quote:

Originally posted by RJT Recycling plastics and (some) glass is an exceptionally efficient process. If we were talking about recycling cans/metal products, then yes - it's probably more wasteful/harmful to recycle them, but anyone making the claim that recycling plastics is inefficient really doesn't know what they're talking about. /Environmental Ethics degree in action. I knew it would come in handy some day.

To be pedantic, recycling of ferrous metal (iron and steel) and non-ferrous metal (aluminum) are probably the most efficient and effective forms of recycling. These materials don't experience "downgrading" by the recycling process. Aluminum, for example, gets smelted and reprocessed into a form that is practically indistinguishable from virgin aluminum.

Plastic, on the other hand, can be a pain to recycle because 1) it needs to be sorted according to those little numbers on the bottom of your bottles, 2) the long polymer chains that make up plastics are difficult to degrade, and 3) removing additives in plastics (dyes, etc) require even further processing.

CDs are made up of polycarbonate, aluminum and lacquer. Polycarbonate is not a commonly recycled plastic, and the metal and solvents only serve to complicate the recycling process.

Therefore, keep sorting your cans! But I wouldn't bother too much with the CDs, though maybe you can make some art project out of them? Lifesize model of Frankie Knuckles perhaps?

Last edited by beatsnbleeps on Jul-16-2008 at 07:16

give your old cd's to a young dj who is learning like we used to do with records.

everyone wins.

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Le Freak - A.D.D & Chimichurri [Techno/Tech House/Music to put on burritos.]*click bitches*

quote:

Originally posted by elFreak give your old cd's to a young dj who is learning like we used to do with records. everyone wins.

We have a winnar.

quote:

Originally posted by beatsnbleeps To be pedantic, recycling of ferrous metal (iron and steel) and non-ferrous metal (aluminum) are probably the most efficient and effective forms of recycling. These materials don't experience "downgrading" by the recycling process. Aluminum, for example, gets smelted and reprocessed into a form that is practically indistinguishable from virgin aluminum. Plastic, on the other hand, can be a pain to recycle because 1) it needs to be sorted according to those little numbers on the bottom of your bottles, 2) the long polymer chains that make up plastics are difficult to degrade, and 3) removing additives in plastics (dyes, etc) require even further processing. CDs are made up of polycarbonate, aluminum and lacquer. Polycarbonate is not a commonly recycled plastic, and the metal and solvents only serve to complicate the recycling process. Therefore, keep sorting your cans! But I wouldn't bother too much with the CDs, though maybe you can make some art project out of them? Lifesize model of Frankie Knuckles perhaps?

I don't know where you're getting your information from, but just because the recycling process for ferrous and non-ferrous metals is, as you say "efficient", doesn't mean that it takes less energy or doesn't create worse biproducts than the recycling of plastics.

As a general rule of thumb, and particularly for ferrous metals, the necessary energy input coupled with the waste created during the smelting process is an exponentially larger drain on our resources than for almost all plastics (note: almost - I am not necessarily making this claim for CD's).

And regardless of all of this talk of recycling, in truth - recycling isn't really that great for the environment as a wholes, hence the lack of focus on the 3 R's these days. Reduce and reuse is the route most folks would tell you to take - which, in this case, means stop using CD's all together and rock a laptop.

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I'm not sure where you're getting YOUR information from then, because the sources I've seen say just the opposite of what you claim...

sorry, this is gonna be a bit long.

From the US EPA :

quote:

The average aluminum can contains 40 percent postconsumer recycled aluminum. Recovering aluminum for recycling saves money and dramatically reduces energy consumption. The aluminum can recycling process saves 95 percent of the energy needed to produce aluminum from bauxite ore, as well as natural resources, according to the Aluminum Association. Making a ton of aluminum cans from virgin ore, or bauxite, uses 229 BTUs of energy. In contrast, producing cans from recycled aluminum uses only 8 BTUs of energy per can.

From here:

quote:

The use of secondary metal, in comparison to ore, gives a dramatic energy saving, significantly reduces the amount of water needed and causes less air pollution.

And on plastic recycling:

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Collecting plastic containers at curbside fosters the belief that, like aluminum and glass, the recovered material is converted into new containers. In fact, none of the recovered plastic containers from Berkeley are being made into containers again but into new secondary products such as textiles, parking lot bumpers, or plastic lumber – all unrecyclable products. This does not reduce the use of virgin materials in plastic packaging.

To name a few.

It's true, if you think about it: ore is hardly ever a pure chunk of metal. It's made up of a good amount of dirt, rock, and perhaps other unwanted minerals that need to be extracted. Additionally, not all ore can be strip mined, or pulled off the surface, which makes the mining process more costly and complicated. Strip mining is also just plain ugly.

Wikipedia has a lot of information too. Don't trust Wiki? Do your own research. And in case you're wondering where I'm coming from, I work in a materials lab, while studying for my engineering degree. I've talked to chemistry experts who back this info up, too. I don't mean to be a jerk, I just want there to be a better understanding of the science behind recycling.

But, I do agree with you about rocking a laptop

For what it's worth, going DVR was one of the best decisions I ever made as a DJ.

I used M-Audio Torq for a while and it was flawless for what I was doing. Had a great time and solved the problem the OP describes. It's much more sustainable.

Good luck.

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