Recycling, Business of

Numerous products support our professional and private lifestyles. Absent intervention, they will all end up in the garbage at the end of their useful lives. Compounding the situation is society's growing consumptive appetite both for more products, and for different varieties of the same product. A global population that has quadrupled in the last 50 years, possessing increasing material needs and desires, further increases the pressures that will be exerted on Earth's natural resources. Recycling of materials is one piece—along with reduction (of consumption) and reuse (including refurbishment) of products—of the overall approach needed to effectively utilize these resources in a sustainable manner. Because of the greater energy requirements of recycling, it is somewhat less desirable than either reduction or reuse.

Recycling can be defined as ...