What would happen if everyone recycled?

The world would look a lot different if everyone recycled. Most likely, it would be cleaner and make more use of available resources. Landfills would shrink tremendously. Recycling plants would be an epicenter of activity. 

“As a society, if everyone recycled we will have moved from a linear ‘take, make, waste’ economy to one that is more circular by keeping materials in our economy and not allowing them to waste away in landfills,” Brenda Pulley, senior vice president of recycling with Keep America Beautiful, wrote via email. “It would contribute enormous environmental, economic and social benefits across the country.”

Here are a few ways the world might change if everyone recycled:

Plastic water bottles, aluminum cans, and plastic bags would go a lot farther.

Keep America Beautiful compiled data to imagine what just one act of recycling by everyone in the U.S. might look like:

If everyone in America recycled just one plastic bottle, those materials could make more than 54 million T-shirts or about 6.5 million fleece jackets, according to Repreve data.

If everyone recycled one aluminum can, 295 million new aluminum cans could be made, according to Aluminum Association data. Also, everyone recycling just one can reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking 6,750 passenger cars off the road and save energy equivalent to 80 thousand barrels of oil. Keep America Beautiful used the EPA WARM model to calculate energy estimates.

If everyone recycled one plastic bag, those materials could be reused in making 28,906 park benches or, according to Tex data,144,530 16-foot composite deck boards. Right now, plastic bags must be taken to a drop-off location for recycling and shouldn’t be mixed in with other recyclables. 

With so many substances flowing through recycling plants, new products would be created. Chaz Miller, director of policy/advocacy with the National Waste and Recycling Association, said that extent of recycling would create “products you and I haven’t dreamed about.”

Everyone could save money.

The Bureau of International Recycling, a global recycling organization based in Belgium, believes recyclables should be recognized as the seventh most important resource, behind water, air, coal, oil, natural gas and minerals. BIR President Ranjit Baxi said recycling has not only environmental benefits but also paramount economic ones. 

“The recycling industry, whilst continuing to promote sustainability, is also projected to add about 850 billion USD to the global GDP by 2025,” Baxi said in an email. “It is time that all global stakeholders [recognize] the huge carbon emission savings our industry continues to contribute.”

Efficient recycling practices could save companies millions. In Apple’s latest Environmental Responsibility Report, the company said it recovered more than a ton of gold from recycled devices — that’s estimated worth of $40 million. [1]

[1]https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/06/22/what-would-happen-if-everyone-recycled/374773001/

Recyclables would always go in the proper cans.

Benefits of recycling

By reducing your waste and recycling as much as possible, you will be helping to reduce the production of ash and saving the world’s precious resources.

Recycling saves resources
When we recycle, used materials are converted into new products, reducing the need to consume natural resources.

If used materials are not recycled, new products are made by extracting fresh, raw materials from the earth, through mining and forestry. Recycling helps conserve important raw materials and protects natural habitats for the future.

Recycling saves energy
Using recycled materials in the manufacturing process uses considerably less energy than that required for producing new products from raw materials – even when comparing all associated costs including transport etc.

There are also extra energy savings because more energy is required to extract, refine, transport and process raw materials ready for industry, compared with providing industry-ready materials.

Recycling helps protect the environment
Recycling reduces the need for extracting (mining, quarrying and logging), refining and processing raw materials. All of these create substantial air and water pollution.

As recycling saves energy it also reduces greenhouse gas emissions, which helps to tackle climate change.

Recycling reduces incineration
When we recycle, recyclable materials are reprocessed into new products, and as a result the amount of rubbish sent for incineration reduces.

Advantages of Recycling

Advantages

1. Reduced Energy Consumption.
2. Decreased Pollution.
3. Considered Very Environmentally Friendly.
4. Slows the Rate of Resource Depletion.
5. Fights Global Warming.
6. Decreases Landfill Waste.