What's the Big Deal?

In the united states, many recyclable materials are still thrown away. According to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the majority of recycled materials including 78 percent of glass containers, 60 percent of aluminum cans, 41 percent of steel cans, 45 percent of paper goods are not currently recycled.

This waste makes its way to landfills around the country where it can take years to decompose. For example, an aluminum can remain in a landfill for 80 years and a plastic soda bottles take an average of 450 years to decay.

Why Should I Care?

When a product is made form recycled goods, companies do not have to track down new materials. This means that rather than cutting down a new tree and processing the wood, they can skip to the processing stage. In all recycled paper takes 65% less energy to produce and creates 95% less air pollution. additionally, the recycling industry generates approximately $236 billion dollars a year. A number of recycling companies in excess of 56,000 employ approximately 1.1 million workers nation wide.