Recycle Facts
Recycling is an excellent way of saving energy and conserving the environment. Did you know:
· 1 recycled tin can would save enough energy to power a television for 3 hours.
· 1 recycled glass bottle would save enough energy to power a computer for 25 minutes.
· 1 recycled plastic bottle would save enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for 3 hours.
· 70% less energy is required to recycle paper compared with making it from raw materials.
Some Interesting Facts
· Up to 60% of the rubbish that ends up in the dustbin could be recycled.
· The unreleased energy contained in the average dustbin each year could power a television for 5,000 hours.
· The largest lake in the Britain could be filled with rubbish from the UK in 8 months.
· On average, 16% of the money you spend on a product pays for the packaging, which ultimately ends up as rubbish.
· As much as 50% of waste in the average dustbin could be composted.
· Up to 80% of a vehicle can be recycled.
· 9 out of 10 people would recycle more if it were made easier.
Aluminium
· 24 million tonnes of aluminium is produced annually, 51,000 tonnes of which ends up as packaging in the UK.
· If all cans in the UK were recycled, we would need 14 million fewer dustbins.
· £36,000,000 worth of aluminium is thrown away each year.
· Aluminium cans can be recycled and ready to use in just 6 weeks.
Glass
· Each UK family uses an average of 500 glass bottles and jars annually.
· The largest glass furnace produces over 1 million glass bottles and jars per day.
· Glass is 100% recyclable and can be used again and again.
· Glass that is thrown away and ends up in landfills will never decompose.
Paper
· Recycled paper produces 73% less air pollution than if it was made from raw materials.
· 12.5 million tonnes of paper and cardboard are used annually in the UK.
· The average person in the UK gets through 38kg of newspapers per year.
· It takes 24 trees to make 1 ton of newspaper.
Plastic
· 275,000 tonnes of plastic are used each year in the UK, that’s about 15 million bottles per day.
· Most families throw away about 40kg of plastic per year, which could otherwise be recycled.
· The use of plastic in Western Europe is growing about 4% each year.
· Plastic can take up to 500 years to decompose.