A recent study conducted by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has found that remanufacturing or recycling certain products actually uses more energy than simply using new products. Published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, the findings cast doubt on the notion that remanufacturing things like old tires and used motor cores always helps to save energy and resources in the long run.
Timothy Gutowski, professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, and his colleagues conducted 25 case studies on products in eight different categories and found that for every remanufactured product that appeared to have a net energy savings, there was another that had a net energy loss. And even among those with net savings, the benefits were often minute or even negligible.
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Yes, well, recycling does not always mean that you have to remanufacture the product, it can also mean that you find other uses for the item instead of burying it in a landfill site somewhere.
ReplyDeleteThere is one website/blog I subscribe to where the woman recycles old materials and items into purses and bags.
Another company uses old drinks cans and makes them into bags and even clothes from what I have seen.