Are You Increasing the Awareness to Recycle?

It’s easy to think of recycling as something you or your business will get around to. However, with England alone producing 177 million tonnes of waste a year, and over 50% of that going to landfills, it’s vital that everybody does their bit.  Increasing the awareness to recycle may seem inessential but there are some very practical reasons why you should be practising recycling and spreading the word to others.

Recycling Reduces Landfills

The UK’s landfills take up an area roughly the size of Warwick. They’re also responsible for up to 25% of Britain’s methane emissions, while producing other greenhouse gases exacerbate the problem. Even worse, landfills produce leachate. This chemically complex and very poisonous substance pollutes the groundwater, surface water, and soil around landfills, and frequently finds its way into rivers, killing existing life and rendering them uninhabitable for years.

Recycling Reduces Habitat Destruction

As homes and businesses consume more products than ever before, deforestation and habitat destruction continue unabated. Recycling allows products to be reused, leaving a planet we can all enjoy in the future.

Recycling Conserves Energy

It takes a lot of energy to manufacture and transport raw products. Even recycling steel takes 75% less energy than producing it from scratch.

Recycling Reduces CO2 emissions

Even with Britain’s embarrassing recycling statistics, current recycling rates save more than 18 million tonnes of CO2 per year. While this is the equivalent of taking 5 million cars off the road, it doesn’t mean you should reduce your recycling or stop spreading awareness. The UK is still a long way off the recycling target set out in the EU directive, and this will mean some heavy fines for Britain. Sadly, this hit to the pocket pales when compared with the hit to our planet. The only way to prevent this is to look at your commitment to recycling.

Prevent Waste from the Outset

Recycling means more than how you dispose of things. Simply looking at how an item is packaged and not buying more than you need will help. Encouraging brands that use recyclable packaging means you’re supporting businesses that care about the planet as much as you do.

Use the Bins Provided

Recycling bins should be provided for your home so make sure you use them. At work, institute a recycling policy and ensure it’s followed by all staff. To enforce this, remove desk side bins, and make sure recycling bins are easily accessible. Make sure the correct bin bags are used, and inform cleaning staff of your policy.

Don’t Assume it Can’t Be Recycled

Batteries, trainers, food scraps, mobile phones, dirty nappies, wine corks, and tennis balls are amongst the mind-boggling number of things that can be recycled. A quick Google will let you know what you can and can’t recycle. It will surprise you.

And Most Importantly…

…tell those you know who don’t recycle to start. We’re all on this planet together, and it’s through working together we’ll have a better future.

Image credit:Kevin Dooley