That's why the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in cooperation with Waste Age, is publishing this correspondence course. In this and the subsequent seven lessons that constitute the course, we plan to detail opportunities and problems municipal waste recycling programs can present, and to provide an analytical framework for designing a successful program. There are a variety of additional benefits associated with refuse recycling that go beyond landfill space savings. First is the simple conservation ethic. For many communities, it just does not seem right that material which can either be reused or recycled into something useful should be thrown away.
Recycling also can provide a source of raw materials that have a monetary value.
Many communities often become discouraged when their recycling program turns out not to be a money-maker. Recycling also saves resources. By some estimates, recycling one ton of newspaper saves the equivalent of 17 trees. For raw materials that must be imported, recycling helps reduce the balance of payments deficit by providing an indigenous source of feedstock material. Usually, less energy is needed to produce a new product from recycled material than from virgin material - so recycling saves energy.