Editing Recycling (section)

=== Collection ===
[[File:DeutscheBahnRecycling20050814 CopyrightKaihsuTai Rotated.jpg|thumb|upright|A three-sided bin at a railway station in [[Germany]], intended to separate paper ''(left)'' and plastic wrappings ''(right)'' from other waste ''(back)'']]

A number of systems have been implemented to collect recyclates from the general waste stream, occupying different places on the spectrum of trade-off between public convenience and government ease and expense. The three main categories of collection are drop-off centers, buy-back centers and curbside collection.<ref name="gar" /> About two-thirds of the cost of recycling is incurred in the collection phase.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Waldrop|first=M. Mitchell|date=2020-10-01|title=One bin future: How mixing trash and recycling can work|url=https://www.knowablemagazine.org/article/sustainability/2020/recycle-it-all|journal=Knowable Magazine|doi=10.1146/knowable-092920-3|s2cid=224860591|access-date=12 October 2020|archive-date=18 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018031423/https://knowablemagazine.org/article/sustainability/2020/recycle-it-all|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==== Curbside collection ====
{{Main|Curbside collection}}
[[File:ACT recycling truck.jpg|thumb|left|A recycling truck collecting the contents of a [[recycling bin]] in [[Canberra]], [[Australia]]]]
[[File:Opróżnianie klatki na odpady z tworzyw sztucznych w 60-tysięcznym Tomaszowie Mazowieckim.jpg|thumb|Emptying of segregated rubbish containers in [[Tomaszów Mazowiecki]], Poland]]

Curbside collection encompasses many subtly different systems, which differ mostly on where in the process the recyclates are sorted and cleaned. The main categories are mixed waste collection, commingled recyclables, and source separation.<ref name="gar"/> A [[waste collection vehicle]] generally picks up the waste.

In mixed waste collection, recyclates are collected mixed with the rest of the waste, and the desired materials are sorted out and cleaned at a central sorting facility. This results in a large amount of recyclable waste (especially paper) being too soiled to reprocess, but has advantages as well: The city need not pay for the separate collection of recyclates, no public education is needed, and any changes to the recyclability of certain materials are implemented where sorting occurs.<ref name="gar"/>

In a commingled or [[Single-stream recycling|single-stream system]], [[Recyclable plastic|recyclables]] are mixed but kept separate from non-recyclable waste. This greatly reduces the need for post-collection cleaning, but requires [[public education]] on what materials are recyclable.<ref name="gar" /><ref name="economisttruth"/>

=====Source separation=====
Source separation is the other extreme, where each material is cleaned and sorted prior to collection. It requires the least post-collection sorting and produces the purest recyclates. However, it incurs additional [[operating cost]]s for collecting each material, and requires extensive public education to avoid recyclate [[contamination]].<ref name="gar"/> In [[Oregon]], USA, [[Oregon Department of Environmental Quality|Oregon DEQ]] surveyed multi-family property managers; about half of them reported problems, including contamination of recyclables due to trespassers such as [[homelessness|transients]] gaining access to collection areas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oregon.gov/deq/FilterDocs/recmultistate.pdf|title=The State of Multi-Tenant Recycling in Oregon|date=April 2018|access-date=26 May 2019|archive-date=26 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526212922/https://www.oregon.gov/deq/FilterDocs/recmultistate.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Source separation used to be the preferred method due to the high cost of sorting commingled (mixed waste) collection. However, advances in sorting technology have substantially lowered this overhead, and many areas that had developed source separation programs have switched to what is called ''co-mingled collection''.<ref name="economisttruth"/>

==== Buy-back centers ====
[[File:Automat do przyjmowania butelek zwrotnych w 60-tysięcznym Tomaszowie Mazowieckim Warszawska róg Szerokiej.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Reverse vending machine]] in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland]]
At buy-back centers, separated, cleaned recyclates are purchased, providing a clear incentive for use and creating a stable supply. The post-processed material can then be sold. If profitable, this conserves the emission of greenhouse gases; if unprofitable, it increases their emission. Buy-back centres generally need government subsidies to be viable. According to a 1993 report by the U.S. [[National Waste & Recycling Association]], it costs an average $50 to process a ton of material that can be resold for $30.<ref name="gar" />

==== Drop-off centers ====
[[File:Keynsham Recycling Centre, upper deck.jpg|thumb|A drop-off center in the [[United Kingdom]], where they are generally named Recycling Centres]]
Drop-off centers require the waste producer to carry recyclates to a central location—either an installed or mobile collection station or the reprocessing plant itself. They are the easiest type of collection to establish but suffer from low and unpredictable throughput.

