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Every Day is America Recycles Day at Republic Services
America Recycles Day is November 15, but for Republic Services, every day is recycling day! Our company processes over 6 million tons of recyclables every year at our 90 recycling centers around the country.Byline: BTB Editor
November 13, 2018 / Time to read: 5 minAmerica Recycles Day is Nov. 15, but at Republic Services, we believe every day is a great day to recycle. And we do a lot of it! Our company processes over 6 million tons of recyclables every year at our 90 recycling centers around the country.
Our largest and most advanced recycling facility is the
Individual recycling habits can really make a difference in the environment:
Aluminum: Recycling one ton of aluminum cans conserves 26 barrels of oil or 1,665 gallons of gasoline. Even recycling just 100 aluminum cans saves enough energy to power an air conditioner for 17 hours.
Cardboard: Recycling the shipping boxes from your online purchases conserves water, lowers energy use and saves trees. Processing one ton of recycled cardboard saves 7,000 gallons of water. Each ton of cardboard that’s recycled also saves 17 trees.
Paper: More than 24 million newspapers, 2 billion books, and 350 million magazines are printed on paper in the U.S. each year. The paper recycling process uses only 35% of the energy that’s required to make new paper. Recycling just one ton saves enough energy to power the average American household for six months. And paper can be recycled over and over – about five times.
Plastic: Recycling one ton of plastic bottles saves approximately 74 gallons of gas. And that water bottle you just threw in the office recycling bin? The energy saved by recycling it would power your laptop computer for 2.5 hours.
Recycling participation rates around the country have never been higher. However, recycling contamination rates also are at all-time highs. Around the country, more than 30% of residential recycling is either contaminated by food or other residue, or cluttered by items that aren’t recyclable in the first place.
We know Americans have the best intentions when it comes to recycling, but we need to retrain ourselves about what and how to recycle.
Make sure you know what to throw. There are three primary categories of recyclables: paper and cardboard, metal cans, and plastic bottles and jugs. With bottles and jugs, remember to keep the caps on.
Second, recyclables should be empty, clean and dry. Don’t allow more than one teaspoon of liquid to remain in a recyclable container.
Third, keep it loose. Never bag or bundle your recyclables. Items should be placed in the container individually. Why? The sorting process at a recycling center happens quickly, and most of what is bagged or bundled ends up in the garbage because sorters cannot see the contents. Plastic bags are the worst offenders – they never belong in a recycling container.
For America Recycles Day, let’s all vow to be better recyclers. For more simple recycling tips, visit
