How Does Recycling Helps Reduce Pollution?

Even though millions of people are raising the concern about Air Pollution and making aggressive efforts towards reducing it, it’s still persistent.

Pollution is still being the cause of numerous plants, animals and humans on Earth dying, the oceans clogging, increasing the spell of death. Human exposure to contaminated air, water and soil is the cause of deaths of three times more people than obesity, alcohol, diseases and accidents.

Human beings are the primary source of increased pollution, with every product we use or anything we do, we add to the problem. From transportation to sending waste to landfills to agriculture practices to grow food, all are adding to the threat of the environment and the health of Earth.

Recycling and better waste management techniques can significantly reduce the carbon footprint, leading to air pollution, climate changes, and environmental threats. Considering the sustainable approach towards a healthy society, a considerable amount of resources required for manufacturing new products can be recycled, reducing emissions from the industry and saving energy and water.

Related Blog: Effects on the environmental health of air pollution – “Pollution is the contamination of the environment by any chemical, biological or physical agents that negatively affect the natural characteristics of the atmosphere”.

Let’s learn “HOW” does recycling helps reduce pollution:

Reducing incineration will reduce waste that can contain toxic ash, dioxins, etc., responsible for acid rain and global warming.
To reduce the volume of waste incinerated by up to 70%– recycle glass, paper, batteries, engine oil and aluminium cans; these materials can be reused to leave a positive impact.
It utilizes 90% less energy to manufacture an aluminium can from recycled aluminium, recycled glass – saves about 50% less energy and recycled paper – saves about 75% less energy.
Paper recycling can save multiple trees, further reducing the carbon levels in the air. 73% less air pollution is produced with recycled paper than a raw material contributing to 35% less water pollution.
Not just that, producing recycled paper can save up to 3000 to 4000-kilowatt hours over one ton of office and computer paper instead of the same ton with virgin wood products.
Recycling and reuse activities were conducted for one year in the US, which equated to 1.17 jobs per 1000tons of materials recycled, $65.23 in wages and $9.42 in tax revenue for every single ton of materials recycled.
Remanufacturing from recycled material can contribute 194 times in more effective ways to reduce GHG emissions than landfilling and virgin manufacturing.
91% of the plastic is not being reutilized or recycled. Despite being the most significant contributor, recycling pet bottles can help companies save 60% of the cost of making new ones.
If the whole world would initiate recycling aluminium twice as much as it already does, together we can save more than a million tons of pollutants. It can further reduce 5% energy via recycling.
Automobiles cause 75% of carbon monoxide pollution in the US, while transportation in general causes 14% of greenhouse gas emissions

Conclusion:

Many local governments have laws that mandate to recycle metals, aluminium, steel, plastic, paper, other materials, and scraps to make responsible. Recycling and reutilizing materials not only end the resource destruction but also lead us to the road with the steps to zero emissions and zero waste. Recycling can prevent us from hazards to the environment and propose ways to restructure how we can produce materials.