Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Reduce

Reducing means minimising the amount of waste produced and using fewer raw materials. This helps conserve Earth's finite resources and reduces environmental impact.

Key ways to reduce include:

• Using less packaging on products to cut down on waste.
• Choosing products that last longer or are more efficient.
• Buying only what is needed to avoid excess waste.
• Using energy-efficient appliances to reduce resource use.

Reducing waste also lowers the demand for extracting raw materials like metals and minerals, which are limited and often require energy-intensive processes.

For instance, if a factory reduces plastic packaging by 20%, it uses 20% fewer raw materials and creates less plastic waste.

Example: A company produces 500 kg of plastic packaging monthly. By reducing packaging by 15%, calculate how much plastic packaging is saved each month.

Solution:

$\text{Plastic saved} = 500 \times \frac{15}{100} = 75 \text{ kg}$

So, 75 kg less plastic is used monthly, conserving resources and reducing waste.

Reuse

Reusing means using items multiple times instead of throwing them away after one use. This extends the life of products and reduces the need to produce new ones.

Ways to reuse include:

• Repairing broken items instead of discarding them.
• Repurposing containers, such as using glass jars for storage.
• Using refillable water bottles rather than single-use plastic bottles.
• Donating clothes or furniture so others can use them.

Reusing helps conserve raw materials and energy because fewer new products need to be made. It also reduces waste sent to landfill.

For example, reusing a glass bottle 10 times saves the energy and raw materials needed to make 10 new bottles.

Example: A family uses reusable shopping bags instead of plastic bags. If each plastic bag takes 5 litres of water to produce, estimate the water saved by using 50 reusable bags instead of 50 plastic bags.

Solution:

$\text{Water saved} = 50 \times 5 = 250 \text{ litres}$

So, 250 litres of water are saved by reusing bags.

Recycle

Recycling involves processing waste materials to make new products. This saves raw materials and energy compared to producing items from scratch.

Important points about recycling:

• Materials like glass, paper, metals, and some plastics can be recycled.
• Recycling reduces the need to extract finite resources such as metal ores and timber.
• It often uses less energy than manufacturing from raw materials, reducing carbon emissions.
• Separating waste correctly (e.g., glass from paper) improves recycling efficiency.

For example, recycling aluminium saves 95% of the energy needed to produce aluminium from bauxite ore.

Example: Recycling 1 tonne of aluminium saves approximately 14,000 kWh of energy compared to producing it from ore.

Example: A household recycles 20 kg of aluminium cans monthly. Calculate the energy saved each month by recycling these cans.

Solution:

Energy saved = $\frac{20}{1000} \times 14,000 = 280 \text{ kWh}$

So, 280 kWh of energy is saved monthly by recycling aluminium cans.