Is recycling worth the while? Should I even bother?

The answers are a resounding “Yes!” Although naysayers will sometimes argue that the added energy consumption of recycling transportation and processing machines counter the saving of extraction and virgin processing energy, there is really no argument at all.

The Opportunity

40% less energy

Approximately 75% of the millions of canned drinks sold each day come in aluminum cans. The production of aluminum requires truckloads of energy. Mining causes severe environmental damage and the smelting process uses huge amounts of energy. Additionally, worldwide, the aluminum industry uses as much electric power as the entire African continent. When it comes to production, making a pound of aluminum from raw materials emits about 12 pounds of CO2, even more than making a pound of plastic. Making recycled aluminum requires only about 5% of that energy.

The Reality

Your Business

Based on some widely available statistics, every year your business might be using:

1 million sheets of copy paper, or about 10,000 lbs (5 tons)
38,000 lbs (19 tons) additional paper from mail/various sources
198,000 gallons of water (this figure would likely be MUCH higher for a production facility)
440,000 KwH of electricity
15,600 aluminum cans per year
5,000 glass bottles per year
.5 ton of plastic per year

Your Business, But Greener

310,000 kWh of Electricity
Over 500,000 gallons fo water
Over 40,000 gallons of oil
Over 250 cubic yards of landfill space

Another way to look at it: that's the equivalent of saving/planting over 100 acres of trees, eliminating 440,000 lbs of CO2, or taking nearly 30 cars off the road.

Applying What You Learned

Image courtesy of Bas Emmen from Unsplash.com