Action - Recycling
Recycling has proven itself to be a cost-effective method of reducing waste and increasing resource utilization efficiency. Recycling did require significant tax subsidies during the early years, but now most types of material have reached at least cost-neutrality and some are profitable. Further, there is significant full life-cycle CO2 emission reduction with recycled products.
As an example, in the US the national average rate of recycling of all materials is over 30%. This is about 91 million tons of material per year. Reports indicate this reduces enough CO2 to have removed approximately 39 million cars from the road each year, which is about 101 million tons of CO2.
Considering the impact and low effort, it makes sense to recycle all the metals, papers, glass and plastic that we consume.
Known benefits and costs
| Annual CO2 Savings | 500 - 1,090 kg |
|---|---|
| 1,100 - 2,398 lbs | |
| Annual Cash Savings | $0 - $0 |
| Initial Cost | $0 - $0 |
| Time to pay for itself | 0.0 - 0.0 years |
| CO2 saved per year per initial dollar invested | 500.00 - 1090.00 kg |
* These values were taken from many sources including product documentation, published reports, and the referenced material below. The ranges are due to differences in methods of achieving this action.