Research Activities
• Literature review
• Conversations with waste management experts
• Facility tours
• Conversations with waste management experts
• Facility tours
Project Scope
Duration: September – December 2018
Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA
MFA student project
Professor: Paul J. Nini
Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA
MFA student project
Professor: Paul J. Nini
Project Summary
For most of my life, I believed recycling was a form of virtuous consumption – that the materials I recycled would be made into new products over and over again.
Until I read the book Cradle to Cradle, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart.
In the book, the authors challenge the popular idea that recycling is an effective tool for reducing consumer-product waste. They state that "most recycling is actually downcycling," where recycled materials decrease in quality over time.
To explore their argument, I designed a field study that took me behind the scenes of my local landfill and recycling sorting facilities to learn more about the recycling process and to see what happens to my recyclables after collection.
What is Upcycling and Downcycling?
To appreciate McDonough's and Braungart's criticism of recycling, it's important to know what they mean by 'upcycling' and 'downcycling':
Materials that retain or gain value through the recycling process are considered to be upcycled. Upcycling is good because it reduces demand for new raw materials and keeps waste out of landfills.
Materials that lose value through the recycling process are considered to be downcycled. Downcycling is bad, or at best, 'less-good', than upcycling because it creates markets for new products that can't be recycled. Downcycling does not reduce overall waste.
For example, globally more than 70% of PET bottles will be recycled into polyester fiber used to make clothing and other textiles that are often sent to landfills after use (Shen et al., 2010).
Touring the Local Landfill
I toured the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill, where the equivalent of 500 garbage trucks of waste are dumped every day.
Touring the Local Recycling Sorting Facility
After visiting the landfill, I toured the Rumpke Recycling Center in Columbus, Ohio. Here, I learned about the sorting process and local recycling guidelines.
Recycling trucks dump collected materials into a large room where large contaminants (trash) are removed. From here, recyclables are placed on a large conveyor belt and enter the sorting facility.
Next, the stream of materials moves at high speeds through a series of sorting machines. Some machines use gravity and mechanical arms to remove lighter products like paper, while others use high-tech optical scanners, magnets, and jets of air to remove heavier products.
Even with all the high-tech machinery, much of the sorting process is still done by hand. Here, workers pull trash and other contaminants from the stream that machines are unable to remove.
Collecting refuse and sorting recyclables is difficult, dangerous work. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ranks this as one of the top 5 most dangerous civilian jobs in the United States.
After sorting, materials are baled and sold to post-processors. Bales with high levels of contaminants are sent to a landfill.
Upcycling and Downcycling in Central Ohio
Based on information provided by Rumpke, I have a clearer picture of which materials will be upcycled or downcycled when recycled in Central Ohio.
