The Benefits of Recycling – And Why You Should Start Recycling Today

There’s little doubt our world is changing rapidly, and with unprecedented changes in climate coupled with tragic weather events globally, most scientists now agree that humans have had a negative impact on our planet. 

Indeed, the effects we’re having on the Earth have made many experts suggest we currently sit on the verge of Climate Catastrophe – a tipping point where the damage we’ve already done will become irreversible. 

Recycling is a small step everyone can take, but that could have a massive impact

In previous years, there was a tendency to point the finger solely at larger corporations for causing climate change. However, as a result of greater research, scientists’ knowledge and understanding of the environment have increased exponentially. 

In truth, we all have a part to play if we’re to mitigate (or even stop) the harm we’re doing to the planet – and recycling just happens to be one of the easiest yet most effective measures we all could take. 

To get started recycling, you just need to begin sorting your refuse into different types – typically, glass, paper, plastics, tins, etc. These materials will then be processed at facilities equipped with the right tools to recycle them – for example, the balers produced by recyclingbalers.com. 

What advantages does recycling bring?

It’s often the case that the smallest acts have the biggest impact – and recycling proves the point well. By simply sorting your refuse by type, you’ll go a long way to benefitting the environment in ways you possibly never considered. Some of the more common benefits of recycling include:

Helping conserve the planet’s natural resources: As you might expect, the Earth only has so many natural resources available – yet we continue to take more and more. Recycling saves this constant drain. For example:
Recycling paper means fewer trees and forests will be cut down
Recycling plastic results in reduced hydrocarbon plastic production
Recycling glass means you’ll help save production with sand

Recycling metals has the positive impact of reducing mining activity

Reducing the local impact of mining, deforestation, etc.: While the impact of mining and deforestation is bad for the environment, it can also have tragic consequences for those communities that happen to be located near resource-rich locations. Recycling helps reduce this activity, in turn helping protect inhabitants. 

Reducing energy global use: Producing goods from recycled materials is often vastly cheaper than manufacturing from raw. These energy and cost savings can often be significant (e.g., manufacturing with recycled aluminum has been proven to require 95% less energy than attempting to produce with raw materials).

Recycling has other, less direct impacts on reducing climate change: Recycling also reduces the energy use typically seen in sourcing and extracting raw materials – while, as mentioned above, producing with these recycled materials is considerably less energy-intensive. Better yet, recycling also means reducing the impact of landfill sites by also mitigating the amount of potentially methane-emitting products. This, in turn, helps cut the number of greenhouse gases and carbon in the atmosphere.