Recycling Facts: The BIG List!

Here's our big list of recycling facts! Carry on recycling!

1. Recycling is really just common sense, and until the "modern era," it was a common household activity. Before the 1920s, 70% of U.S. cities ran programs to recycle certain materials.
2. During World War II, industry recycled and reused about 25% of the waste stream.
3. The US nation's composting and recycling rate rose from 7.7% of the waste stream in 1960 to 17% in 1990. It's currently up to around 33%.
4. Recycling is one of the easiest ways you can help slow climate change and global warming.

   

5. Recycling aluminum saves 95% of the energy used to make the material from scratch. That means you can make 20 cans out of recycled material with the same amount of energy it takes to make one can out of new material.
6. An old used pop bottle may not necessarily become a pop bottle again. It may, instead become part of a child's toy or even part of a car.
7. Through recycling it is possible to reduce the amount of waste going into landfills and it also helps to bring prices down on items that are made form using recycled waste.
8. In order to make recycling economically viable, there must be a market for recycled products. If people buy them, companies will be encouraged to make them, and the whole system ten works.
9. The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle can run a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. It also causes 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than when a new bottle is made from raw materials.
10. There are three parts to the recycling process; each essential to making the system work: collection, manufacturing and buying. These three components are so important that they are represented by the three "chasing arrows" of the recycling logo.
11. Many recovered plastic containers end up being made into new secondary products such as textiles, parking lot bumpers, or plastic lumber - all unrecyclable products - and not containers.
12. When we recycle aluminum, we reduce energy use by 90 percent. Reduce air pollution by 95 percent. Save enough energy recycling just one can to run a TV for 3 hours. For every ton we recycle, we reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 13 tons!
13. Mercury lamps only pose a hazard when they break. When they are handled properly to minimize breakage, there is little chance of mercury exposure. In fact, an active lamp recycling program can reduce the likelihood of an accidental mercury release by stressing the importance of handling lamps carefully.
14. When you throw your aluminum can into the recycling bin, you are contributing to a process that conserves natural resources and saves money compared to manufacturing cans from virgin materials.
15. A piece of paper can be recycled seven to 15 times before the fibers get too short for making paper. Those waste fibers are collected and sold to farmers as an additive for enriching soil.
16. The average household throws away 13,000 separate pieces of paper each year. Most of it is packaging and junk mail.
17. When you recycle newspaper, it often gets turned into a cereal box. That means you get to "read" the paper a second time at the breakfast table!
18. For each ton of paper recycled 17 trees are saved which live to absorb a total of 250 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air each year. Burning that same ton of paper would create 1500 pounds of carbon dioxide.
19. Glass never wears out -- it can be recycled forever. We save over a ton of resources for every ton of glass recycled -- 1,330 pounds of sand, 433 pounds of soda ash, 433 pounds of limestone, and 151 pounds of feldspar.
20. Americans throw away enough glass bottles and jars every two weeks to fill the 1.350-foot towers of the former World Trade Center.
21. Using plastic containers conserves energy. Making plastic containers uses as much energy as making glass containers from virgin materials, so using refillable containers is the most energy conservative choice. When you throw your aluminum can into the recycling bin, you are contributing to a process that conserves natural resources and saves money compared to manufacturing cans from virgin materials.
22. When you throw your aluminum can into the recycling bin, you are contributing to a process that conserves natural resources and saves money compared to manufacturing cans from virgin materials.
23. Recycling aluminum saves 95% of the energy used to make the material from scratch. That means you can make 20 cans out of recycled material with the same amount of energy it takes to make one can out of new material.
24. More than 20,000,000 Hershey's Kisses are wrapped each day, using 133 square miles of aluminum foil. All that foil is recyclable, but not many people realize it.
    
     
25. Smart plugs allow you to see the consumption of each of your appliances in real time (and in real currency) and help you to see the savings you can make by turning appliances off.
26. Plastic bottles can take over 1,000 years to decompose.
27. Motor oil never wears out, it just gets dirty. Oil can be recycled, re-refined and used again, reducing our reliance on imported oil/ getting more oil out of the ground.
28. The Metrodome recycles more beverage containers than any other stadium in the country. Last year, it recycled 44.2 tons of brown plastic beer bottles and plastic cups.
29. Through recycling it is possible to reduce the amount of waste going into landfills and it also helps to bring prices down on items that are made form using recycled waste.