green facts
Van Jones
Speaks at Bioneers Conference
Charles Moore “Trash Talk”
plastic
- Recycling 1 ton of plastic saves the equivalent of roughly 500 gallons of oil.
steel
- Producing 1 ton of steel from raw iron ore produces around 538 pounds of solid wastes and 42 pounds of air pollutants. By comparison, recycling steel reduces air pollution by about 86% and reduces water pollution by around 76%.
- Producing recycled steel requires 74% less energy than producing steel from raw iron ore.
- Recycling 1 ton of steel saves the energy equivalent of about 100 gallons of oil.
aluminum
- Recycled aluminum requires about 95% less energy than producing aluminum from raw bauxite ore.
- Recycling 1 ton of aluminum saves the equivalent in energy of approximately 1,350 gallons of oil
glass
- using recycled aluminum requires about 95% less energy than producing aluminum from raw bauxite ore.
- Recycling 1 ton of glass saves the equivalent in energy of about 10 gallons of oil.
- Each ton of glass produced from raw materials generates about 384 pounds of mining waste and 8 pounds of air pollutants.
paper
- It takes approximately 17 mature trees to produce 1 ton of paper fiber
- producing paper from recycled fiber requires 40% less energy than is required to produce paper from tree pulp.
- Burning I ton of paper generates about 1,500 pounds of carbon dioxide gas and 60 pounds of other air pollutants.