01/03/2022
Most people would agree that recycling is one “simple” activity that allows them to do their part in bettering the environment. And, while the majority of individuals have good intentions when recycling, 62 percent of Americans worry that a lack of knowledge is causing them to do so incorrectly.
Unfortunately, improper recycling practices come at a price known as contamination, which is an issue that significantly reduces the value of recyclable materials and, most often, deems them unrecyclable and destined for landfill. For example, one non-recyclable item (like a messy plastic bag with food residue) can contaminate an entire load of recyclable materials and force your waste hauler to send them all to landfill.
Sending waste to landfill is problematic for several reasons, but, most importantly, because doing so creates innumerable environmental and health problems in local communities. For instance, as garbage decomposes, it creates a toxic blend of liquids called leachate, which results in large amounts of pollution both in the air and in local water sources. Landfills also account for the largest man-made source of methane gas in the United States - A powerful greenhouse gas that is 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere.
Furthermore, when we don’t recycle, the demand for natural resources needed to create new products increases. Given this information, businesses and individuals have an excellent opportunity to prioritize recycling education to improve recycling rates and overall sustainability practices. To get started, begin your recycling education below by familiarizing yourself with the following facts.
CARDBOARD FACTS
1. Recycling cardboard only takes 75% of the energy required to make new cardboard
2. Over 90% of all products shipped in the U.S. are packaged in corrugated boxes, which makes up more than 400 billion square feet of cardboard
3.Approximately 100 billion cardboard boxes are produced each year in the U.S.
4.One ton of recycled cardboard saves 46 gallons of oil
5.One ton of recycled cardboard saves 9 cubic yards of landfill space
PLASTIC FACTS
1. Enough plastic is thrown away each year to circle the earth four times
2. Recycling plastic takes 88% less energy than making it from raw materials
3. Only 23% of disposable water bottles are recycled
4. Plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to decompose
5. Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator
GLASS FACTS
1. A modern glass bottle would take 4,000 years or more to decompose -- and even longer if it's in landfill
2. Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without loss in quality or purity
3. More than 28 billion glass bottles and jars go to landfills every year. That's enough to fill two Empire State Buildings every three weeks
4. Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100-watt lightbulb for four hours
PAPER FACTS
1. Recycling a stack of newspaper just 3 feet high saves one tree
2. Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 mature trees
3. Approximately 1 billion trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the U.S.
4. The average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of paper per year
5. 70% of the total waste in offices is paper waste
ALUMINUM FACTS
1. The average person has the opportunity to recycle more than 25,000 cans in their life
2. An aluminum can can be recycled and back on a grocery store shelf as a new can in as little as 60 days
3. Aluminum can be recycled forever without any loss of quality
4. Aluminum can be recycled using only 5% of the energy used to make the product from new materials
5. Recycling a single aluminum can saves enough energy to power a TV for 3 hours
GENERAL FACTS
1. On average, it costs $30 per ton to recycle trash, $50 to send it to the landfill and $65 to $75 to incinerate it
2. 94% of the U.S. population has access to some type of recycling program
3. The average person generates 4.4 pounds of solid waste every day
4. Americans generate an additional 5 million tons of waste throughout the holidays
5. Americans throw away enough trash in an average year to circle the earth 24 times
