Why is Waste Prevention / reduction and Recycling Important?
• When people reuse or when products are made with less materials, less energy is needed to extract, transport, and process raw materials and to manufacture products. When energy demand decreases, fewer fossil fuels are burned and less carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere. • Waste prevention and recycling divert organic wastes from landfills, reducing methane, a greenhouse gas from being released into the atmosphere. • Waste prevention and recycling divert materials from incinerators and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions from waste combustion. • Recycling makes good economic sense in that it creates jobs and generates valuable revenue for the United States and the State of Illinois. According to The U.S. Recycling Economic Information Study, more than 56,000 recycling and reuse businesses in the U.S. employ approximately 1.1 million people, generate an annual payroll of $37 billion, and gross $236 billion in annual revenues. • Recycling aluminum cans saves 95 percent of the
