• During the time it takes you to read this sentence, 50,000 12-ounce aluminum cans are made. [Aluminum Can Council]
• Making new aluminum cans from used cans takes 95 percent less energy than making cans from raw aluminum bauxite ore. [Reynolds Metal Company]
• Once an aluminum can is recycled, it can be part of a new can within six weeks. [Aluminum Can Council]
• One ton of recycled aluminum saves:
  • 14,000 kilowatt hours (Kwh) of energy;
  •  40 barrels of oil;
  • 238 million Btu's of energy; and
  • 10 cubic yards of landfill space. [U.S. EPA]
• More Aluminum Facts.

NEWSPAPER: 

• If all morning newspapers read around the country were recycled, 41,000 trees would be saved daily and 6 million tons of waste would never end up our landfills. [Worldwatch Institute]
• As much as 68% of all newsprint used in the U.S. is recovered for recycling.[American Forest & Paper Association]
• Last year, 9 million of the 11 million tons of newspaper in the U.S. was recovered and recycled. [Newspaper Association of America]
• In 1998, old newspapers decreased to only 4 percent of the total waste in the nation's landfills, compared to 5.8 percent in 1980. [Newspaper Association of America]
  
• One ton of recycled newsprint saves:
  • 601 Kwh of energy;
  • 1.7 barrels of oil (71 gallons);
  • 10.2 million Btu's of energy;
  • 7,000 gallons of water; and
  • 4.6 cubic yards of landfill space. [U.S. EPA]

• ­Glass is 100% recyclable. Bottles and jars can be melted down and turned into new containers without adding any additional ingredients over and over again. [Glass Packaging Institute]
• A modern glass bottle would take more than 1 million years or more to decompose in a landfill. [U.S. EPA]
• Over 30% of the raw material used in glass production now comes from recycled glass. [U.S. EPA]
• One ton of recycled glass saves:
  • 42 Kwh of energy;
  • 0.12 barrels of oil (5 gallons);
  •  714,000 Btu's of energy; and
  • 2 cubic yards of landfill space. [U.S. EPA]
• Glass doesn’t lose its’ quality or purity and can go from your recycling container back to the store shelf as a new bottle in as little 30 days [Glass Packaging Institute].
   
• The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle can run a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. [U.S. EPA]

• Recycling glass reduces related air pollution by 20% and water pollution by 50%.  [Glass Packaging Institute]

MAGAZINES AND CATALOGS: 

• Over 2 million magazines and catalogs produced each year in the United States that could be recycled.  Unfortunately, we only end up recycling about 20 percent of those publications. [Magazine Publishers of America]

 
• Americans use about 100 million steel cans every day. [Steel Recycling Institute]
• Steel can be recycled repeatedly without loss of quality or strength.  All steel cans contain about 25% recycled steel. [Steel Recycling Institute] 
• The energy saved by recycling steel each year is enough to meet the annual electric needs of 20% of American households. [U.S. EPA]
• One ton of recycled steel saves:
  • 642 Kwh of energy;
  • 1.8 barrels of oil;
  • 10.9 million Btu's of energy; and
  • 4 cubic yards of landfill space.  [U.S. EPA]

CARDBOARD: 

• As much as 75% of all corrugated material and containers are recovered for recycling in the U.S. [American Forest & Paper Association]

• Paper products make up the largest part (about 40%) of our trash. [U.S. EPA]

• Recycling one ton of paper saves the equivalent of 17 trees, saves enough energy to power an average home for six months, saves 7,000 gallons of water, and keeps 600 pounds of pollutants out of the air. [American Forest & Paper Association]

• The average American uses seven trees a year in paper, wood, and other products made from trees. This amounts to about 2 billion trees per year! [“50 Simple Thins Kids Can Do To Save The Earth” by The Earth Work Group]

PLASTIC BOTTLES: 

• One ton of recycled plastic saves:
  • 5,774 Kwh of energy;
  • 16.3 barrels of oil;
  • 98 million Btu's of energy; and
  • 30 cubic yards of landfill space.  [U.S. EPA]
• Enough plastic bottles are thrown away each year to circle the earth four times. [“The Recycler’s Handbook” by Earth Work Group]
• Five, 2-liter recycled PET bottles produce enough fiberfill to make one ski jacket. [U.S. EPA]
• Over 2.5 million plastic bottles are used each hour in America. [American Plastics Council]

PAPER BAGS: 

• Most paper bags are made from unbleached kraft paper and generally contain at least 25 percent recycled content (with an industry goal of 55 percent recycled content by the year 2012). [Paper Industry Association Council]
• Nearly 78% of paper and paperboard mills use some recovered paper and more than 36% of the fiber used to make new paper products in the United States comes from recycled sources. [Paper Industry Association Council]

PAPERBOARD: 

• About 45 percent of the paper used in the U.S. is recycled back into new paper and paperboard products. [American Forest & Paper Association]
• Paperboard (single layer cardboard) is often made from recycled paper.  Look for the words “100% Recycled Paperboard” along with the recycling symbol when selecting which items to purchase at the store. 

OFFICE PAPER:

JUNK MAIL: 

• More than 100 million trees’ worth of bulk mail arrives in American mailboxes each year.  That’s the equivalent of deforesting the entire Rocky Mountain National Park every four months [Rocky Mountain News, 4/21/07]

PHONE BOOKS: 

• Not only are phone books recyclable, but many are made from recycled phone books.  For example, Dex’s White & Yellow Pages contains up to 40% post-consumer material.
• Recycled phone books can also be made into various products, including cellulose insulation, fruit packing trays, paper board boxes and animal bedding.