More than 70 percent of that garbage is destined for landfills. But that has to change. In 1980, there were 18,000 licensed municipal landfills operating in the United States. By 1990, fewer than one-third of those were still in operation. The remainder had reached capacity or were closed because they posed hazards to air and groundwater.
Recycling is an effective way of reducing our reliance on landfills.
When an item is buried in a landfill, the raw materials that went into producing that item are lost forever. Paper and paperboard, by far the largest percentage of landfill by volume, are made from trees needed to combat global warming. Plastics are derived from crude oil or natural gas. Metals such as steel and aluminum draw on natural resources including bauxite, coal and iron ore. Recycling allows these raw materials to be reused in manufacturing, thereby conserving natural resources.