Now about 120 million people, or 48 percent of the population, have access to curbside collection programs. It is precisely the challenge to this widely shared experience that makes attacks on recycling so reckless. Although popular concern about unchecked consumption and dangerous and wasteful disposal practices has helped recycling to flourish in the United States since the early 1980s, it is still far from being solidly established national industrial policy. This, despite the fact that on a per capita basis, as well as in absolute amounts, the United States is far and away the largest generator of wastes of any nation on earth. Recycling prevents pollution caused by manufacturing from virgin resources.
Recycling saves energy.
Recycling reduces the need for landfilling and incineration and helps avoid the pollution produced by these technologies. Recycling helps protect and expand manufacturing jobs in America. Recycling engenders a sense of community involvement and responsibility. The environmental and economic benefits of recycling have been broadly analyzed. It is the only solid waste management strategy that offers the potential to generate revenue in government's otherwise losing proposition of collecting and disposing of municipal waste.