The Side Effects Of Recycling Waste

Every year the earth faces more environmental challenges and as the global population increases, it causes more problems for the planet and its resources. Recycling waste has been one of the main solutions in finding a more ecologically sound way of life. Some people argue that recycling should not happen because they do not believe that they side effects harm the environment too much. These people are not one hundred percent incorrect with that statement due to the fact that the side effects do not become present until years later, but downfalls do indeed happen when recycling is not being accomplished. While the methods of diminishing the garbage produced in the United States vary from local landfills to power plants that burn waste, if the

Environmental pollution happens when a pollutant appears in the environment; typically this toxic waste causes harm to living things that consume the pollutant (Duruibe, Ogwuegbu, & Egwurugwu, 2007). Environmental pollution is any pollutant that takes place in the air, water, and soil. Air pollution alone affects multiple different systems of the body in various ways, these systems include: respiratory system, cardiovascular system, nervous system, urinary system, and digestive system (Kampa & Castanas, 2007). The effects that occur when people do not recycle could be deadly to those that ingest the pollution in the environment. When heavy metal factories do not properly dispose or recycle their waste and just deposit it on the ground, that areal then experiences soil pollution (Duruibe et al., 2007). For years, people try to avoid recycling by coming up with other ideas; these solutions did not work in the way expected, they actually harmed the environment after a period of

The first concept created to avoid this dilemma with garbage was building landfills; this quick fix ended up causing more harm than assistance. Landfills cause damage to the environment and humans due to the fact that they emit an abundant amount of methane, a greenhouse gas (“The Truth”, 2007). The second plan created involved the use of incinerators. While the use of incinerators, or an apparatus for burning waste, originally seemed like a beneficial way to handle the waste being produced, it is actually harmful. Surrounding areas of incinerators are a concern due to the toxic and noxious emissions of these machines (Schenker, 2014). Landfills and incinerators were designed to solve the issue that the Americans had with the abundance of trash, but they only created another problem that recycling could handle better. The United States may not be the only country without mandatory recycling, but this proves that countries who have some form of recycling regulation are better off than those that do