Recycling Benefits | Solid Waste Division

We think EPA said it first and said it best here. And EPA's recycling benefits summary will provide you with information about every technical benefit to recycling.

Or, if you really want it to hear it from a true pessimists point of view, please see the Greenville Grinch's Christmas poem.

You can see for yourself. But therein, the Grinch concludes that throwing it away in the landfill benefits no one and recycling at least benefits someone. Even if the benefit is simply that little smile that you have and that good feeling that you feel after you recycle, knowing that you have done the right thing!

If we all recycled the Sunday newspaper, we'd save over 500,000 trees per week.
One in every 6 trucks in the U.S. is a garbage truck.
Each year, we throw away enough aluminum to rebuild an entire commercial air fleet.
Recycling only half of the magazines printed in the U.S. would save 12 million cubic yards of landfill space.
Americans throw away $120 million worth of milk jugs each year.
Enough iron and steel is thrown away each year to supply the nation's automakers continually.
Recycling 1 ton of office paper could save 7,000 gallons of water.
It takes 5 plastic soda bottles to make a t-shirt.
Two gallons of used oil provides enough electricity to run the average household for approximately 24 hours.

Solid Waste Division