IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO

Why Recycle?

• RECYCLING SAVES MONEY. It cost less per ton to recycle waste than to dispose of it in a landfill. This can mean real reductions in your waste management expenditures.

• RECYCLING SAVES LIMITED LANDFILL SPACE. Fifty percent of the Rhode Island Central Landfill is commercial waste. Without increased recycling by the commercial sector, that space is expected to be exhausted by 2012. Expansion is unlikely and price increases are certain.

• RECYCLING SAVES RESOURCES. For every ton of paper recycled, 17 trees are saved. An average office of 50 employees uses over 7 tons or 120 trees worth of paper in a year.

• RECYCLING SAVES ENERGY. For every ton of paper recycled, 4077 kilowatt hours of energy are saved. The energy needed to collect recyclables, process them, and transport them to a manufacturer is less than the energy needed to extract new material from the earth, refine it, process it, and transport it to a manufacturer.

• THE RECYCLING INDUSTRY CREATES JOBS. For every job created at a landfill to bury garbage, nine jobs could be created in the recycling industry to recover materials for productive reuse.

• RECYCLING IS REQUIRED BY RHODE ISLAND STATE LAW. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management requires that all businesses, institutions, governments, and multi-family complexes recycle 17 categories of materials.