieszka Bednarek