Recycling & Its Economic Impact

 

    A Recycling center is a place where things that do not work anymore are trashed. It is a sort of resource center and a "key component to the American Economy". Generally, Recycling centres are classified into Junkyards, Scrapyards and boneyards.

     First of all, junkyards are places where recycled materials are sorted, packaged and shipped to their final destination. It is where household goods and consumables are gathered, organized and sent to mills for the material breakdown. About a hundred and eighty tonnes of paper, cans, and bottles are brought to some of these yards in North America. Then, the material is run through a conveyor belt system where trash and cardboard, as well as cans and bottles, are separated. "More than two hundred billion pounds of recycling material passes through the recycling center as a first step". But it all contributes to the environment, energy, and economy. It is said that "The energy saved from one recycled aluminum can operates a television set for up to three hours".  Not to mention, electronic junkyards are another type of junkyards that contribute to the economy. This is where computers, laptops, cellphones, and appliances are sorted and parts removed for precious metal recovery. Hence, junkyards, in general, are a "key component to any economy" and the environment.

    Secondly, scrapyards are another type of recycling center. In a metal scrapyard, everything from metal, industrial equipment, to railroad tracks and crushed vehicles is found. Everything is sorted and organized for price and purpose in these types of scrapyards. To add, some of these yards in North America have a volume of about eight thousand pounds of metal each day. To start,  Electromagnets move metal around in the "largest parking lot in the world". Then, the hydraulic compactor bends and shapes metal into "a loaf of bread". Next, these metals go through a metal conveyor belt system as well as through several other machines. Also, hammers weighing four hundred pounds each smash and flatten metal that is otherwise impossible to work around. "Anything over a quarter inch goes through a thousand tonne force shearer". Finally, there are drums in these scrapyards where everything is pulverized at a speed of four hundred and fifty revolutions per minute.  These scrapyards are metal processing plants where second-hand garbage to some is gold for others. As a result, used parts from these cars become assembly lines in reverse. Everything from hubcaps, body panels, engines, and electronics is removed in these yards for resale. To add, many parts are even shipped yard to yard. Some yards are, in fact, "pick your own parts" yards. Not to mention, vehicles here are processed for personal safety by removing engine oil, refrigerant and other vehicle fluids. Finally, with license plates and personal items removed in the final stage, these vehicles become available to consumers. Almost 60 - 200 vehicles arrive in some of these yards every day, if not every hour. This makes the auto salvage business a "five billion dollar business" in the United States alone. Hence, scrapyards contribute to the global economy and environment.

     Finally, bone yards are scrap yards for planes that are "no longer safe to fly". An aviation boneyard was used extensively in its earlier stages. But with immense safety loopholes from used parts like malfunctioning radios as well as federal lawsuits, many bone yards went out of salvage business. Instead, they became attractive to Hollywood and the food industry. Many air tricks in Hollywood were performed using planes from these yards. Also, "Airplane restaurants" were shipped to customer demands around the world. Moreover, it essentially became a tourist attraction as a result and the aviation history involved. It may also serve academics in terms of aviation history and airplane development. In general, Bone yards contribute to the global economy and tourism industries worldwide.

    In conclusion, Junkyards, Scrapyards, and Bone yards contribute to the economy, energy, and environment. They also provide an extra income for those in the electronics and car parts business. Many junkyards in Canada, the United States and other parts of the world promote recycling by buying household metals and consumer electronics from the general public. Not to mention, auto salvage yards in Canada are always open for business.