Recycling Facts

Updated February 21, 2017 | Factmonster Staff
by Beth Rowen
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  • Recycling one aluminum can saves enough electricity to run a TV for 3 hours
  • Recycling one glass bottle or jar saves enough electricity to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours
  • Recycling one ton of plastic saves the equivalent of 1,000–2,000 gallons of gasoline
  • More than 30 million trees are cut down to produce a year’s supply of newspapers
  • A ton of paper made from recycled paper saves:
    • 7,000 gallons of water
    • Between 17 and 31 trees
    • 60 pounds of air pollutants
  • Recycling a pound of steel saves enough energy to light a 60-watt light bulb for 26 hours.
  • Americans recycle only 5% of all the plastics produced in this country.
  • Americans use 100 million steel cans and 200 million aluminum beverage cans every day.
  • One drip per second from a faucet wastes 540 gallons of water a year.
  • It takes between 400 and 500 years for a Styrofoam cup to decompose. It takes an orange peel six months to decompose.
  • Using recycled glass uses 40% less energy than making products from all new materials.
  • Today, almost 22% of the glass produced in the United States is recycled.
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