Other Recycling Facts As per the Deconstruction Institute, every year, the U.S. building deconstruction and demolition industry produces around 125 million tons of debris that go to landfills, and only 2% of total building material waste is recycled. Recycling one ton of plastic bottles saves the equivalent energy usage of a two person household for one year, 23. Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator, 21. Most people would agree that recycling is one “simple” activity that allows them to do their part in bettering the environment. Chart. Americans use 85 million tons of paper per year which is about 680 pounds per person, 28. We’ve put together 10 fun facts about recycling to make sure you know it really is worth the extra effort. The Facts and Figures data looks at generation, recycling, composting, combustion with energy recovery, and landfilling for a variety of materials and products. Doing your part to reduce your waste, reuse items when possible and recycle materials when appropriate, helps lessen your impact on our environment. This report gives an insight into the plastics industry’s contribution to European economic growth and prosperity throughout the life cycle of the material. For instance, as garbage decomposes, it creates a toxic blend of liquids called leachate, which results in large amounts of pollution both in the air and in local water sources. Published November 8, 2016 Updated September 2, 2019 It is more likely that Americans will recycle than vote. One of our representatives will be happy to walk you through how we can help your business recycle more and spend less. The U.S. recycling rate is around 34.5%. Recycling avoids all the damage done to the environment due to the harvesting of trees, mining for minerals and drilling for petroleum. 48. 2.5 million plastic bottles are thrown away every hour in America, 14. Over 11 million tons of recyclable clothing, shoes, and textiles make their way into landfills each year. Plastics – the Facts 2019 An analysis of European plastics production, demand and waste data. The Global Recycling Foundation noted that in 2017, we used a year's worth of these resources in only seven months, and if this trend continues we will eventually run out of these precious resources. Be sure to share our infographic below with anyone who would find it helpful and please enjoy the following educational facts, which prove that the investment in recycling knowledge is worth it! 26. Recycling just one can saves enough electricity to light a 100-watt bulb for 20 hours, a computer for 3 hours, and a TV for 2 hours. Which fact(s) are the most surprising to you? An aluminum can can be recycled and back on a grocery store shelf as a new can in as little as 60 days, 37. Nearly half of the food in the U.S. goes to waste—approximately 3,000 pounds per second, 9. Fact 36: Recycling helps to conserve energy, and as a result, less greenhouse gases are emitted. Less than 10% of plastic generation from the U.S. Municipal Solid Waste stream is recycled. 50 Interesting Recycling Facts. Given this information, businesses and individuals have an excellent opportunity to prioritize recycling education to improve recycling rates and overall sustainability practices. American businesses use around 21 million tons of paper - with about 750,000 copies made every minute, 32. In the U.S. alone, over 20 billion diapers are thrown out a year, accounting for over 3.5 million tons of waste. Image Credit: jaylopez This is a guest article from Arabella Greatorex, from Exeter Family Activities, which has listings for playgroups, ideas for local days out, attractions, baby shopping, antenatal classes, breastfeeding support, baby activities and postnatal exercise classes.. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. One ton of recycled cardboard saves 46 gallons of oil, 7. Fun recycling facts for kids in Australia. The average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of paper per year, 31. Furthermore, when we don’t recycle, the demand for natural resources needed to create new products increases. ERI is the largest fully integrated IT and electronics asset disposition provider and cybersecurity-focused hardware destruction company in the United States. 49. Every time a ton of paper is recycled it saves 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4,000 kilowatts of energy and 7,000 gallons of water. Recycling plastic takes 88% less energy than making it from raw materials, 15. Recycling a single aluminium can will save enough energy to power a TV for up to three hours or an iPod for up to twenty hours. These fun recycling facts will impress kids and teachers at school, family and friends with your recycling knowledge. The 11 facts you want are below, and the sources for the facts are at the very bottom of the page. And, don’t hesitate to reach out to one of our representatives should you or your business need more expertise around how to better manage your waste and recycling, sustainably. If you're interested in learning how RoadRunner can help your business recycle more, then schedule a free consultation with us today! 11. Aluminum can be recycled forever without any loss of quality, 38. Every time a ton of paper is recycled it saves 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4,000 kilowatts of energy and 7,000 gallons of water. (Source: There are over 80 billion aluminum cans used each and every year around the world. [Read our post: What Is Recycling Contamination?]. The world produces more than 14 million tons of Polystyrene (plastic foam) each year, 22. Looking to recycle your unwanted items? Only 23% of disposable water bottles are recycled, 17. Recycling a single glass bottle will save enough energy to power a laptop for half an hour. Recycling generates 7-10 more jobs that landfills and waste to energy plants. The average person generates 4.4 pounds of solid waste every day, 44. Read below and discover nine reasons why plastics recycling is on the rise. On average, it costs $30 per ton to recycle trash, $50 to send it to the landfill and $65 to $75 to incinerate it. Feel free to share the infographic for a summary of this information! Aluminum can be recycled using only 5% of the energy used to make the product from new materials, 39. The average person has the opportunity to recycle more than 25,000 cans in their life, 36. Environment Facts. Americans generate an additional 5 million tons of waste throughout the holidays. Recycling