The downside is that solar panels have finite lifespans; are difficult and expensive to recycle; and are being decommissioned in increasingly large numbers. The United States lags behind Europe and other regions in its PV recycling programs and policy progress, with the majority of unusable solar panels ending up in landfill.
ON A SUMMER DAY IN 1873, a cart stood on 6th Avenue in New York City filled to the brink with raw human waste. The cart was uncovered—its contents exposed to the air and to the passers-by who retched and gagged as they scurried away. Excrement dipped off the sides of the cart, and the sidewalks and gutters were smeared with the stuff. The stench was so strong that it could be smelled from more than a block away. It was another day in pre-sewer America.
There is not a single type of Li-ion battery, though. They may be comprised of a variety of chemistries, which is one of the challenges that comes with recycling them through varying stages. The commonality is that all Li-ion batteries transfer lithium-ions between their electrodes when charging or discharging. As the chemistries continue to evolve with increased research for efficiency, so too must the consideration for streamlining their makeup to facilitate end-of-use recycling.
Lead-acid batteries, such as those found in combustion engine vehicles, have a better established and largely efficient circular market. In the US, these lead-acid batteries have up to a 99 percent recycling rate. There are two main reasons behind this. First, the components are easy to separate and recycle. For example, lead is indefinitely recyclable without losing its quality and therefore value. Second, there is an established recycling market, where car battery recycling is often included in the upfront cost of a consumer buying a vehicle. At the battery’s end-of-use, customers are refunded for returning used batteries to dealers or other sites.
With Li-ion batteries, the amount of recycling is limited, because these same two conditions do not apply, at least not yet.
Focused on individual impact, Keep America Beautiful urges people to pledge to reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle in every aspect of their life by taking the #BeRecycled Pledge. The pledge is a promise to learn about local recycling regulations; to recycle consistently and correctly; to reduce personal waste; and to buy products made from recycled content. Participants are encouraged to help spread the word by educating and encouraging friends, family, and neighbors to recycle in their community and to integrate the act of recycling and buying recycled content throughout their daily routines.
Brought to you by the plastics industry and the bottles manufacturers lobby. Be green, don't throw trash out your car windows says the crying Indian.
The myth created around plastic recycling has been one of simplicity. We look for the familiar triangle arrows, then pop the waste in the recycling bin so it can be reused.
But the true purpose of those triangles has been misunderstood by the general public ever since their invention in the 1980s.
These triangles were actually created by the plastics industry and, according to a report provided to them in July 1993, were creating "unrealistic expectations" about what could be recycled. But they decided to keep using the codes.