Materials Recovery and Recycling

Materials play a key role in the transition of our society which is often discarded at the end of life. Globally about 19% is recovered through recycling/compostingComposting. High-income nations recycle/compost 36% of the waste generated with Germany recycling 66.1% in 2015 claiming the number one spot followed by Wales (63.8%) and Singapore (61%). Reduce, recycleRecycle, reuseReuse, and recoverRecover(4Rs) are the most important components of solid waste managementSolid Waste Management (SWM). In 2022, an average of 82% of municipal solid wasteMunicipal solid waste worldwide was collected and 55% was managed in controlled facilities. Municipalities in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania have a collectionCollection rate of below 60%. In Asia and in Latin America and the Caribbean, cities have higher collection rates—70 to 85%. In Central and Southern Asia, the gap between the collection and controlled management rate is more than in other regions, implying that many cities still rely on open dumping. The earth’s resources are not infinite, approaching certain fundamental limits. This has made access to materials an issue of national security in several countries. The past linear economyLinear economy is no longer sustainable as natural resources are fast depleting and most of the non-renewable natural resources used for material manufacturing are already embedded in material manufactured and used. In the absence of recovery and recycling, it is difficult to develop active business now. The concept of circular economy based on strategies, practices, policies, and technologies to achieve reuseReuse, recycle, redesign, repurpose, remanufactureRemanufacture, refurbishRefurbish, and recoverRecover waste materials provides the necessary conditions to encourage the economic and social actors to adopt strategies towards sustainability represents one of the most mentioned frameworks trying to combine economic activity as well as environmental wellbeing in a sustainable way. Keeping these in mind, this chapter deals with the key principles and practices of material recovery and recycling as well as their recent trends including advanced recycling.