Solid Waste Management - Recycling Benefits

Recycling Benefits

SEVERAL GOOD REASONS TO RECYCLE

Recycling saves natural resources like timber, oil, & natural gas.
Recycling protects wildlife habitat, biodiversity and open space. Using recycled materials reduces the need to chop down, extract, process, refine and transport natural resources such as timber, crude petroleum and mineral ores. As a result, destruction of forests, wetlands, rivers and other places essential to wildlife is also reduced.
Recycling lowers the use of toxic chemicals. Making products from already refined waste materials reduces -- and often avoids altogether -- the need for manufacturers to use toxic chemicals, essential when using virgin materials.
Recycling helps curb global warming. Using recycled materials cuts down on the energy used in the manufacturing process, dramatically reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants. For example, recycling one ton of glass results in energy savings of more than 300% and significantly lowers carbon dioxide emissions, a green-house gas.
Recycling stems the flow of water pollution. Making goods from recycled materials generates far less water pollution than manufacturing from virgin materials. Turning trees into paper uses more water than any other industrial process in the U.S., dumping billions of gallons of wastewater -- contaminated with pollutants such as chlorinated dioxin -- each year into rivers, lakes and streams. Paper recycling mills don't pollute the water nearly as much, and almost always use less of it.
Recycling reduces the need for landfills. Toxic pollution from landfills -- including cyanide, dioxins, mercury, methane, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and lead -- escapes into the air and leaches into groundwater.
Recycling creates jobs and promotes economic development.
Cities Save. By recycling, cities across the nation save money from recycling by avoiding disposal fees and selling the materials collected to global markets. Recycling is very costly, but the programs generally pay for themselves.
Buying recycled products contributes to the demand for more recycled products. This will, in turn, save more resources, reduce pollution and protect public health. As the size of the market grows, recycled product will cost less.