RECYCLING FACTS

THE GREEN CHOICE | HOW YOU CAN BE GREEN

WHY RECYCLE?

• Preserves natural resources…recycling the print run of a single Sunday issue of the New York Times would spare 75,000 trees.
• Recycling one ton of aluminum saves four tons of bauxite. Using recycled paper, 60% of the water normally needed in paper manufacturing is saved.
• By using recycled steel, there is a 40% water savings. Reduces pollution…manufacturing products from recycled paper reduces water pollution by 35% and air pollutants by 73%.
• Using recycled steel in manufacturing cuts down on 76% of the water pollutants, 86% of the air pollutants and 97% of the mining wastes normally generated in manufacturing new steel.
• Reduces need for landfills…in the US, landfills include more than 80% of all solid waste. Landfills are ticking time bombs – producing unknown gases and chemicals into the air. Recycling helps to reduce landfill space and disposal costs.
• Reduces litter…litter is a costly as well as unsightly problem that US tax payers pay for.
• $500 Million are spent each year to pick up litter by crews along state highways across the United States. Reduces energy consumption…making new steel from old steel scraps offers up to 75% energy savings.
• Producing aluminum from scraps instead of bauxite ore cuts energy use by 95%. Paper recycling saves up to 70% of the energy needed to create paper from new timber.
• Less energy consumption = Less air pollution and less mercury

Source: www.keepbanderabeautiful.org