Has it ever happened to you that you collected many recyclable items & took them to a recycling facility only to find out it was all perfect for a trash can? However noble your intentions may be, but if you cannot execute them in the right manner, no one will benefit from it… not you, nor your community, and definitely not the environment. It is very important to understand HOW to collect recyclables. Let us help you with some tips below.
1. If you are a recycling enthusiast, you will have a recycling bin, a dedicated box or a corner in the house where you collect all recyclables to give to a recycling facility periodically. While you collect, segregate them as plastic, paper, glass, metal etc. All these have different recycling process. If not segregated, it is an unnecessary extra effort for the recycler, and he might charge you for the required manpower.
2. Most of the metal items go into your recycling bin. But when you put Food cans in the bin, rinse and clean them. The paint cans need to be emptied before giving for recycling. Pressurized cans used for paint, deodorant or any other reason, also need to be sprayed out completely to reduce the pressure before recycling them. This saves your time at the recycling center. If not, there might be municipality procedures to follow with the recycler to dispose the liquid.
3. Dead batteries need to be collected in a separate recycling box. Also make sure you drop them at a recycling facility before they start leaking. The chemical that it emits, is hazardous for living beings around, and the environment. Batteries that are received at Madenat recycling facility, go through a process of securing the terminals, repacking, and then shipping according to the Basel Convention requirements to our partners abroad for proper and environmentally safe recycling processes.
4. Keep all tube lights, fluorescent bulbs in closed box. Their broken glass, mercury, can harm the one handling them. Please note that spent lamps are hazardous waste and the recycler needs to have the right machinery to destruct them to segregate glass, metal, and the mercury. As this process is complicated and costly, the recycler may charge you for the spent lamps. But this small amount you pay, will have priceless returns for you and the generations to come.
5. Electronics are called urban mines. They consist of ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals and even variety of precious metals. Hence, do not forget about those old electronics kept in the bottom most drawer. If recycled in time, they can be refurbished to be used by needy or even recycled to extract metal and plastic for further use. Our house is also filled with variety of cables. They also consist good amount of metal and plastic which needs to be retracted for reuse. Collect all non-working cables at home in a recycling box. Be it non-working earphones, broken chargers, power cables, Ethernet cables that are not in the use etc. Recycling E waste in time is important.
We hope our tips will ease your recycling journey and you will be a recycling hero for everyone around you. See you soon at Madenat Recycling Facility in Dubai Investment Park 2, Dubai, UAE.
