Americans throw away enough paper annually to build a wall 12 ft. high stretching from Los Angeles to New York City. Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial airfleet every three months. Recycling one ton of aluminum saves 27 cubic feet in the landfill.
Plastic is made of petroleum, a non-renewable resource.
About half of plastic waste comes from packaging. The rest comes from all kinds of goods, such as computers, radios, disposable razors, and toys. Wood that is in pretty bad shape can be remilled and remanufactured into things like furniture and flooring. Even wood that's in terrible condition can be recycled by chopping it into fine pieces and making it into things like particle board. Disposal of old batteries is an environmental problem because they contain lead acid.