Recycling is good for the environment, saves money, and creates jobs.
Good for the Environment
Save Natural Resources
By making products from recycled materials instead of virgin materials, we reduce the need to cut down trees, drill for oil, and dig for minerals.
Save Energy
It usually takes less energy to make recycled products: recycled aluminum, for example, takes 95% less energy to make than new aluminum from bauxite ore.
Save Clean Air and Water
In most cases, making products from recycled materials creates less air pollution and water pollution than making products from virgin materials.
Save Landfill Space
When the materials that you recycle go into new products, they don't go into landfills or incinerators, so scarce landfill space is conserved
Saves Money
Subscribers to Concord's municipal collection program pay $1.50 for each bag or barrel of trash they set at the curb but do not pay an addition fee to set recyclable materials at the curb. That is because here in New England it is much more expensive to dispose of unwanted materials as trash than to recycle them. In FY00 the municipal collection program paid $56 per ton to dispose of trash, $11 per ton to process commingled containers, and received revenue from the sale of mixed paper. Because it is more costly to dispose of materials as trash than to recycle them, subscribers save money by reducing the amount of trash that they generate and by setting materials out for recycling instead of as trash.
Paper revenue rebate - The municipal collection program has recently implemented a paper revenue rebate that rebates to subscribers at the time of resubscription revenue generated from the sale of paper. Between July and December 2000 the municipal collection program received revenue of $22,000 from the sale of paper collected at the curb. This revenue was returned to subscribers through a $7.80 rebate at the time of resubscription in April 2001. The amount of the rebate is dependent upon two factors, the market value of paper and the amount of paper collected by the program. While residents cannot control the market value of paper, they can increase their rebate (and reduce their trash disposal costs) by recycling more paper.
Creates Jobs
Recycling industries generate over $600 million in value added for each ton of recyclables processed, and directly supports over 12,000 jobs in Massachusetts. A study of 10 states in the Northeast region found that more then 100,000 people are employed in firms that process recyclables or use them in manufacturing. The study also estimated that more than $7.2 billion in value is added to recyclables in the Northeast through processing and manufacturing*.
* Massachusetts DEP Buying Recycled: Myths and Tips fact sheet
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