More outdoor space is left open for nature, instead of being filled with great mountains of trash . Making new products from raw materials requires a lot of energy. Recycling used materials so that they can be used again does not require as much energy. For example, when we turn used paper into pulp to make new paper, crush old glass bottles to make new glass, and melt aluminum cans to make new cans, we save energy because the recycling process uses much less energy than it would take to make new paper, glass, or aluminum cans from raw materials. Reusing saves even more energy than recycling, since no energy is required when we simply use things again without changing them.
Recycling is important because fewer raw materials are used and natural resources are saved.
Because the recycling process uses old materials to make new products, fewer raw materials are needed. Recycling also saves natural resources because it saves some of the coal, natural gas, wood, or water that would have been used to manufacture new products. Reusing old products instead of buying new ones also saves resources, because no raw materials are needed to create the new products they would have bought. Recycling reduces air and water pollution because the recycling process requires less energy. This reduces the amount of air pollution produced by power plants and the amount of water pollution produced by chemicals used in the manufacturing process.