11 Facts About Recycling

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1. Reusing or donating a car can save 8,811 lbs. of CO2 greenhouse emissions (compared to building a new one).
2. Only 21% of U.S. residential recyclables that could be recycled are actually being recycled according to a State of Residential Recycling Report in January 2024.
3. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that recycling used electronics can allow materials like gold, copper, glass, and aluminum to be returned to the supply chain for reuse.
4. When it comes to textile reuse and recycling, it is estimated that 95% of all used clothing, footwear, and other cloth household products such as sheets, towels, curtains, and pillowcases can be reused or recycled.
5. In 2024, The Recycling Partnership reported that Utah has the highest recycling program participation rate at 70%.
6. Electronic waste (also known as e-waste) contains toxic components that are dangerous to human health. Mercury, lead, cadmium, polybrominated flame retardants, and more all pose great risks to the body, including damage to the brain, heart, liver, kidney, and skeletal systems.
7. The proposed New York Waste Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act if signed into law by the governor, would call for a 50% reduction of packaging materials within 12 years with incremental milestones among other changes.
8. Recycling a single plastic bottle can conserve enough energy to light a 60-watt light bulb for up to six hours.
9. Project Drawdown estimates that recycling between 2020 and 2050 will decrease emissions by 5.5 to 6.02 gigatons of carbon dioxide. That is the equivalent of taking over one billion cars off the streets for one year.
10. The most commonly recycled plastics are number 1, Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) which are water bottles and plastic trays, number 2, High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), milk cartons and shampoo bottles and, number 5, Polypropylene (PP) – margarine tubs and ready-meal trays.
11. Recycling 1 ton of plastic bottles saves the same amount of energy that’s used in a two-person household for one year.

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