Recycling Reduces Greenhouse Gases and Saves Energy

In addition to its many other environmental and economic benefits, recycling significantly lowers the carbon emissions associated with raw materials extraction, product manufacture, and waste disposal.

• Recycling reduces emissions from energy consumption.
• Recycling saves energy. Manufacturing goods from recycled materials typically requires less energy than producing goods from virgin materials.
• Recycling increases storage of carbon in trees. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in wood, in a process called "carbon sequestration." Waste prevention and recycling of paper products allow more trees to remain standing in the forest, where they can continue to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
• Recycling reduces methane emissions from landfills. Methane is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

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Climate Change and Recycling Resources

• NMRC Climate Change Fact Sheet more
• EPA Climate Change and Waste Website more

Energy Savings Estimates By Commodity

Estimates for energy savings and GHG emission reductions based on current recycling and waste to landfill in the US:

To put these statistics into perspective, last year the amount of energy saved from recycling aluminum and steel cans, plastic PET and glass containers, newsprint and corrugated packaging was equivalent to:

• The amount of electricity consumed by 17.8 million Americans in one year.
• 29% of nuclear electricity generation in the America in one year.
• 7.9% of electricity generation from fossil fuels in the America in one year.
• 11% of the energy produced by coal fired power plants in the U.S.
• The energy supplied from 2.7% of imported barrels of crude oil into the U.S.
• The amount of gasoline used in almost 11 million passenger automobiles in one year.

The public and political interest in climate change provides a unique opportunity to re-focus public attention on the value of recycling and to build an even stronger economic and environmental case to enhance our recycling infrastructure. However, the value of recycling in lowering carbon emissions is unlikely to be substantively realized in public policy without a collaborative, focused effort by the recycling community.

Information provided by the National Recycling Coalition