Recycling Saves Natural Resources:

Making products with recycled material conserves land, slows the depletion of non-renewable resources such as metal, oil and natural gas, and reduces the need for new drilling and mining operations.

Recycling means generating less air and water pollution by reducing mining and drilling. Recycling also reduces the air pollution associated with burning fossil fuels.

Recycling Saves Energy:

It typically takes less energy to make products from recycled materials than from virgin materials. For example, making an aluminum can from recycled aluminum saves 95% of the energy needed to make a can from virgin aluminum. The EPA reported that in 2000, recycling resulted in an annual energy savings of at least 660 trillion BTUs, which equals the amount of energy used in 6 million households annually. In 2005, recycling is conservatively projected to save 900 trillion BTUs, equal to the annual energy use of 9 million households.

Recycling Saves Landfill Space:

When materials are recycled to create new products, they aren’t put into landfills or incinerators, conserving landfill space. In 2003, Recycling and composted diverted over 72 million tons of material away from landfills and incinerators, more than doubling from 34 million in 1990. U.S. residents, businesses and institutions produced more than 236 million tons of municipal solid waste. This is nearly 4.5 pounds of waste per person per day.

Recycling Creates Jobs:

Recycling creates more jobs than landfills or incinerators. Incinerating 10,000 tons of waste creates one job, landfilling the waste creates 6 jobs, and recycling it creates 36 jobs. Recycling can also frequently be the least expensive waste management method for cities and towns.