The waste recycling framework has been in place in Kansas and has continued to evolve. Local authorities are responsible for collecting and managing waste, with the help of approved sorting centres. The law obliges each municipality to recover and recycle its waste.
However, if recycling is part of the duty of every citizen, it is not so easy to sort and recycle waste without making mistakes. In this article, we take stock of the process of recycling waste produced in France to sort your waste like a chef!
What happens to recyclable waste
Every day, we produce household waste, including recyclable waste. Only 79% of Kansas people sort packaging and 51% do it automatically. Revealing figures when you know that 100% of residents and businesses have access to a sorting system for packaging to recycle waste, thanks to their local authorities.
Acccording to the junk disposal experts at Wichita Dumpster Rental Boss, these communities participate in the creation of a circular economy, i.e. the creation of an eco-responsible virtuous circle, through which waste is collected, sorted and reused. This is the waste recovery system.
What second life for each type of waste
In Kansas, 58% of waste is recycled in sorting centers. A figure that has struggled to climb in recent years, in particular because individuals or professionals do not sort upstream – or do not know how to do it well. Giving a second life to waste then becomes impossible.
Respecting the sorting instructions is essential to ensure the recycling of waste and its recovery in treatment centers.
Let’s discover together the waste management process by type of waste! To better understand the processes is to understand why and how to sort.
Wood waste
In Kansas, 14 million tons of wood waste is generated. When sorting, you must differentiate between class A wood (untreated), class B or AB wood (non-hazardous treated wood) and class C wood (hazardous treated wood).
The sorting centers operate three types of wood recovery: material recovery (transformation into particle board), energy recovery in the boiler room and recovery in agronomy (animal litter and supports for horticulture). These are three possible solutions for wood types. Type C wood is recovered for energy, or used in cement works.
Construction waste
Construction waste is the most numerous in Kansas, alone representing nearly 6 million tons per year. Recycled construction waste is generally transformed into raw materials (compost) during recycling: this is material recovery. Other recycled construction waste is recovered for energy, via incineration.
In order to encourage selective sorting and recycling, the government of Kansas has implemented a directive requiring the recycling of 70% of construction waste by 2030, thus reducing landfill or incineration waste by 15%.
Green waste
Green waste must not be burned, as it would generate fine particles, releasing toxic substances for humans and the environment. Green waste (branches, leaves, pieces of wood, etc.) very often consist of organic matter. It is possible to recycle green waste into compost, as an amendment or organic fertilizer.
In Kansas, green waste represents 2 million m3 of waste. They must systematically be subject to material recovery by creating compost for example, or energy recovery to generate energy.
Ordinary industrial waste
61% of businesses and 73% of industries outsource the sorting of their HID waste. They represent 2 million tons of waste. Their sorting and recycling are therefore essential to preserve our planet.
Usually such waste consists of used products, materials, used packaging, organic waste (catering), or production waste (metals, scrap metal). They are usually sorted at source to reduce costs and ensure an efficient recycling process.
This waste is then recovered in sorting centres: this is material recovery. The waste is sent to treatment centers where it is, for the most part, transformed into wood, cardboard, pallets, plastics or metals… In order to be reused in the industrial sector.
Unfortunately, ordinary industrial waste is not all recoverable. It is therefore buried or eliminated by incineration. This remains rare: nearly 90% of such waste was recovered in 2022!
A dumpster can contain construction materials (doors, PVC or aluminum windows, wood or metal, floors and ceilings, remains of plaster, brick, placo, tarpaulin, glass wool, etc.).
Bulky waste
Recycling bulky waste is important for the environment. You have to sort between wooden furniture (bedding, bookcase, sideboard, etc.), scrap metal and ferrous metals (metal packaging, garden equipment, etc.), bedding, cardboard and paper. They are sent to the correct sorting center in your area.
Don’t forget that you can give your bulky items a second life by reselling them online, offering them to associations such as Emmaüs or reselling them at a flea market. A simple and ecological solution!
Rubble waste
Professionals in the construction industry, on construction sites or individuals, it is possible that you have a lot of rubble to evacuate. In the construction industry, we count no less than 2 million tons of inert waste in Kansas! It is important to recycle this waste or reuse it as much as possible, by recycling rubble waste. It is possible to send them for inert waste treatment, a less rewarding solution but which is not considered as waste disposal.
In Kansas, 55% of cardboard and paper is recycled. Cardboard and paper are made from cellulose, a wood fiber. All cardboard can be recycled, except soiled cardboard. The material can be reused up to 10 times, after which the fiber degrades.
In a recycling plant, they are transformed into pulp. Paper, cardboard or food bricks are crushed. Then, they are brewed in a tank filled with water to separate the cellulose fibers from the other materials. The porridge formed is cleared of its impurities in a sort of sieve. Then, it is the de-inking, then the drying. The dough is rolled out, dried and coiled. Finally, the reels are transformed and recycled by companies specializing in paper, cardboard, toilet paper, food cartons, etc.
Rent a dumpster for paper and cardboard waste
Recycling, the example of the journey of a bottle of water. Worldwide, nearly 500 billion plastic bottles are sold each year, or 1 million bottles per minute. It is therefore not surprising that the recycling of plastics is a real environmental issue. Only 7% of plastic bottles are recycled worldwide and turned into new bottles.
During collection, household waste from selective household sorting is recycled in a sorting centre. The clear PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) plastic bottles are separated from the rest of the collection and sent by truck or barge to one of the region’s recycling plants, to be transformed back into flakes to be heated and remolded. However, PET is not infinitely recyclable. With each cycle, it loses viscosity and the products obtained are of inferior quality.
Before recycling this type of waste, the bottles are crushed, pre-washed and washed. The plastic cut into flakes is then melted to obtain a sort of granule. Trucks then take them to the bottle production plants.
Throwing your waste in the right bin helps to preserve the environment. Recycling your waste is an easy gesture for our planet, so you might as well get started today!
Should you wash your recyclable waste before throwing it away
Pots of yogurt not completely clean, boxes of pizzas on which cling remnants of cheese or tomato sauce… What is not washed is still sorted and recycled. What is essential is to empty it well. In the factories, everything is pre-washed and washed before being treated.
Recycling this waste is therefore possible!
Waste that still cannot be recycled
Final waste is rubbish that can no longer be recovered, either by recycling or by energy recovery. They are the only ones that can be stored (buried) in a Final Waste Storage Center. Examples of non-recyclable waste are dirty packaging and paper, plastic film and bags, polystyrene, syringes, diapers, etc.
Sorting can be done easily and is above all a matter of habit. It is a gesture for the environment arounf Wichita and the future of our planet, which everyone can take on their own scale.
