On November 15, America Recycles Day, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) highlights the significance of recycling and its impact on both American prosperity and environmental protection.
The recycling rate in the United States has surged from less than seven percent in 1960 to a current rate of 32 percent.
In a bid to enhance this progress, the EPA aims to achieve a National Recycling Goal of increasing the U.S. recycling rate to 50 percent by the year 2030.
The success of recycling efforts across communities and businesses in the United States has played a crucial role in this upward trend.
To build on this progress, the EPA encourages Americans to make a difference not just on America Recycles Day but throughout the entire year by recycling correctly.
Recycling right involves checking with local recycling providers to determine what materials are accepted in curbside recycling bins.
Commonly accepted items include cardboard, metal cans, and paper.
However, items such as plastic bags, electronics, and batteries should not be placed in curbside recycling bins.
For more information on how and where to recycle various materials, visit the EPA’s ‘How Do I Recycle?: Common Recyclables’ webpage.
The benefits of recycling are numerous and significant.
Recycling helps to reduce the volume of waste that ends up in landfills and incinerators, conserving precious natural resources like timber, water, and minerals.
It also strengthens economic security by utilizing domestic sources of materials, reduces pollution by minimizing the need to extract raw materials, and saves energy in the manufacturing process.
Furthermore, recycling supports American manufacturing and conserves valuable resources, creating new jobs in both the recycling and manufacturing sectors.
In 2016, the EPA shared important findings concerning the economic advantages of the recycling industry through an update to the national Recycling Economic Information (REI) study.
This study revealed impressive figures on the economic impact of recycling and reuse activities in the United States.
In just one year, these activities accounted for a staggering 681,000 jobs, alongside $37.8 billion in wages and $5.5 billion in tax revenues.
Basically, this translates to 1.17 jobs created for every 1,000 tons of materials recycled.
Among the different sectors, the ferrous metals industry made the largest contribution to job creation, wages, and tax revenues.
It was closely followed by the construction and demolition sectors, as well as the non-ferrous metals field, particularly aluminum.
Improving the recycling rate involves not just the act of recycling but also considering how to minimize waste generation.
The EPA urges individuals to be creative in finding ways to prevent waste in the first place when deciding what goes into their recycling bins.
To this end, check out the EPA’s ‘What You Can Do to Improve the Recycling Rate’ fact sheet for practical tips.
Additionally, people can access posters and the ‘How Do I Recycle?: Common Recyclables’ page to further enhance their recycling practices.
For those curious about the energy-saving aspects of recycling, it’s noteworthy that recycling common items like paper, bottles, and magazines conserves energy.
When you recycle these materials, the savings materialize in the form of reduced need for extracting virgin materials, which involves extensive processes that consume energy.
The iWARM tool, developed based on the EPA’s Waste Reduction Model (WARM), provides organizations with the capability to calculate energy savings and greenhouse gases avoided through recycling as opposed to landfilling waste.
Lastly, there are various resources available for educators to promote recycling and waste reduction.
With appropriate information and resources, both individuals and communities can bolster their recycling efforts.
On this America Recycles Day, let’s all commit to contributing towards a sustainable future by recycling more and recycling right.
image source from：https://www.epa.gov/circulareconomy/america-recycles-day
