Recycling — Reading Comprehension Lesson

Reading Passage

Recycling

Recycling is the process of converting used materials into new products rather than throwing them away as waste. Humans produce enormous amounts of trash — the average American discards more than 4 pounds of garbage per day. Landfills fill up, and producing new materials from raw resources consumes energy and causes pollution. Recycling helps solve these problems by keeping useful materials in circulation and reducing the need to extract new resources from the Earth.

The most commonly recycled materials include paper, cardboard, glass, metals (especially aluminum and steel), and certain plastics. Each material goes through a different recycling process. Aluminum cans are melted down and reformed into new cans in a process that uses 95 percent less energy than producing aluminum from raw ore. Recycled paper is pulped, cleaned, and reformed into new paper products. Glass is crushed into cullet, melted, and molded into new containers. Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to power a light bulb for four hours.

Environmental experts promote a hierarchy known as “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” — in that order of preference. Reducing consumption in the first place is more effective than recycling. Reusing items — such as refilling a water bottle instead of buying a new one — is better than recycling because it avoids the energy needed to reprocess materials. Recycling is important but it is the last resort in this hierarchy, better than landfilling but not as good as avoiding waste altogether.

Recycling programs vary widely around the world. Some countries, like Germany and South Korea, recycle more than 60 percent of their municipal waste through strong government policies, convenient collection systems, and public education. Others recycle far less due to lack of infrastructure or public awareness. Contamination is a major challenge — when non-recyclable items are placed in recycling bins, they can ruin entire batches of material. Understanding what can and cannot be recycled in your community is an important part of making recycling effective.

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