Every pound of steel recycled saves 5,450 BTUs of energy, enough to light a 60-watt bulb for over 26 hours. Recycling a ton of glass saves the equivalent of nine gallons of fuel oil. Recycling used aluminum cans requires only about five percent of the energy needed to produce aluminum from bauxite. Recycling just one can saves enough electricity to light a 100-watt bulb for 3.5 hours. Recycling reduces the risks of air and water pollution from manufacturing processes.
Recycling also reduces pollution risks by keeping materials out of disposal facilities.
No matter how strong environmental standards may be, there is always some risk associated with waste disposal. Recycling and waste reduction are preferred and effective alternatives. The combination of landfill closings, the increasing demand for disposal sites, and the need to haul wastes to disposal sites farther away from the point of origin led to increased disposal costs. Recycling will not reduce disposal rates, but it will reduce the amount of waste we have to landfill or incinerate. Recycling will save in terms of avoided disposal costs.