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The Secret Life of Garbage

SSS THE SECRET LIFE OF GARBAGE TAKING OUT THE TRASH IS JUST THE BEGINNING The average American produces 10 times their body weight in trash each year: Literally enough for each person to bury themselves alive. And when it comes to disposing of it, taking out the trash is just the beginning. GARBAGE CAN GARBAGE TRUCK TRANSFER STATION LANDFILL WASTE-TO-ENERGY PLANT RECYCLING CENTER COMPOSTING Plastic Metal E-Waste Glass Paper MANUFACTURING FACILITIES STORES BACK INTO HOMES IN THE U.S. ALONE: EACH YEAR: AMERICANS THROW AWAY: Enough aluminum for the entire auto industry to build new cars for a year. 250 million tons of trash are produced a year. Enough to cover the state of Texas twice. All of this trash amounts to $$$ a $52 billion/year industry. The average family throws away 6 trees worth of paper per year. BUT WHEN THAT TRASH ISN'T PICKED UP: ILLEGAL DUMPING CAN PUT GARBAGE IN STRANGE PLACES: Like the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Circle: An estimated 3.5 million tons of trash, spanning an area that's twice the size of the continental U.S. There are five known "garbage patches" in the ocean. PLASTIC IN THE OCEAN COMES FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, AND IN THE U.S. ALONE: 51 billion plastic bottles are used every year, only 1 in 5 are recycled. 80% of things thrown away in the U.S. are recyclable. 28% are actually recycled. It takes unrecycled plastic 600 years to break down. BUT FOR THE WASTE THAT IS RECYCLED, SAVVY ENTREPRENEURS TURN PLASTIC INTO PROFIT WASTE MANAGEMENT: Separates trash and sells materials for about $10 billion a year. Harnesses steam from burning trash and turns it into electricity. Materials are used to Over 30 years: This process make everything from clothing to carpet. has saved an estimated 150 million barrels of oil. WASTE MANAGEMENT'S GOAL: To bring this method of burning trash for steam power to China. CHINA'S GARBAGE PROBLEM HAS BECOME ENORMOUS THEY'RE GETTING RICHER, MOVING TO THE CITIES, AND CONSUMING MORE: China produces 254 million tons of garbage a year. Each person produces 1.65 Ibs of garbage per day. With 1.3 billion people, China produces 1/3 of the world's annual garbage output. Landfills there can The other 40% is only hold 60% of the trash. dumped illegally. IN BEIJING ALONE (CHINA'S BIGGEST CITY): Going into 10 landfills, which will all be full 17 million residents make 18,000 Ibs of trash per day. by 2014. THE WORLD THROWS AWAY OVER 750 MILLION TONS OF GARBAGE EACH YEAR, AND NOT ALL OF IT ENDS UP WHERE YOU THINK. CREATED BY: BUSINESSDEGREE.NET SOURCES: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=1620084176 http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=1111&catid%=10&subcatid=66 http://www.care2.com/causes/getting-wasted-recycling-stats-from-around-the-world.html http://mashable.com/2011/11/02/trash-tech-recycling/ Cc 000 This Work is Licensed Under a Creative Commons License BY NO ND

The Secret Life of Garbage

shared by bobbybernethy on Mar 06
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Taking out the trash is just the beginning. The average American produces 10 times their body weight in trash each year: Literally enough for each person to bury themselves alive. And when it comes to...

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