Recycling - Some Quick Facts

May 28, 2010 - PRLog -- Plastic:

PET plastic (number 1) is recycled to make a product called ‘eco-fleece’ that is used to stuff pillows, doonas, ski-suits and sleeping bags. It can also be woven for use in synthetic carpet.

Approximately 88% of the energy is saved by producing plastic from plastic as opposed to plastic from the raw materials of oil and gas.

Plastic containers are recycled into plastic lumber for picnic tables and park benches, carpet fibre, clothing, automotive parts, paint brushes, and more plastic bottles.

It takes 125 recycled plastic milk bottles to manufacture a 140 litre wheelie bin from recycled plastic.

Tragically plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kills as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year.

Paper:

By recycling one tonne of paper you save 13 trees, 2.5 barrels of oil, 4100kWh of electricity, 4 cubic metres of landfill and 31,870 litres of water.

The average household throws away almost 13,000 pieces of paper each year. Most is packaging and junk mail.

If everyone in Australia recycled their newspaper every day, we could save almost 2 Million trees per year.

Glass:

The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle is enough to light a 100 watt bulb for 4 hours.

Recycling 1 tonne of glass saves 1.1 tonnes of raw materials (sand, limestone, soda ash), and energy use is cut by 30%. Crushed glass (or cullet) melts at a lower temperature than the raw materials which saves energy.

Glass is 100% recyclable. Over 30% of the raw material used in glass production now comes from recycled glass.

Glass can be recycled again and again indefinitely: hundreds of times, thousands of times, even millions of times!

For more information see source: http://www.visyclosedloop.com

# # #

Connect Fitness is a not for profit organisation located on the grounds of the University of Western Sydney with 4 Gyms now in operation over the Kingswood, Hawkesbury, Bankstown & Campbelltown campuses.