Advantages and Disadvantages of Recycling

Recycling can be means of protecting and saving the environment. There are lots of things in this world that can still be recycled in order to retrieve their value and make them functional or useful again. Though recycling can make lots of wonders and provide numerous benefits to individuals, they still have to keep in mind that recycling also displays some setbacks. The advantages and disadvantages of recycling are things that individuals need to learn in order to weigh and figure out things.

The Advantages of Recycling

  • Protects the Environment – This is the foremost advantage of recycling and this promotes environmental protection in a balanced manner. Taking for instance cutting down trees for paper production, individuals can create balance by recycling papers made from trees. In such way, deforestation and felling is reduced. Natural resources are conserved this way.
  • Reduces Consumption of Energy – When raw materials are processed during manufacturing, large amount of energy is consumed. Recycling therefore helps reduce energy consumption making production process beneficial and cost effective especially for manufacturers.
  • Reduces Pollution – Industrial waste is today’s major source of pollution. Recycling industrial products like plastics and cans helps a lot in cutting down levels of pollution for the reason that these materials are being re-used instead of being thrown away irresponsibly.
  • Alleviates Global Warming – Recycling aids in alleviating global warming and its harsh effects. Today, massive waste is being burned producing larger amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling is therefore an effective way of ensuring that the process of burning is reduced and waste are regenerated and converted to useful and eco-friendly products without creating harmful impact to the environment.
  • Promotes Sustainable Utilization of Resources – Recycling promotes sustainable and wise use of resources. This activity helps ensure that there is no discriminate use of materials and resources saving them for possible use in the future.

These are just few of the many advantages of recycling. Other benefits include conserving the environment, reducing the amount of waste in sanitary landfills, creating green jobs and more.

The Disadvantages of Recycling

  • Recycling is Cost-Efficient at All Times – There are instances that you need to set up separate facilities in order to process products and make them reusable. This might somehow trigger pollution in terms of transporting the materials and cleaning activities.
  • Recycled Items Might Not Last Long – The durability and efficiency of recycled products are not guaranteed a hundred percent. Recycled products are sometimes taken from cheap and overused materials therefore there is no assurance that it can last for long.
  • Recycling is Unsafe and Unhygienic Process – Recycling sites and processes are often unhygienic and unsafe and this might pose dangers to your health.

The advantages and disadvantages of recycling are still being argued upon by many but it is noticeable that the advantages still outweigh the negative ones.