We often think of recycling as a single event, which usually ends when we toss a can in the appropriate bin and take it out to the curb. But recycling processes differ for each kind of recyclable product, and new processes are added regularly as recycling improves. Random recycling facts are everywhere.
History
According to Waste Online, recycling was common until the Industrial Revolution, because until then, most materials were scarce. Pre-industrial people recycled nearly everything, including using kitchen scraps as compost. In 1500, the Spanish began recycling iron for use in cementing copper, a process that is still in use today. Recycling also increased during World War I and World War II, when many materials were needed for the war effort.
Records
The U.S. set an all-time record for paper recycling in 2007, according to Oberlin College. That year, it recycled 56 percent of all paper used, or about 360 pounds for each person in the country.
Aluminum holds the record for shortest turnaround time in recycling. The amount of time, from when a can is dropped into a recycling bin until it reappears on a store shelf as a new can full of fresh soda, is as little as 60 days.
Effects
Recycling many products saves energy as well as raw materials. For example, according to Oberlin College, recycling 1 ton of paper pulp saves more than 7,000 gallons of water and 390 gallons of oil and reduces air emissions by 60 pounds, compared to creating paper pulp from new wood. Recycling an aluminum can uses just 5 percent of the energy and releases only 5 percent of the carbon dioxide of refining new aluminum from bauxite ore.
Packaging
Packaging creates a huge amount of waste. Currently, one-third of the average U.S. landfill is full of packaging materials, according to Recycling Revolution. Packaging represents about 10 percent of the cost of any product, and U.S. households throw out an average of 1,200 pounds of packaging per year.
Landfills
Recycling keeps a huge amount of waste out of landfills. According to Alcoa Recycling, the 1.6 billion pounds of aluminum recycled in the United States each year weighs as much as 14 aircraft carriers. Recycling Revolution reports that U.S. citizens throw away "16,000,000,000 diapers, 1,600,000,000 pens, 2,000,000,000 razor blades, [and] 220,000,000 car tires" each year.
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