Fast Facts on Waste Generation

Source: RE3.org “The Facts” http://www.re3.org/facts.htm

Here are some facts about materials all of us use every day. As we approach Earth Day April 22^nd, think of ways you can reduce your consumption of these materials.

Aluminum

• North Carolinians throw away more than $74,072,000 in aluminum cans each year.
• Recycling an aluminum can saves 95 percent of the energy required to make the same amount of aluminum from virgin materials.

Glass

• North Carolinians throw away enough glass each year to fill up more than 11,800 tractor-trailers. If you put those tractor-trailers end -to –end, they’d stretch from Asheville to Greensboro.
• Producing glass from virgin materials requires 30 percent more energy than producing it from crushed, used glass.

Paper

• North Carolinians throw away more than $164,375,460 in mixed paper each year.
• Producing recycled paper requires about 60 percent of the energy used to make paper from virgin wood pulp.
• One ton of paper made from recycled scrap paper saves 7,000 gallons of water.

Plastic

• Every week, North Carolinians throw away enough plastic bottles to line the Outer Banks 28 times.
• North Carolinians throw away more than $41,411,600 in plastic each year.
• Producing new plastic from recycled material uses only two-thirds of the energy required to manufacture it from raw materials.

SOURCES: NC DWM and NC DEAO

FOR MORE INFO:

American Chemistry Council
Aluminium Association
Glass Packaging Institute
American Forest & Paper Association