Facts and Figures

Paper Recycling

	The manufacture of recycled paper requires 7,000 less gallons of water per ton compared to non-recycled paper.
	Recycling a four-foot stack of newspapers saves the equivalent of one 40-foot fir tree.
	The United States throws away enough office and writing paper annually to build a 12 foot wall across the country
	Americans throw away more than 600 pounds of paper products per person per year.
	Paper is recycled into new products such as tar paper, asphalt shingles, cereal boxes, and of course, new paper.
	Energy saved: Each ton of recycled paper produced requires 4,102 kwh less energy than virgin paper

Recycling one ton of paper saves:

	17 mature trees
	3.3 cubic yards (2.5 cubic meters) of landfill space
	7000 gallons (27,000 liters) of water
	380 gallons (1440 liters) of oil
	4100 kilowatt hours (14,700 megajoules) of energy
	60 pounds (27 kilograms) of pollutants

Glass Recycling

	Every glass bottle recycled saves enough energy to light a 100-watt light bulb for 4 hours.
	Melting used glass saves 35 percent of the energy required to make glass from raw materials.

Plastic Reycling

	Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour!
	The average American car contains 300 pounds of plastic made from about 60 different resins.
	Every year, we make enough plastic film to shrink-wrap the state of Texas. 10% of the average grocery bill pays for product packaging (mostly paper and plastics). That’s more than what goes to farmers.
	Products made from recovered plastic bottles include drainage pipes, toys, carpet, filler for pillows and sleeping bags and cassette casings.
	PET bottles (soda, water) and HDPE bottles (milk, laundry detergent) are by far the most commonly collected plastic materials in community recycling programs.
	10% of all households have the ability to recycle all types of plastic bottles in their community.
	63% of U.S. communities have access to a recycling program that collects plastic.

Tin/Steel Recycling

	Every ton of steel recycled saves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal, and 120 pounds of limestone
	Steel is one of the world's most recycled products. In fact, steel is 100% recyclable, which means its lifecycle is potentially continuous
	Making steel from recycled cans uses 75% less energy than when producing steel from raw materials.

Aluminum Recycling

	Making cans from recycled aluminum saves 95% of the energy required to produce cans from virgin material.
	Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a television, or operate a computer for three hours.
	99% of all beer cans and 97% of all soft drink cans are made of aluminum.
	The average aluminum can in the U.S. contains 40% post-consumer recycled aluminum.
	It requires only 5% of the energy needed to make a can of recycled aluminum as compared to virgin ore.
	Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild the entire U.S. commercial air fleet every 3 months.
	In 1994, 3.1 million tons of aluminum waste was generated. 2.1 million tons came from soft drink and beer cans.
	Aluminum made up 1.5% of the total municipal solid waste stream generated in the U.S. in 1994.
	Approximately 65.5% of aluminum containers are recycled in the U.S.
	Most aluminum recovered from the waste stream is used to manufacture new cans.
	The lifespan of an aluminum can is about six weeks. That means it takes only six weeks for a beverage can to be manufactured, filled, sold, used, recycled and remanufactured.
	Recycling aluminum cans saves 95 percent of the energy required to produce aluminum from ore.