Does the recycling process make more pollution?
Using recovered material generates less solid waste. Recycling helps to reduce the pollution caused by the extraction and processing of virgin materials. Also, when products are made using recovered rather than virgin materials, less energy is used during manufacturing and fewer pollutants are emitted. For example, 25% less energy is used when making cardboard from recycled cardboard rather then using fibre from wood. Making aluminum is 95% less energy-intensive when using recycled aluminum instead of raw material like bauxite, which mined from the Earth at great environmental and monetary cost. Recycling has other benefits beyond lower disposal fees. For example, recycling steel cans saves water. It takes 223,500 litres of water to make one tonne of steel. When scrap iron is used instead of iron ore to make steel, water consumption is reduced by 50%.
