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Some Recyclable Materials

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According to Pichtel (2005), unwanted materials in the recycled process can affect in a negative way the outcomes of the recycle process and can be hazardous to workers. In addition, some industries will not accept low levels of contamination and some other industries just remove foreign material. Contamination affects the quality and recyclability of products since unwanted materials can damage the products. Recycled Paper- According to Pichtel (2005), “Paper products comprise by far the majority of the municipal solid waste stream-about 38% of U.S MSW" p.131. Contamination in recycled paper is terrible since financial issues could arise, since more money would need to be used in order to make more paper and the health and safety of employees could be at risk. When recycled paper is contaminated is when the paper is soiled with food, chemicals etc. This contamination does not help the environment since more trees would need to be planted. For example, according to Pichtel (2005), “Seventeen trees are required to produce 1 ton of paper". Furthermore, when paper is recycled toxic wastes are reduced since paper from scratch won't have to be produced. In order to reduce contamination in recycled paper, more awareness is needed. For example, in the US there are a lot people from different countries. Some of these countries do not have recycle programs, so these people are not aware of the consequences of mixing paper with food and other chemicals. The US is doing a good job

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