Does recycling have an effect on climate change?
In the UK the current level of recycling saves between 10-15 million (CO2 equivalent) tonnes of greenhouse gases a year, when compared to sending our rubbish to landfill or an energy from waste plant. This is the same as taking 3.5 million cars off the road!
How does recycling save raw materials?
All man-made items need raw materials to make them, these raw materials come from the Earth. If an item is recycled, there is less need to mine the raw materials, therefore these materials are saved.
In addition, recycling usually takes less energy than making a product from raw (or virgin) materials; this means less fuel is used. As much of the fuel in the UK comes from un-renewable resources, such as oil and coal, more of the Earth's raw materials are saved.
For example, recycling one tonne of steel saves the following:
- 1.5 tonnes of iron ore
- 0.5 tonnes of coke
- 1.28 tonnes of solid waste
It also:
- reduces air emissions by 86%
- reduces water pollution by 76%