About Recycling

Recycle! Learn more about waste and Recycling!

Recycled steel
Recycled steel is made into steel cans, building materials, tools – in fact, almost everything steel.

Enough energy for 18 million homes
Through recycling each year, the steel industry saves enough energy to power 18 million homes – one-fifth of the households in the US.

95% Of scrap automobiles
95% of scrap automobiles were recycled in 2000 in the US, at a rate of 25 cars every minute.

Recycling one car
Recycling just one car saves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal and 120 pounds of limestone.

Enough steel for 160 football stadiums
The steel from the more than 84% of appliances (39 million) recycled in 2000 yielded enough steel to build about 160 football stadiums.

25% Of all new homes
In 2002, 25% of all new homes were framed in recycled steel.

Enough steel for 185,000 homes
The steel packaging recycled in 2000 would yield enough steel to build 185,000 steel framed homes – the equivalent number of homes in Wyoming.

The tin can
The steel (or “tin”) can was invented in England in the early 1800s. Nowadays an increasing amount of steel cans are tin free. The average American uses 142 steel cans annually.

Almost everything aluminum
Recycled aluminum is made into cans, pie pans, house siding, small appliances, lawn furniture; in fact, almost everything aluminum.

Aluminum recycling is efficient
Aluminum recycling is so efficient that it can take as few as 60 days for a can to be collected, melted down and made into a new can sitting on a grocery store shelf.

Recycling one aluminum can
Recycling one aluminum can saves enough electricity to run a TV for three hours.

Recycling aluminum
Recycling aluminum saves about 95% of the energy it would take to produce aluminum from its original source, bauxite.

63.5 % of Aluminum cans recycled
62.8 billion or 63.5 % of aluminum cans are recycled annually.

Aluminum cans
Currently 100% of all beverage cans are made from aluminum. Aluminum cans made their first appearance in America in 1953. We use about 392 cans per person per year. Aluminum cans typically have a recycled aluminum content of about 55%.

Recycled plastic
Recycled plastic is also made into plastic lumber, clothing, flower pots, insulation for sleeping bags & ski jackets, car bumpers and more.

Half of all polyester carpet
Half of all polyester carpet manufactured in the US is made from recycled soda bottles.

Save 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space
Recycling a ton of PET type plastics saves 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space.

The most commonly recycled plastics
HDPE (#1) and PET (#2) are the most commonly recycled plastics.

The weight of a soda bottle
Since 1978, the weight of a soda bottle has been reduced by 29%

2.5 Million plastic bottles every hour
Americans go through 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour.

Recycle for your kids! 650 Lbs. of paper per year
The average American uses 650 lbs. of paper per year. 100 million tons of wood could be saved each year if all that paper was actually recycled!

80% of U.S. paper makers
80% of U.S. paper manufacturers use some recovered fiber in manufacturing, and nearly 200 mills use ONLY recovered paper for their fiber.

45% of Paper recycled
Around 45% of the paper Americans use each year (over 47 million tons) is recovered for recycling. This is made into a wide variety of goods such as new newsprint, boxes and office paper, paper towels, tissue products, insulation, cereal boxes, molded packaging, hydro-mulch, gypsum wallboard – even compost and kitty litter!

Recycling one ton of paper
By recycling one ton (2,000 lbs.) of paper, we save: 17 trees; 6,953 gallons of water; 463 gallons of oil; 587 pounds of air pollution; 3.06 cubic yards of landfill space and 4,077 Kilowatt hours of energy.

So make sure you recycle – the next generations (including your kids and their kids) deserve it!