Recycling Facts For Young Adults

Aluminum Cans

  • 1 Can Saves Enough Energy To Run a TV For 3 Hours. (Source: EPA)
  • After recycling, an Aluminum Can is usually repurposed within 60 days. (Source: Rubiconglobal.com)
  • Aluminum cans make up less than 1% of waste in the United States because they are the #1 recycled item. (Source: Rubiconglobal.com)

Compost 

  • About 34% Of Our Municipal Waste Stream Could Be Composted (EPA)

Curbside Recycling

  • Approximately 9,000 Curbside Recycling Programs Exist Across The U.S. (EPA)

Food Waste 

  • 25% of the waste put in the Garrett County Landfill is food waste. (Source: 2016 MD Waste Characterization Study)
  • 33,000 Americans Throw Out About 33 Million Tons Of Food Every Year. (EPA)

Glass Bottles

  • Glass bottles, like aluminum, is infinitely recyclable - without any loss in purity or quality. (Source: Rubiconglobal.com)
  • Glass Bottles – 1 Glass Bottle Can Power A Computer For 30 Minutes (Source: GPI)
  • Glass bottles take 4,000 years to decompose. (Source: Rubiconglobal.com)

Paper

  • Mixed Paper - Recycling 1 Ton Of Mixed Paper Can Save The Energy Equal To 185 Gallons of Gasoline (EPA).
  • Paper - On average, U.S. businesses use around 21 million tons of paper every year. For every 1 ton of paper that's produced, roughly 390 gallons of oil is used to make it. (Source: Rubiconglobal.com)
  • Phone Books – Recycling Just 500 Phone Books Could Save 7,000 Gallons Of Water (Source: AF & PA)

Plastic Bottles

  • In the United States, we throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour - about 42,00 per minute, or about 695 per second. (Source: Rubiconglobal.com)
  • Recycling 1 plastic Bottles saves enough energy to light a 60-Watt Bulb for 6 hours or power a computer for 25 minutes. (Source: Earth 911 - October 2012)
  • It only takes 5 plastic bottles to make enough fiberfill to stuff a ski jacket. (Source: Rubiconglobal.com)
  • The amount of plastic film and wrap produced annually could shrink-wrap the state of Texas.

Shingles

  • 200 Feet Of A 2-Lane Highway Can Be Paved By The Recycled Shingles From An Average Sized Home (Source: Owens Corning)

Steel

  • Americans Use 100 million steel cans every day. (Source: Earth 911 - October 2012)
  • Steel – When A Ton Of Steel Is Recycled, 2,500 lbs of iron ore, 1,400 Pounds Of Coal and 120 lbs. of limestone Is Conserved (Source: Earth 911 - October 2012 )