Why Recycle

Why Recycle:
For the environment…

“Recycling aluminum cans in the United States in 1996 saved enough energy to power a city the size of Philadelphia for one year” (From the world watch Institute, Dec. 1998, as cited in Gordon).

“Between 1990 and 2000, Americans wasted 7.1 million tons of cans: enough to manufacture 316,000 Boeing 737 airplanes” (From Container recycling Institue, Jennifer Gitliz, “Trashed Cans: The Global Environmental Impacts of Aluminum Can Wasting in America,” 2002 as cited in Gordon)

“Recycling one ton of aluminum is equivalent to not releasing 13 tons of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) into the air” (From Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, "Rethinking Recycling: An Oregon Waste Reduction Curriculum," 2001, as cited in Gordon)

“The energy saved from recycling one wine bottle will operate a 100-watt light bulb for three hours” (From Calculation, courtesy of Robert Kirby, manager for R & D, Sandhill Industries, June 2003, as cited in Gordon)

“It takes approximately one million years for a glass bottle to break down at the landfill” (From Environmental Protection Agency, 2002, as cited in Gordon).

“By recycling all of its paper, plastic, and corrugated waste generated in a year, an office building of 7,000 workers could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1,200 metric tons of carbon equivalent. This is equivalent to taking 900 cars off the road in one year” (Environmental Protection Agency, "Solid Waste and Emergency Response," EPA 530-F-02-034, 2002, as cited in Gordon).

For the economy…
“The United States hosts 56,061 recycling and reuse establishments that employ approximately 1.1 million people, generate an annual payroll of $37 billion, and gross $236 billion in annual revenues” (Executive Summary ES 2).

“Paper, paperboard, and deinked market pulp mills, which employ 139,375 people…gross nearly $49 billion in estimated annual receipts” (Executive Summary ES 5).


“Steel mills, which employ 118,544 people…gross $46 billion in estimated annual receipts” (Executive Summary ES 5).

“Plastics converters, which employ 178,700 people…gross nearly $28 billion in estimated annual receipts” (Executive Summary ES 5).


“Iron and steel foundries, which employ 126,313 people…gross over $16 billion in annual estimated receipts”(Executive Summary ES 5).

“Economic modeling estimated that nearly 1.4 million jobs are maintained in support businesses because of the recycling and reuse industry. These jobs have a payroll of $52 billion and produce $173 billion in receipts” (Executive Summary ES 9).


“Economic modeling estimated that employee personal spending supports 1.5 million jobs with a payroll of $41 billion, and produces receipts of $146 billion” (Executive Summary ES 9).

“The Institute for Local Self- Reliance (ILSR) projected the impact of collecting and remanufacturing old newsprint (ONP) instead of paying to have the waste landfilled. ILSR found that for a city of one million residents, a single mill processing 100,000 tons of ONP per year could contribute up to $57 million in annual gross revenues to the local tax base. By contrast, disposing of the same material would cost the city $4 million in disposal costs annually (assuming an average tipping fee of $40 per ton)” (Environmental Protection Agency 3).


WORKS CITED:
Beck Inc., R.W. Final Summary US Recycling Economic Information Study. Washington, DC:
National Recycling Coalition, Inc., 2001. Print.

---. Executive Summary US Recycling Economic Information Study. Washington, DC: National
Recycling Coalition, Inc., 2001. Print.

Environmental Protection Agency. “Recycling Means Business”. Washington, DC:
Environmental Protection Agency, 1995. Print.

Gordon, Ann. The Solutions of Moab: Recycling Factoids. Web. 16 January 2010