Hello Tunza Readers!

I like to be as environmentally friendly as possible and this often includes recycling whenever possible. One day it struck me — where does my recycling go and does it actually get recycled? I decided to look into this and do some of my own research.

All recycling has to get sold to actually be recycled and the only valuable item in recycling is metal. The problem with this is that aluminum and steel only account for about 2% of the weight of trash and recyclables. Glass may account for 3% to 5% of the waste but there isn?t much use for it. For example, in Calgary all the glass collected ended up at the East Calgary Landfill where it awaits a buyer. Despite this, there are many worthy recycling programs out there. Even though all your recycling might not end up actually being recycled it is a significant improvement from immediately throwing out the trash. Approximately 60% of what ends up in the landfill can actually be recycled. It is just important to note that while recycling is good for the planet, it is a business of itself so maybe the best solution would be to adopt more of a zero waste lifestyle (refer back to my ?Zero Waste Lifestyle? report)!

Before I close, I?d like to highlight the town of Kamikatsu, Japan where it?s rigorous sorting system of 34 categories have helped 80% of its trash to be recycled. Citizens dutifully carry their sorted waste to a recycling center where a worker double checks the items again to ensure they are properly sorted. Although only a town of 1,700 citizens, Kamikatsu should be held as a prime example of the power of recycling when done right!