 Waste and Recycling Facts
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| Up to 80% of our waste can be reused, recovered or recycled. |
| One ton of paper from recycled pulp saves 17 trees, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 7,000 gallons of water, 4200 kWh (enough to heat a home for half a year), 390 gallons of oil, and prevents 60 pounds of air pollutants. |
| On average, each person in the UK, throws away seven times their body weight (about 500kg) in rubbish every year. |
| It is not known how long glass takes to break down but it is so long that glass made in the Middle East over 3000 years ago can still be found today. |
| It is estimated that the UK needs 2,000 additional pieces of waste management infrastructure in order to meet the requirements of the Landfill Directive alone |
| The UK pays about 50 pence per person per week on municipal waste and recovers value from 22% of household waste. France pays twice as much and recovers value from 50%. The Netherlands pays more than twice as much and recovers 88%. |
| Every year, an estimated 17½ billion plastic bags are given away by supermarkets. This is equivalent to over 290 bags for every person in the UK. 17½ billion seconds ago it was the year 1449. |
| We produce and use 20 times more plastic today than we did 50 years ago! |
| About one fifth of the contents of household dustbins consists of paper and card, of which half is newspapers and magazines.This is equivalent to over 4kg of waste paper per household in the UK each week. |
| Most of the world's waste is produced by people from the 'developed' world (which includes Britain), even though these people only make up about 5% of the world's population. |
| The UK produces 434 m tonnes of waste each year - enough waste to fill the Albert Hall every two hours. |
| One recycled tin can recycled can save enough energy to power a television for three hours. |
| The largest lake in the Ireland could be filled with rubbish from the around the Irish country side in six months. |
| Recycled paper produces 60% less pollution than when made from raw materials. |
| 200,000 tonnes of plastic is used each year in Ireland which is about 10 million bottles per week. |
