Reasons to Recycle

How Long Will Our Trash Be Around?

Cigarette Butts Aluminum Cans Glass bottles Plastic bags Plastic coated paper Plastic film containers Nylon fabric Leather Wool sock Orange and banana peels Tin cans Plastic bottles and Styrofoam 1-5 years 500 years 1,000 years 10-20 years 5 years 20-30 years 30-40 years up to 50 years 1-5 years up to 2 years 50 years indefinitely

1. Recycling saves energy and fossil fuels.
2. Recycling saves natural resources.
3. Recycling creates fewer air emissions.
4. Recycling reduces costs through waste diversion.
5. Recycling prolongs the life of our landfills.

• Americans are only five percent of the world’s population yet we produce 40 percent of the waste.
• We use enough plastic wrap to wrap all of Texas every year.
• Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run your television set for an hour, recycling one ton of aluminum cans saves enough energy to run an average home for 10 years.
• Enough steel is thrown away each year to build all the cars in America. Recycling steel requires only 25percent of the energy, only 25percent of the water and produces only 25 percent of the air emissions compared to the initial process.
• Enough paper is thrown away every year to build a 12 foot wall from New York to Los Angeles.
• Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles an hour. Recycling one ton of plastic saves nearly four barrels of oil.
• Recycling one ton of paper saves 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water and 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space. It also saves 4,100 kilowatts of energy—enough to heat your home for six months.

Across the country, Republic/Florida Refuse Service’s recycling efforts result in an estimated saving of 20 million trees, five billion kilowatt hours of energy and 8.5 billion gallons of water each year.  From its 86 recycling centers across the nation, nearly two million tons of recyclables are removed from the waste stream.