It’s time that we recognise that recycling and waste management are very important for sustainable development. The total number of people inhabiting this planet is 7 billion and we produce waste every single day. The problem is that the waste we produced is getting treated or disposed of properly which is causing a global waste crisis. Until and unless we make waste management as our priority, we will never be able to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
To see a positive change in our environment we would need to change the production and distribution patterns of disposing of waste, resource use and emissions. When it comes to the question of how long we must be in this road of improving resource, is certainly a part of the debate but we all are aware that if we do this we will not only improve environment conditions but also economic and employment benefits. When we recycle the waste, we cut down the huge amount of waste which is produced during mining and processing. This helps save the environment and contribute to sustainable development globally.
By calculating or estimating the sustainable yield and ensuring that the ecosystem’s other functions are being protected, we can reveal the limits up to which the renewable resources can be utilised. For example, when are talking about wood, we know that forests have an important part when it comes to soil stability, biodiversity and protecting watersheds. When we talk about the limits up to which the non-renewable resources can be used, people always assume that the only danger associated with using non-renewable resources is that they only run out but their other problems as well. The impact of mining and processing that have on the environment due to limits of non-renewable resources are much more concerning. The impact which is on the health due to the build-up which is present in the environment because of the consumption and use of non-renewable resources is one of the other concerns which we need to look after. This is more prominent with the mining and processing of metals especially mercury.
Recycling has uncountable benefits which are good for our environment like saving the space in landfill sites and it can reduce pollution to a great extent. Along with these benefits we get, we also save a lot of energy and raw materials. For example, if the confidential papers at your commercial business need to be discarded in an optimal way, it is best to consider sustainable document destruction methods that would help enhance the recycling process a lot better. Even if we are to recycle aluminium cans in depots, we could save the tropical forest from getting devastated further. This happens because the bauxite which is the ore from which aluminium is extracted are mined from the tropical rainforest. It is believed by scientists that if we indulge in recycling, it will benefit us and will help in slowing down global warming for a long period of time. We can reduce the energy that consumes and the raw materials that are utilised when we manufacture products. We can do this by reducing the quantity of waste that we produce, re-using products that can be utilized for more than one time and recycling where ever it is possible.
To summarise it all we can surely achieve the Global goals and we can do that more efficiently when we recognise that waste management and recycling are those powerful tools which can help in sustainable development. We can conclude that recycling does play a vital role in preserving the natural resources that we found on Earth and it should be done by every one of us so that we can gain the benefits which come along with it and protect our environment at the same time. These factors need to be carefully assessed and considered for optimum allocation and utilisation of renewable and non-renewable resources.
