Curbside Recycling Fun Facts

  • Throwing away a single aluminum can, versus recycling it, is like pouring out six ounces of gasoline. Last year, Americans recycled enough aluminum cans to conserve the energy equivalent of more than15 million barrels of oil.
  • The EPA estimates that 75 percent of what Americans throw in the trash could actually be recycled. Currently, only 25 percent is.
  • Incinerating 10,000 tons of waste creates one job; landfilling 10,000 tons of waste creates six jobs; recycling 10,000 tons of waste creates 36 jobs.
  • The national recycling rate of 30 percent saves the equivalent of more than five billion gallons of gasoline, reducing dependence on foreign oil by 114 million barrels. This could be even higher!
  • The aluminum can is 100 percent recyclable and can be used to make new beverage cans indefinitely – demonstrating recycling at is finest! “Every can, every time!”
  • According to the EPA, recycling, including composting, diverted 68 million tons of material away from landfills and incinerators in 2001, up from 34 million tons in 1990.
  • Recycling 35 percent of our trash reduces emissions equivalent to taking 36 million cars of the road.
  • Every Sunday 500,000 trees could be saved if everyone recycled their newspapers.
  • Think recycling is expensive? Consider this: aluminum cans are the most valuable item in your bin. Aluminum can recycling helps fund the entire curbside collection. It’s the only packaging material that more than covers the cost of collection and re-processing for itself.

Curbside Recycling Logo

Rating

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars

Join the discussion

2 comments

Share this article


2 Comments

  1. earth day fun facts

    posted on April 22nd, 2008 at 8:26 am

    [...] 2nd, 2007 … What Is earth Day? For over three decades, earth day has been gaining momentum in …http://earth911.com/blog/2007/04/02/fun-facts/Earth Day Games: Play Free Online Games for Moms and Kids – Kaboose.comEarth day 2008 is on Tuesday, [...]

  2. Angie

    posted on February 9th, 2009 at 6:24 pm

    AWESOME SITE! I <3 it and I didn’t know any of the stuff on it!

Join the discussion



Recently Added to General

  • Senator Honored For Recycling Efforts, Introduces New Legislation

    At last week’s annual “Recycling Works Gala,” hosted by the National Recycling Coalition (NRC) and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) in Washington D.C., Delaware Senator Thomas R. Carper (D) was honored for his outstanding leadership in key recycling …

  • Largest U.S. Wind Project Breaks Ground in California

    Today, the Alta Wind Energy Center officially breaks ground for the largest wind power project in the country. The turbines will supply more than 600,000 homes in Southern California with electricity.

    Situated in the Mojave Desert, the multibillion-dollar farm is about …

  • Green Ideas That Made Millions

    As more and more Americans go green, environmentally sustainable innovations are translating into big bucks for entrepreneurs.

    Sure, going green feels great, but these five eco trailblazers are living proof that green business can also mean money in the bank, not …

Earth911

Earth911 is an environmental services company that addresses solutions for products' end-of-life for both businesses and consumers.