Did you know?
- In 2015, Americans recycled 67% of the paper, 26% of the glass, and 9% of the plastics that were generated.
- Recycling one million cell phones can recover 35 thousand pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold, and 33 pounds of palladium.
The extraction, manufacturing, transportation, and final disposal of all consumer products and packaging, excluding food, accounts for 29% of US greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling items such as paper, plastic, glass, aluminum, batteries, used oil, tires, and electronics reduces the need to extract new raw materials from the earth and can help reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.
For example, recycling paper allows it to be reused to make new paper products, reducing the amount of trees and other natural resources used to make new paper. Recycling a ton of paper can save the energy equivalent of 166 gallons of gasoline.
Recycling items can also save money. For instance, recycling glass to make new glass is typically cheaper than using new natural resources.
What you can do
- Recycle when possible.
- Discover the benefits of recycling paper, batteries, plastics, glass, used oil, household hazardous waste, and tires.
- Discover the benefits of recycling electronic items.
Sources:
- EPA. 2018. "Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: 2015 Fact Sheet". Accessed November 13, 2018. https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-07/documents/2015_smm_m…;
- EPA. 2015. “Climate Change and Waste”. Accessed November 13, 2018. http://web.archive.org/web/20160827223250/https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/climate-change-waste/.
- EPA. 2015. “Electronics Donation and Recycling”. Accessed November 13, 2018. http://www2.epa.gov/recycle/electronics-donation-and-recycling.
- EPA. 2015. “Glass”. Accessed November 13, 2018. http://web.archive.org/web/20170217094645/http://www3.epa.gov/warm/pdfs/Glass.pdf.
- EPA. 2015. “How Do I Recycle? Common Recyclables”. Accessed November 13, 2018. http://www2.epa.gov/recycle/how-do-i-recycle-common-recyclables.
- EPA. 2015. “Infographic – Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in the United States”. Accessed November 13, 2018. http://web.archive.org/web/20150905195334/http://www.epa.gov/wastes/nonhaz/municipal/infographic/index.htm.
- EPA. 2015. “Recycling Basics”. Accessed November 13, 2018. http://www2.epa.gov/recycle/recycling-basics
