Recycling Facts And Fundamentals That You Need To Know During these times, the headlines are often filled with horror stories about pollution, environmental degradation and the outbreak of more serious diseases. While most of us shrug our shoulders in utter helplessness, the truth is that we can actually do something to reverse the tide of environmental degradation, and we can start by doing some simple initiatives right in our own backyards. Plastics Require A Lot Of Time And Energy To Recycle Plastic is a truly versatile product. It can either rigid or flexible, opaque or transparent. It can also be made to look like silk, wood or leather. It can be made into plastic toys, containers or even heart valves. There are 10,000 different types of plastics, and the raw materials for plastic are natural gas or petroleum. Recently, an electro-magnetic pyrolisis process was also introduced, which helps churn out metal, gas, carbon and artificial oil by-products. Through pyrolisis, a recycled automobile tire now is able to yield one kilogram of steel, four kilograms of carbon, four liters of oil, and 850 liters of reusable combustible gas. While the current figures have yet to be released, the 2005 data has indicated a positive improvement for recycling and materials recovery. Here are some positive developments to cheer about: An estimated 8,550 curbside recycling programs are now operating in the United States, and these recycling and composting programs have recovered 32.1 percent, or 79 million tons of material solid waste. Follow your town or city s instructions regarding what to do with the plastic bottle, or where to drop it off or deliver. In some areas, the plastic bottles are often delivered to a local bottle bank, and in some areas there is a special curbside collection for these items. While most of just cringe when we keep hearing stories about a wide array of environmental disasters, the good thing is that many are now springing into action, and are doing their part to keep the planet clean and healthy. The lack of household wastes in ancient dumpsites has clearly shown that more waste was being recycled, due to the scarcity of new materials. Recycling During The Pre-Industrial Age During pre-industrial times, there was clear evidence of the collection of scrap metals like bronze, iron and steel in Europe.