Click here for a list of acceptable recycling items

Top Reasons to Recycle

1. Good for our Economy
   Manufacturing companies rely on recycling programs to provide the raw materials they need to make new products.

2. Creates Jobs
   Recycling in the U.S. is a $236 billion a year industry. More than 56,000 recycling and reuse enterprises employ 1.1 million workers nationwide.

3. Reduces Waste
   The average North American discards seven and a half pounds of garbage every day. Most of this garbage goes into to landfills, where it's compacted and buried.

4. Good For The Environment
   Recycling requires far less energy, uses fewer natural resources, and keeps waste from piling up in landfills.

5. Saves Energy
   Recycling offers significant energy savings over manufacturing with virgin materials. (Manufacturing with recycled aluminum cans uses 95% less energy.)

6. Preserves Landfill Space
   No one wants to live next door to a landfill. Recycling preserves existing landfill space.

7. Prevents Global Warming
   In 2000, recycling of solid waste prevented the release of 32.9 million metric tons of carbon equivalent (MMTCE, the unit of measure for greenhouse gases) into the air.

8. Reduces Water Pollution
   Making goods from recycled materials generates far less water pollution than manufacturing from virgin materials.

9. Protects Wildlife
   Using recycled materials reduces the need to damage forests, wetlands, rivers and other places essential to wildlife.

10. Creates New Demand
    Recycling and buying recycled products creates demand for more recycled products, decreasing waste and helping our economy.

11. Recycling saves trees
    Half the Earth's forests are gone, and up to 95 percent of the original forest area in the U.S. has been cut down.
    
    
12. Recycling reduces the use of toxic chemicals
    Making products from already refined waste materials reduces -- and often avoids altogether -- the need for manufacturers to use toxic chemicals, essential when using virgin materials.
    
    
13. Recycling reduces the need for incinerators
    Municipal waste incinerators spew out all kinds of air pollutants, and are often located in urban neighborhoods.

Top 10 Items to Recycle

1. Aluminum
2. PET Plastic Bottles
3. Newspaper
4. Corrugated Cardboard
5. Steel Cans
6. HDPE Plastic Bottles
7. Glass Containers
8. Magazines
9. Mixed Paper
10. Computers

Content from: National Recycling Coalition