Recycling
Benefits of Recycling
Conserves natural resources: Recycling reduces the need for extracting, refining, and processing raw materials such as oil, timber, and minerals. This helps conserve natural resources and protects the environment.
Reduces greenhouse gas emissions: Recycling reduces greenhouse gas emissions by decreasing the need for energy-intensive manufacturing processes. This helps combat climate change and air pollution.
Saves energy: Recycling requires less energy than extracting and processing new materials. This saves energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
Reduces landfill waste: Recycling reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills, which reduces the risk of pollution and helps conserve land.
Creates jobs: Recycling creates jobs in industries such as waste collection, sorting, and processing. This helps boost local economies and supports employment.
Saves money: Recycling can be more cost-effective than disposing of waste in landfills. This is because recycling reduces the need for new materials, which can be expensive to extract and process.
Reduces water pollution: Recycling reduces the amount of waste that is dumped in rivers and oceans, which helps reduce water pollution and protects marine life.
Preserves wildlife habitats: Recycling reduces the need for clearing forests and other natural habitats to extract raw materials. This helps preserve wildlife habitats and protect biodiversity.
Encourages sustainability: Recycling promotes a culture of sustainability by encouraging people to use resources responsibly and reduce waste.
Reduces dependence on imports: Recycling reduces the need for importing raw materials from other countries. This helps reduce dependence on imports and improve economic independence.
Where Education Meets Recycling
Recycling is vital to keeping a clean and beautiful planet. Every item recycled is an item saved from the landfill. This reduces the need to collect additional resources from the earth, allowing for . While recycling across the world is steadily improving, there is still a long way to go before recycling rates are ideal. A huge barrier to high recycling rates is a lack of awareness and education of how to recycle properly, or what can even be recycled. While many cities or counties have a system in place to handle recyclables, what is accepted by each facility often varies by location. In order to achieve the best recycling practices, it is best to familiarize yourself and your peers with your local recycling facility to find out what is and is not accepted in your area.
Know Your Facility
When a recycling facility receives materials that it cannot process, the sorting process is slowed, and there is an increase in contamination rates of the materials. If there are materials that are not accepted at your local facility, consider organizing a special collections event for things like electronics that can be donated to companies that accept them. The website Earth 911 can help you find a facility nearest you that accepts your recyclables.
Recycling With Keep America Beautiful
To learn more about how to improve recycling in your community, please visit The Keep America Beautiful web page on recycling. Keep America Beautiful also has a variety of programs to choose from to get things started on the Programs & Initiatives page.