What’s So Cool About Recycling?
- It Saves Energy.
- It takes far less energy to make products using recycled materials rather than virgin materials.
- And, yes, the energy it takes you to bring your bag to the curb is WAY less than the energy it took to bring your recyclables to one of our convenient Drop-Off Locations, as well. (We know you were thinking it!)
- It Saves Landfill Space & Taxpayer Money.
- Landfills are very expensive to build and maintain.
- According to the U.S. EPA, recycling (including composting) diverted 68 million tons of material away from landfills and incinerators in 2001, up from 34 million tons in 1990.
- It Creates Jobs and Promotes Economic Development.
- Incinerating 10,000 tons of waste creates one job; landfilling 10,000 tons of waste creates six jobs. Recycling 10,000 tons of waste creates 36+ jobs.
- Recycling creates 1.1 million U.S. jobs, $236 billion in gross annual sales and $37 billion in annual payrolls.
- Thousands of U.S. companies have saved millions of dollars through their voluntary recycling programs. They wouldn’t recycle if it didn’t make economic sense.
- See below for many more of recycling ‘s economic benefits and interesting facts!
- It Reduces the Use of Toxic Chemicals.
- Making products from already refined waste materials reduces — and often avoids altogether — the need for manufacturers to use toxic chemicals, essential when using virgin materials.
- It Reduces Dependence on Foreign Oil.
- The national recycling rate of 30 percent saves the equivalent of more than five billion gallons of gasoline, reducing dependence on foreign oil by 114 million barrels.
- It Saves Trees.
- Half the Earth’s forests are gone, and up to 95 percent of the original forest area in the U.S. has been cut down.
WHAT IS A CIRCULAR ECONOMY ?
The best way to explain what a circular economy is, is to compare it to our current linear economy. In our current economic system, we extract resources from our planet at an ever-increasing pace, and turn them into a product that we mostly dispose after use. From the perspective of an individual or organization, that seems efficient. However, zooming out to a global level shows how unsustainable this approach is.
In order for those same individuals and organizations to thrive, we need an economic system that operates within our planetary boundaries. A circular economy is one that is waste-free and resilient by design. It is a new economic model that is ambitious as well as practical. Designing the economy in a way that is restorative of ecosystems, ambitious with its innovation, and impacts society, is a bold challenge but one that is achievable when guided by the below principles of the circular economy.
SIX PRINCIPLES TO CHANGE THE SYSTEM
(This valuable information provided by: www.circle-economy.com/circular-economy)
The final result is an economy:
- In which materials streams are efficiently managed and recycled;
- That runs entirely on the basis of renewable energy; and
- Without negative effects on human life or the ecosystem.
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