Recycling Statistics

From LoveToKnow GreenLiving

Recycling statistics are an excellent way to learn the positive effects of recycling. By delving into the details, the actual resource and energy savings from recycling become very clear.

Recyling is one way to protect our environment.

Recycling: A Consumer and Industry Challenge

The recycling process requires the participation by both consumers and several types of manufacturers. Consumer waste, commonly called municipal solid waste, includes the paper products, cans, bottles and plastics that consumers contribute to their community recycling programs. This jumble of materials is sorted and passed on to a series of companies who process and recycle the materials back into their original form where they can be reused in manufacturing.

Consumer recycling participation is increasing, largely due to community-based programs which make it easier to recycle a wide variety of materials including electronic waste such as computers and cell phones. Manufacturers have not been so quick to use recycled materials in their production process. It takes the participation of both consumers and manufacturers to maximize the benefits from recycling.

Recycling Statistics Tell the Story

The benefits of recycling are more than just having less litter on the highways or less trash in the landfills. Recycling can produce major savings in energy, minimize pollution, save trees and help protect the environment.

Save Energy

Manufacturing using recycled materials often takes less energy that it would take to manufacture using the original raw materials. For example:

Aluminum from recycled materials saves 95 percent of the energy
Steel from recycled steel saves 60 percent of the energy
Newspapers from recycled paper save 40 percent of the energy
Plastics from recycled plastic save 70 percent of the energy
Glass from recycled glass saves 40 percent of the energy

If we translate that energy savings into actual household energy, many hours of energy are gained. For example:

A ton of paper manufactured from recycled paper can save about 4,000 kilowatt hours of energy.
One glass bottle or jar manufactured from recycled glass saves enough energy to power a 100 watt light bulb for four hours.
One pound of steel manufactured from recycled steel can power a 60-watt light bulb for over a day.
One year of aluminum production from recycled aluminum saves enough energy to power 18 million household for a year.

Minimize Trash

Over 35 billion aluminum cans are thrown away each year. Recycling aluminum cans as well as glass and plastics can minimize the amount of trash that needs to be sent to landfills. Nearly 70 million tons of materials were kept out of landfills in 2000 due to recycling and composting. This is about twice as much saved from the landfill by recycling in 1990.

Save Environment

Recycling has a very positive effect on the environment:

Over 200 million gallons of used motor oil is disposed of into the environment. Most of the oil is poured down the drain, onto the ground, or just tossed in the garbage. It only takes one gallon of motor oil to contaminate one million gallons of drinking water.
Producing cars from recycled aluminum decreases air pollution by 95 percent.
Producing recycled paper produces 74 percent less air pollution, 35 percent less water pollution and uses 64 percent less energy than making paper from logs. A ton of paper made from recycled materials can save a total of over 500 pounds of air pollution.

Save Landfills

Recycling is saving landfill space as solid waste such as bottles and cans are diverted away from landfills. For example, paper recycling saves over three cubic yards of landfill space for every ton of paper made from recycled materials.

The reduction in landfill has not been as dramatic for electronic waste such as televisions, computers and cell phones. Of the 2.25 million tons of electronic waste reaching the end of their useful lives, only 18 percent (414,000 tons) was recycled and 82 percent (1.84 million tons) was disposed in such a way that it probably ended up in a landfill.

Save Trees

The recycling statistics on paper recycling show a dramatic reduction in the number of trees that would have to be cut down:

A ton of paper made from recycled paper saves 17 trees.
Recycling all newspapers read in the United States each morning could save 41,000 trees a day. Recycling these newspapers would also reduce 6 million tons of waste in the landfills.
Junk mail accounts for the use of 1.5 trees per person per year. We could save about 75,000 trees for every 50,000 people who stop their junk mail.