Interesting Recycling Facts

Recycling should be an activity practiced by households, individuals and businesses alike. If you don’t already recycle, here are some fun recycling facts that should help convince you to do so.

Facts about Recycling Metals:

• Nearly 350,000 aluminum cans are produced every minute worldwide. By recycling one aluminum can, enough energy is saved to run a TV for three hours. This is equivalent to using a half gallon of gas.
• Once a can is recycled, it can be formed into a new can withis six weeks.
• There is no limit to the amount of times a aluminum can can be recycled.
• During a one year period in the U.S., the recycling of steel saves enough energy to heat and light 18,000,000 homes.
• The energy saved by recycling one pound of steel can power a 60-watt bulb for over a day.

Facts about Recycling Paper:

• 500,000 trees must be cut down to produce each week’s Sunday newspaper.
• If all newspapers were recycled throughout the year, we would save about 250,000,000 trees per year!
• Roughly 1 billion trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the U.S.
• About 27% of all the newspapers in America are recycled.
• The amount of paper and wood thrown away every year is equivalent to the energy needed to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years!

Facts about Recycling Glass

• By recycling one glass bottle, a 100-watt light bulb could run for four hours.
• By not recycling glass, it takes over 4,000 years for it to decompose in a landfill.

Hopefully these recycling facts will help convince you to recycle if you do not already do so!