1. Its the Law! Well, not quite. Individuals are not required by law to recycle; however, State law does require local jurisidictions to implement programs that divert 50% of our waste from landfills.
2. Recycling Saves Natural Resources - By making products from recycled materials instead of virgin materials, we conserve land and reduce the need to drill for oil, dig for minerals, and cut down trees. One of the first environmental lessons many children learn, cannot be overstated. 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.
3. Recycling Saves Energy - It usually takes less energy to make recycled products; recycled aluminum, for example, takes 95 percent less energy than new aluminum from bauxite ore. Using recycled materials not only cuts down on the energy used in the manufacturing process, it dramatically reduces emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants. For example, recycling one ton of glass results in energy savings of more than 300% and lowers carbon dioxide emissions by 3.46 tons.
4. Recycling Saves 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. Turning trees into paper uses more water than any other industrial process in the U.S.
5. Recycling Saves Landfill Space - When the materials that you recycle go into new products, they don't go into landfills or incinerators, so landfill space is conserved.
6. Recycling Saves Money and Creates Jobs - The recycling process creates far more jobs than landfills or incinerators, and recycling can frequently be the least expensive waste management method for cities and towns.

Economic Benefits of Recycling
Several studies have shown that recycling related businesses have substantial economic development benefits.

• A study of 10 states in the Northeast region found that more than 100,000 people are employed in firms that process recyclables or use them in manufacturing. The study also estimates that more than $7.2 billion in value is added to recyclables in the Northeast through processing and manufacturing.
• A similar study of 13 states and territories in the Southeast found that nearly 140,000 people are employed by firms that process recyclables or use them in manufacturing. The value added to recyclables for that region was estimated at $18.5 billion.
• North Carolina found in a 1995 study that businesses which collect, process and manufacture recyclables have nearly $1 billion in total estimated sales and 9,000 employees - that's in North Carolina alone.
• A recent study by the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission found that recycling added about $18.5 billion in value to the economies of 12 Southern states and Puerto Rico in 1995.

Did You Know . . .

The United States generates approximately 208 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) a year. That's 4.3 pounds per person per day.

The state's overall recycling rate has grown from 11 percent to 37 percent in the past 10 years (Calaveras County is approaching 40 percent).

The steel industry recycled nearly 19 billion steel cans into new products; about 600 cans recycled every second.

It takes 95% less energy to make an aluminum can from recycled aluminum cans rather than virgin resources. That’s enough energy to run your TV for three hours!

Recycling one glass bottle saves enough electricity to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours.

Motor oil never wears out, it just gets dirty. Oil can be recycled, re-refined and used again, reducing our reliance on imported oil.

In 1996,

• 42.3 million tons of paper were recycled in America or on average 329 pounds of paper per American: a 9 percent increase over 1995.
• nearly 45 million appliances were recycled, at a rate of 76.4 percent.
• Americans recycled 63.5 percent of the 99 billion aluminum cans produced.
• Americans recycled 9.5 percent of all plastic packaging, including 26 percent of all plastic bottles.

Comparing the number of old automobiles taken off the road and recycled in 1996 to the number of new cars produced shows a recycling rate of 97.9 percent.