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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.

Recycling Facts

• Recycling aluminum saves 95% energy compared to new aluminum
• Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours
• Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, 4,000 kilowatts of energy, and 7,000 gallons of water
• Paper made from recycled paper uses 70% less energy
• The energy saved by recycling just one glass bottle could light a 100-watt light bulb for 4 hours
• Recycling plastic uses half the energy required to burn it

Benefits and costs

* These value ranges were taken from many sources including product documentation, published reports, and the reference material linked here.

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