Recycling
What is Gypsum?
Gypsum is a naturally occurring ore that is commonly used in manufacturing drywall and wallboard often called calcium sulphate dihydroxide. Since the calcium and sulphur molecules in gypsum are chemically bound to water, gypsum is routinely heated in order to remove 50%-75% of its original moisture. Gypsum is naturally resistant to fire and heat. Having these unique characteristics, gypsum is commonly used in the formation of drywall panels.
Paper
Many tons of paper is discarded everyday especially newsprint. Recycling newsprint plays a major role in saving the environment. After the collection, the newspaper is mixed in water which becomes pulp. Through various cleaning stages, ink and other contaminants are removed and then it is whitened by hydrogen peroxide. The pulp is then compressed into thin sheets to increase density and squeeze out the water. The sheets are then cut and shipped to mills which reproduce paper or other paper products again such as newspaper, telephone books, shoe boxes, egg cartons, etc.
Aluminum
The recycling process of aluminum is quite simple. After the collection of discarded aluminum, they are shredded, delaguered, and melted. The melted aluminum is formed into sheets so manufacturers can use them as a raw material in manufacturing new cans, building materials, foil wraps, machine parts, etc.
Plastics
To classify plastics for recycling purposes, the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) devised 7 general codes in 1988 commonly known as the SPI code. (PED, HDPE, Vinyl, LDPE, PP, PS, Other) The code is usually found on the bottom of the plastic products. Once the plastic has finished the filtering and cleaning stages, the plastic is melted and forced through an extruder which forms the plastic into long strands. These strands are then cut to form plastic pellets. Plastic manufacturers will melt these pellets to form various shapes which will become new plastic products.
Glass
From 1988 to 1995, 5.6 billion glass containers were recycled by Consumers Glass, which is equivalent to 26 glass containers each year for every Canadian. Recycling one glass bottle in the making of a new glass container saves enough energy to keep a 100 watt light bulb illuminated for 4 hours. (www.glassworks.org) Due to the spectacular increase in Canadian population, the number of glass containers used is also on the raise. By simply recycling glass containers, the country will save a lot of resources.
The recycling process of glass begins by sorting the color and type, and then crushed into small pieces called cullet. Sand, limestone and soda ash are then added to the cullet which is heated at a high temperature until it reaches a molten state. The molten glass is then poured into molds to form new glass containers.
