Video Reflection 1
"The Green Dot"
These series of videos inform viewers on various processes of material manufacture and subsequent recycling of waste product.
The 'Giving Packaging a New Life' series was quite fascinating in that the complicated series of machinery and automation involved in the processes rivaled that of the manufacturing process itself. Considering the extensive requirement involved in ensuring and minimizing impurity levels in the final material, it is no wonder that sorting facilities in particular are quite technologically advanced becoming increasingly automated and efficient. The fraction of energy requirement expended in the recycling process makes it an obvious and highly attractive method of material manufacture for high consumption consumer goods.
Although the videos showed examples of German recycling manufacture processes, such processes may or may not be utilized worldwide. From memory, after visiting an injection moulding factory here in Sydney and discussing with one of the operators there, I learned that, because most of the products they produce are for medical and highly sensitive products, they can only utilize high grade virgin materials, in fact, waste materials from the factory itself is subsequently sold to China for plastic production. In essence this proves that recycled material is only as good as its source and purpose. For all other general purpose consumer goods and products however, I believe recycled materials should be the first choice of material with virgin materials only used if absolutely necessary for the products purpose and use.
The trend for automation in material manufacture (and increasingly in all areas of manufacture) carries on in the 'How It's Made' series. The increasing use of machinery is one of the greatest achievements of the industrial revolution, but it has also attributed to one of the biggest threats of our generation, and that is of pollution. Factories and manufacturers are increasingly aiming to increase efficiency in the manufacturing process, and this is very evident in the video series with several processes occurring within seconds of one another, allowing decrease waste of both material and time. The compounding benefit of this process is that the factory invariably uses less energy to create the same product. The issue regarding our increasing consumption of these products, however, is a social problem and one not easily addressed through factory manufacturing.