cardboard only takes 75% of the energy required to make new cardboard, 2. Fact 35: One ton of recycled cardboard saves 9 cubic yards of landfill space. The EPA estimates that 75% of the American waste stream is recyclable, but we only recycle about 30% of it, 46. Less than a third of plastic waste in Europe is recycled. Anteil von Recycling-Material an der Neuproduktion in Deutschland 2018. Uncategorized This, in turn, lowers the consumption of power, trees, petroleum distillates, and minerals. Food was the largest component at about 22%, 13. If you're interested in learning how RoadRunner can help your business recycle more, then, https://www.recycleacrossamerica.org/recycling-facts, https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-recycling, https://utahrecycles.org/get-the-facts/the-facts-plastic/, https://www.earthday.org/2018/03/29/fact-sheet-single-use-plastics/, http://greeningforward.org/environmental-issues/waste/recycle/recycling-facts/, https://www.sccmo.org/863/Recycling-Facts, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/10/07/perceptions-and-realities-of-recycling-vary-widely-from-place-to-place/. Enough plastic is thrown away each year to circle the earth four times, 16. These Facts and Figures are current through calendar year 2015. Fact 34: One ton of recycled cardboard saves 46 gallons of oil. Why is Recycling Important? 70% of corrugated cardboard is recovered for recycling. The energy saved by recycling one plastic bottle will power your computer for 25minutes. John Shegerian hosts a weekly podcast featuring conversations with some of the greatest business minds and thought leaders on the planet. 11 Facts About Recycling Welcome to DoSomething.org , a global movement of millions of young people making positive change, online and off! Recycling everything you could in your kitchen recycling bins could power a TV for six months, plenty of time to watch GOT! For example, one non-recyclable item (like a messy plastic bag with food residue) can contaminate an entire load of recyclable materials and force your waste hauler to send them all to landfill. Sending waste to landfill is problematic for several reasons, but, most importantly, because doing so creates innumerable environmental and health problems in local communities. Copyright © 2019 RoadRunner Recycling Inc. All Rights Reserved. Recycling a single aluminum can saves enough energy to power a TV for 3 hours, 40. About 11 million tons of textiles end up in U.S. landfills each year — an average of about 70 pounds per person, 42. Recycling Facts: Plastic Vs Glass While plastic and glass are both recyclable materials, there are many advantages to using plastic over glass for packaging. Recycling creates about 1.1 million jobs in the United States. On average, every person in the UK throws away their body weight in waste every 7 weeks 2. Recycling one aluminum can saves enough power to run your TV for 3 hours. You can recycle aluminum over and over again. Approximately 1 billion trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the U.S. 35. (Source: Also, when U.S. recycling levels reach 75 percent, it will be the environmental and CO2 equivalent of removing 55 million cars from U.S. roads each year. The value of the waste recycling services market will grow up to 376 … When it comes to environmental impact and recycling, let’s look at how these two materials measure up. Unfortunately, improper recycling practices come at a price known as contamination, which is an issue that significantly reduces the value of recyclable materials and, most often, deems them unrecyclable and destined for landfill. Recycling Facts 15 Facts About Recycling To Really Make You Think. We hope you find these facts to be as interesting as we do! Thanks for reading. A modern glass bottle would take 4,000 years or more to decompose -- and even longer if it's in landfill, 24. Read on to start exploring 50 interesting recycling facts, to discover why people find recycling so difficult, and to understand how we can go about improving recycling practices now and in the future. The U.S. produces approximately 34 million tons of food waste each year. Recycling one ton of plastic saves the equivalent of 1,000–2,000 gallons of gasoline, 19. Recycling protects natural resources Recycling reduces the overall market demand for virgin raw materials. In 2015, about 137.7 million tons of MSW were landfilled. 21 Facts About Recycling Plastics Plastics are amongst the most versatile and commonly used materials in the world, and whilst no one can deny the profound impact they have had on the last 100 years of human history, our reliance on the various forms of plastic has made developing an efficient method of plastic recycling essential. Check out our A to Z Directory for terms and keywords for which our web visitors frequently search. To help with this effort, we put together some useful recycling tips to keep in mind when trying to make a difference for the planet. Landfill waste has a huge negative impact on the natural environment. 9. Which fact(s) are the most surprising to you? Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100-watt lightbulb for four hours, 27. This post was originally written May 2019 and updated Sept. 2020. Recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash and turning them into new products. Statista. A Futerra survey found that 96 percent of people feel that their own actions, whether donating, recycling, or buying ethically, can make a positive difference. Luckily, with better information at our fingertips, we can all do our part in protecting the environment by educating ourselves, our customers, and our colleagues about the significance of effective and sustainable waste management practices as well as proper recycling techniques. Most people would agree that recycling is one “simple” activity that allows them to do their part in bettering the environment. Plastics—the Facts is an analysis of the data related to the production, demand and waste management of plastic materials. To get started, begin your recycling education below by familiarizing yourself with the following facts. Americans throw away 25 billion Styrofoam coffee cups every year, 41. Laut einer Umfrage im Jahr 2019 ist ein Umdenken der Gesellschaft im Zusammenhang mit dem Recycling erkennbar: ... Bruttojahresverdienst in der Branche Entsorgung und Recycling in Deutschland bis 2019. 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