How your recyling helps the planet

Recycling conserves resources

When we recycle, used materials are made into new products, reducing the need to consume natural resources. Recycling helps conserve important raw materials, like aluminium, steel, precious metals and fossil fuels and protects natural habitats for the future.

Recycling saves energy

Using recycled materials in the manufacturing process uses considerably less energy than it takes to produce new products from raw materials.

Recycling reduces landfill

Landfill sites produce a quarter of the UK’s emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more powerful than CO₂. Current landfill sites are filling up. Recycling helps reduce the amount of rubbish sent to landfill and reduces methane emissions.

Recycling helps tackle climate change

Currently UK recycling is estimated to save more than 18 million tonnes of CO₂ going into the atmosphere a year! This is the equivalent to taking 5 million cars off the road.

Recycling makes you brighter

Check out the groundbreaking recycling facts:

• Plastic Bottles >

  

  Most plastics are non-degradable and they may take hundreds of years to break down in landfill sites.
  If recycled, 25 two-litre plastic bottles are enough for one adult size fleece!

• Mixed glass bottles & jars >

  

  Glass can be recycled again and again without losing its properties.
  The energy saved by recycling just one glass bottle is enough to power a light bulb for 4 hours!

• Food tins & drink cans >

  

  Metals can be recycled again and again without losing their properties. Recycled aluminium saves up to 95% of CO₂ emissions in comparison with producing it from raw materials!
  Your recycled cans will be used to make new cans and other products, such as cars and planes.

• Paper >

  

  Did you know that for every tonne of paper we recycle, we save up to 31 trees, 7,000 gallons of water and 4 thousand kWh of electricity? This is enough electricity for an average UK household for a year!
  Recycling paper takes 7 days – your fashion magazine can come back to you as a newspaper a week later.

• Garden Waste >

  

  Your food and garden waste can easily be put to good use! You can home compost it or put it in your organic (food and garden waste) collection, provided you are in Cambridgeshire.
  If you live in Peterborough you can put your garden waste in the brown bin, however the uncooked food waste you can home compost only.

• Food Waste >

  

  Recycling food waste is made easier if you have a container in the kitchen which can be used to collect food waste as it is produced, before it is placed in the outdoor bin.
  If you live in Cambridgeshire you can put all food waste, including uncooked and cooked meat and fish, plate scrapings and fruit and vegetables in your organic (food and garden) waste collection along with garden waste and shredded paper.