Recycling is The Right Thing to Do!

1. Recycling is The Right Thing to Do! Use as raw materials for new products. Saves energy & reduces greenhouse gases.

2. Waste Composition per EPA Source: EPA Website

3. Disposal of Municipal Solid Waste 3 Sources of MSW • Residential. • Businesses. • Institutions. How Waste is Handled. 14% Incinerate 54% Landfill 32% Recycled Source: EPA Website

4. #1. Recycling Conserves Landfill Space • Recycling diverts materials from landfills. • Forest View Landfill in KCK closed 2006. • Only 3 landfills remain open in metropolitan area. Forest View Landfill Closed in KCK

5. Recycling Materials Saves Landfill Space • 1 Ton Plastic saves 30 cubic yards. • 1 Ton Aluminum saves 10 cubic yards. • 1 Ton Paper saves 3-4 cubic yards. • 1 Ton Steel Saves 4 cubic yards. (Source: EPA as per Denver, Colo. Website)

6. Challenges with New Landfills • Difficult to open. • Not In My Back Yard. • It can take up to 10 years to get a new landfill permitted.

7. What Happens Without a New Landfill? • Trash would need to be trucked out of area. • Price for trash disposal would increase significantly. • Recycling gives a financially reasonable option.

8. #2. Recycling Turns Trash Into Raw Materials. • Recycling recovers materials to be used as raw materials for new products. • U.S.A. throws away $3-4 billion of paper products each year. (Source: Pete Grogan, Weyerhaeuser Recycling, March 2007)

9. Recycling Paper & Paper Products Helps Create • Newspapers • Food Packages • Insulation • Gypsum Wallboard • Fertilizer bags • Mulch • Counter Tops

10. Recycling Plastics Helps Create • Carpeting • T-Shirts • Coats • Bottles • Lumber • Picnic Tables • Park Benches • Car Stops & Bumpers • Dock Bumpers

11. Recycling Aluminum Helps Create • Cans • Pie Pans • House Siding • Small Appliances • Lawn Furniture

12. #3. Recycling Conserves Natural Resources & Energy One Ton of Paper Saves: • 17 Trees • 6,953 gallons water • 463 gallons of oil • 587 lbs air pollution • 4,077 kilowatt hrs. of energy (Source: Weyerhaeuser Recycling) Source EPA Website

13. Recycling Saves Trees Which Clean the Air • Trees take carbon dioxide out of and put oxygen into the air. • 40 trees remove 80 lbs. of pollutants annually. • Trees foliage reduces pollutants as ozone, nitrogen oxide, ammonia & sulfur dioxides. (Source: Alliance for Community Trees Website)

14. #4. Recycling Saves Energy & Reduces Green House Gases • Using recycled materials cuts down on energy use. • Much of energy is produced with fossil fuels of coal, gas, and diesel. • These fuels produce green house gases & impacts our air quality.

15. Aluminum Recycling Reduces Sulfur Dioxide To produce 1 ton of aluminum: • 8 BTU’s energy using recycled aluminum. • 229 BTU energy using bauxite ore. • With bauxite ore use over 28 times as much energy. • Reduces the gas sulfur dioxide, which helps to cause acid rain. (Source EPA and KDHE websites)

16. #5. Recycling Has an Economic Impact • Collect Items that would have become trash. • Process & use as raw material to make a new product. • Purchase of products with recycled content.

17. Recycling Direct Economic Activity Results of 2001 Study • 56,061 businesses. • 1,121,804 people employed. • $36.7 billion annual payroll. • $236.3 billion in annual revenues. (Source: R.W. Beck Inc. study done for The National Recycling Coalition July 2001)

18. Recycling is the Right Thing to Do! Reduces Land filling & recyclables used as raw materials. Conserves natural resources & energy. Saves energy & reduces greenhouse gases. Generates businesses & jobs.