How does it waste oil if I don't recycle?

Question

How does it waste oil if I don't recycle?

Answer 1

By recycling you reuse something you already have. For example if you recycle an aluminium can you already have the pure metal. It takes quite a bit to remelt it but it doesn't take an enormous amount of energy. To make the aluminium from ore (e.g. bauxite) the ore has to be crushed, it has to be heated to a much higher temperature and the waste rock has to be disposed of.

Steel cans are recycled in a similar way avoiding the very high energy input and waste disposal problems you get if extracting iron from ore.

Glass is made from sand. OK, we have quite a bit if that about, but we don't have to dredge up more sand dunes if we reuse the glass we have already.

Take paper - recycling that & buying recycled paper products means that fewer trees have to be cut down, taken to the pulp mill, ground into a mush, (*) mixed with water, sifted, pressed, dried, cut etc.  Using recycled paper to make more paper you start the process at (*)

Where I live the local council tells us that polypropylene bottles are used to make fleece clothing, though I haven't seen this myself. Polypropylene is derived from oil I believe, so this means that more oil is not needed to make clothing.

Most recycling saves energy which is mostly derived from oil.

To me, it makes sense to live in a way that does not waste resources - any resources. They've got to last a lot more generations yet - I hope!

Answer 2

Oil has other uses after you're done with it.

You just waste the potential of this use if you just throw it away.

Answer 3

take it to the place who except the old oil which they can do something with them like they can use them to soak up the railroad ties or mixed with gasoline or something like that

Answer 4

Oil is used to make many common plastics and are used in the making of many goods.

Answer 5

Waste oil can be re-used but more importantly throwing it away pollutes a lot of groundwater.  One quart of oils can make over a million gallons of water undrinkable.