Waste prevention and recycling of paper products can leave more trees standing in the forest, continuing to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. By choosing to prevent waste and recycle, you can help curb climate change. Measuring Climate Change Benefits of Waste Reduction To help measure the climate benefits of waste reduction initiatives launched by EPA and others, EPA conducted a comprehensive study of greenhouse gas emissions and waste management. The waste management options analyzed are waste prevention, recycling, composting, incineration, and landfilling. This research indicates that, in terms of climate benefits, waste prevention is the best management option.
Recycling is the next best approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Also, the research enables users to tailor their analysis of greenhouse gas emissions based on the characteristics of their waste stream and the waste management options available to them. Together, these levels of recycling and waste prevention slash emissions by more than 20 million MTCE an amount equal to the average annual emissions from the electricity consumption of roughly 12 million households. For example, if for one year people in an office building of 2,000 workers recycled all the office paper, cardboard, newspaper, and plastic waste they generated, greenhouse gas emissions could fall by 440 MTCE, equivalent to taking about 330 cars off the road that year. The United States is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In 1992, the United States joined 160 other countries as a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which calls on countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.