Clean Energy Springfield

I remember reading a federal report several years ago that highlighted the energy-saving benefits of manufacturing goods from recycled materials. Using recycled materials as feedstock typically requires less energy than producing goods from virgin materials. For example, recycling aluminium saves 95% of the energy cost of processing new aluminium because the melting temperature is reduced from 900 °C to 600 °C. Paper recycling saves 40% of the energy required to make a new product. A few days ago, I decided to dig a little further to find out if recycling can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Bingo! I found a U.S. EPA web site with loads of information about climate change and recycling.

Both waste prevention and recycling are considered “potent strategies” for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. How so? When people reuse things or when products are made with less virgin material, less energy is needed to extract, transport and process raw materials and to manufacture products. Waste prevention and recycling also divert materials from municipal waste incinerators, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of waste. Composting diverts organic waste from landfills, meaning less methane is generated when these materials decompose. Finally, waste prevention and recycling of paper products allow more trees to remain standing in a forest, where they can continue to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The EPA web site featured two case studies, which show that recycling can make a big difference. By recycling all of its waste paper for one year, an office building with 7,000 workers could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 570 metric tons, when compared with landfilling the paper. This is equivalent to taking about 370 cars off the road. If an average family of four were to recycle all of its mixed plastic waste, nearly 340 pounds of greenhouse gases could be reduced each year.

So keep recycling, try to reuse items and look for products made with recycled content when you go to the grocery or hardware store. By choosing to prevent waste and recycle, you will be doing even more to help curb climate change.