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The Facts
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 Trash by weight is 34.2 percent paper, 5.2 percent glass, 7.6 percent metal, 11.7 percent food waste, 11.9 percent plastic, 13.1percent yard waste and 16.3 percent other trash. 54.3 percent of garbage is buried in landfills, 13.6 percent is burned in incinerators, 23.8 percent is recycled, and 8.4 percent is recovered thru composting.
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The U.S., while having 5 percent of the world’s population, produces 25 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions.
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One acre of trees can absorb the carbon dioxide produced by driving a car 26,000 miles.
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It takes 14 20 oz. PET bottles to make one square foot of carpet.
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Recycling conserves landfill space
- Material is kept out of the waste stream and out of the landfill.
- Recycling 1 ton of material saves 3 cubic yards of landfill space.
- 34.2 percent of all landfill trash is a paper product.
- Yearly, we dispose of 12.2 million tons of leaves and grass clippings, which could be composted to conserve landfill space.
- Each American generates about 4.54 pounds of trash per day of which 1.08 pounds is recycled, 0.38 is composted, 0.62 is incinerated and 2.46 is discarded into a landfill.
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Recycling saves energy
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Recycling aluminum cans requires 95 percent less energy than producing the cans from the raw bauxite ore.
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20 recycled cans can be made with the energy needed to produce 1 can using the raw bauxite ore.
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Recycling 1 ton of newspapers saves the same amount of energy contained in 100 gallons of gasoline.
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Recycling 1 ton of newspaper uses 70 percent less energy than producing the same ton from virgin materials and saves the same amount of electricity used in a typical home in 6 months.
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Recycling glass saves more than half the furnace energy needed to make glass from virgin materials and produces the same quality product.
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Increasing steel recycling 50 percent would save the energy equivalent of 7 nuclear power plants.
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Recycling conserves natural resources
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Wasting of our natural resources is reduced and our limited domestic supplies of certain raw materials are extended.
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Recycling 1 ton of glass saves the equivalent of 9 gallons of oil.
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Recycling 1 ton of newspaper saves 17 trees and uses 60 percent less water.
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It takes 3,688 lbs of wood, 216 pounds of lime, 360 pounds of salt cake and 76 pounds of soda ash to make 2,000 pounds (1 ton) of paper.
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The Statue of Liberty was restored with recycled scrap metal.
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In one week, Americans throw away enough cans and bottles to circle the earth 4 times!
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Recycling preserves the quality of air and water
- Recycling helps preserve the quality of our air and water. Using recycled materials over again creates less pollution than starting from scratch with virgin materials.
- Recycling 1 ton of newspaper produces 50 percent fewer pollutants than making 1 ton from virgin materials.
- Manufacturing processes using recycling paper do not generate a by-product hazardous waste known as “liquor.”
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