==== Distributed recycling ====
For some waste materials such as plastic, recent technical devices called [[recyclebot]]s<ref name="RPJ">{{cite journal |last1 = Baechler |first1 = Christian |last2 = DeVuono |first2 = Matthew |last3 = Pearce |first3 = Joshua M. |year = 2013 |title = Distributed Recycling of Waste Polymer into RepRap Feedstock |url = https://www.academia.edu/2643418 |journal = Rapid Prototyping Journal |volume = 19 |issue = 2 |pages = 118–125 |doi = 10.1108/13552541311302978 |s2cid = 15980607 |access-date = 29 December 2017 |archive-date = 2 December 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211202111135/https://www.academia.edu/2643418 |url-status = live }}</ref> enable a form of distributed recycling called DRAM ([[distributed recycling additive manufacturing]]). Preliminary [[life-cycle analysis]] (LCA) indicates that such distributed recycling of [[HDPE]] to make filament for [[3D printers]] in rural regions consumes less energy than using virgin resin, or using conventional recycling processes with their associated transportation.<ref name="LCA">{{Cite journal|last1=Kreiger|first1=M.|last2=Anzalone|first2=G. C.|last3=Mulder|first3=M. L.|last4=Glover|first4=A.|last5=Pearce|first5=J. M.|date=2013|title=Distributed Recycling of Post-Consumer Plastic Waste in Rural Areas|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/mrs-online-proceedings-library-archive/article/abs/distributed-recycling-of-postconsumer-plastic-waste-in-rural-areas/C553E81AD6A084FE7FC30FEEA51CA9AC|journal=MRS Online Proceedings Library |language=en|volume=1492|pages=91–96|doi=10.1557/opl.2013.258|s2cid=18303920|issn=0272-9172|access-date=8 February 2023|archive-date=8 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208010141/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/mrs-online-proceedings-library-archive/article/abs/distributed-recycling-of-postconsumer-plastic-waste-in-rural-areas/C553E81AD6A084FE7FC30FEEA51CA9AC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Kreiger | first1 = M.A. | author-link4 = J. M. Pearce | last2 = Mulder | first2 = M.L. | last3 = Glover | first3 = A.G. | last4 = Pearce | first4 = J. M. | year = 2014 | title = Life Cycle Analysis of Distributed Recycling of Post-consumer High Density Polyethylene for 3-D Printing Filament | url = https://www.academia.edu/6188555 | journal = Journal of Cleaner Production | volume = 70 | pages = 90–96 | doi = 10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.02.009 | bibcode = 2014JCPro..70...90K | access-date = 5 September 2014 | archive-date = 2 December 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211202111134/https://www.academia.edu/6188555 | url-status = live }}</ref>

Another form of distributed recycling mixes waste plastic with sand to make bricks in [[Africa]].<ref>{{Cite AV media |title=Young Inventor Makes Bricks From Plastic Trash |author= ((Insider Business)) | series = World Wide Waste|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFcPqXxAUWM |date= 12 October 2021 |access-date=2023-02-26 | via = YouTube}}</ref> Several studies have looked at the properties of recycled waste plastic and sand bricks.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kumar |first1=Rishabh |last2=Kumar |first2=Mohit |last3=Kumar |first3=Inder |last4=Srivastava |first4=Deepa |date=2021 |title=A review on utilization of plastic waste materials in bricks manufacturing process |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2214785321032570 |journal=Materials Today: Proceedings |language=en |volume=46 |pages=6775–6780 |doi=10.1016/j.matpr.2021.04.337|s2cid=236599187 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chauhan |first1=S S |last2=Kumar |first2=Bhushan |last3=Singh |first3=Prem Shankar |last4=Khan |first4=Abuzaid |last5=Goyal |first5=Hritik |last6=Goyal |first6=Shivank |date=2019-11-01 |title=Fabrication and Testing of Plastic Sand Bricks |journal=IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering |language=en |volume=691 |issue=1 |page=012083 |doi=10.1088/1757-899x/691/1/012083 |bibcode=2019MS&E..691a2083C |s2cid=212846044 |issn=1757-899X|doi-access=free }}</ref> The composite pavers can be sold at 100% profit while employing workers at 1.5× the minimum wage in the West African region, where distributed recycling has the potential to produce 19 million pavement tiles from 28,000 tons of plastic water sachets annually in [[Ghana]], [[Nigeria]], and [[Liberia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tsala-Mbala |first1=Celestin |last2=Hayibo |first2=Koami Soulemane |last3=Meyer |first3=Theresa K. |last4=Couao-Zotti |first4=Nadine |last5=Cairns |first5=Paul |last6=Pearce |first6=Joshua M. |date=October 2022 |title=Technical and Economic Viability of Distributed Recycling of Low-Density Polyethylene Water Sachets into Waste Composite Pavement Blocks |journal=Journal of Composites Science |language=en |volume=6 |issue=10 |pages=289 |doi=10.3390/jcs6100289 |issn=2504-477X|doi-access=free }}</ref> This has also been done with COVID19 masks.<ref>{{Cite web |work=CBC |title=Single-use face masks get new life thanks to Regina engineer |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/face-mask-repurposing-landscaping-tiles-regina-1.6752754 | last = Samson | first = Sam <!-- yep, well done Sam's parents --> | date= 19 February 2023 }}</ref>