Recycling Facts

Does it make sense to recycle?

The short and long answers are: Yes

Some critics wonder whether mandatory programs are worthwhile:

As they require more trucks to ferry recyclables to their destination thus consuming energy and belching carbon dioxide into the atmosphere;
Many recycling programs still cost more to run than they bring in when they sell the recyclable materials back to manufacturers.

However, when the true cost of a product over its entire life cycle is considered - from harvesting the raw materials to creating, consuming, and disposing of it - the scale tips dramatically in recycling's favour.

A product's true cost includes greenhouse gases emitted in its creation as well as use, and pollutants that cause acid rain, smog, and fouled waterways.

Recycling - substituting scrap for virgin materials - works because:

it conserves natural resources
reduces the amount of waste that must be burned or buried
and reduces pollution and the demand for energy

What can be recycled?

You can typically recycle (please check your local council / municipality guidelines):

Paper and cardboard; glass bottles and jars; aluminium and steel cans; empty aerosols and clean aluminium foil; plastic yoghurt, margarine and ice cream containers; milk and juice cartons; plastic milk, juice and soft drink bottles; plastic cups, plastic take-away containers, plastic detergent and shampoo bottles.

Waste & Recycling Facts

Paper typically makes up for 70% of office waste with 10,000 A4 sheets used for every worker each year.
Globally we produce and use around 7 trillion (7,000,000,000,000) plastic bags a year - with hundreds of billions ending up as litter
The Styrofoam cups used every year would circle the planet at least five times; they are not biodegradable and are rarely recycled
Recycling an aluminium can uses only 5% of the energy required to make a new one. Recycling glass uses 26% of the energy. Every tonne of paper recycled saves almost 13 trees, 4,100 kilowatts of electricity and more than 30,000 litres (7,900 gallons) of water
Daily worldwide sales figures of Biros exceed 14m: A plastic pen in landfill will still be there in 50,000 years.