Recycling Facts

by Beth Rowen

Related Links The Three R's of the Environment A Look at the Recycling Process Top Ten Most Polluted Places in the World, 2006

• Recycling one aluminum can saves enough electricity to run a TV for 3 hours
• Recycling one glass bottle or jar saves enough electricity to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours
• Recycling one ton of plastic saves the equivalent of 1,000–2,000 gallons of gasoline
• More than 30 million trees are cut down to produce a year’s supply of newspapers
• A ton of paper made from recycled paper saves:
  • 7,000 gallons of water
  • Between 17 and 31 trees
  • 60 pounds of air pollutants
• Recycling a pound of steel saves enough energy to light a 60-watt light bulb for 26 hours.
• Americans recycle only 5% of all the plastics produced in this country.
• Americans use 100 million steel cans and 200 million aluminum beverage cans every day.
• One drip per second from a faucet wastes 540 gallons of water a year.
• It takes between 400 and 500 years for a Styrofoam cup to decompose. It takes an orange peel six months to decompose.
• Using recycled glass uses 40% less energy than making products from all new materials.
• Today, almost 22% of the glass produced in the United States is recycled.

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