Is recycling a waste of energy?

Sometimes you’ll hear people say, “Why should I recycle? It TAKES energy to recycle, but zero energy to toss things away.” Well, not in those exact words, but it’s a common against recycling argument I hear. It’s also bunk.

Recycling does actually save energy, which is a huge perk of recycling because reduced energy of course cuts down on our reliance on non-renewable resources. Not to mention that energy we use to make new products (and to recycle) creates emissions of numerous air and water pollutants – so why not choose the one that makes less.

Recycling does use energy to collect, process, and transport. BUT new products use more because of the additional steps of extraction, refining, transportation and processing before the new products are even shipped out which creates more transport issues.

How much energy can recycling save? According to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, “Recycling in Pennsylvania in 2005 alone saved over 98 trillion BTUs of energy, enough to power 941,000 houses.” some examples from their recycling site…

• Recycling paper cuts energy usage in half.
• Each pound of steel that’s recycled saves 5,450 BTUs of energy.
• Recycling one ton of glass saves nine gallons of fuel oil.
• Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough electricity to light a 25 CFL bulb for 14 hours.

If you want a broader look, the EPA notes that, “In 2005, recycling was conservatively projected to save 900 trillion BTUs, equal to the annual energy use of 9 million households.” Consider that those figures are based on currently recycling rates (which are lame) the U.S. only recycles about 33% of its waste. It’s clear that we could save scads more energy if more people recycled.

To get started with recycling visit Earth 911.

[image via stock.xchng]