Pollution & Recycling Facts

Every time virgin material has to be mined or extracted to create something new, a huge amount of pollution is created. Recycling helps to prevent or minimize the use of new raw materials, saving the pollution that accompanies it. Landfills, where the majority of trash ends up, are a prime source of land pollution and potential water and soil pollution. Recycling reduces the amount of trash in landfills. There are other ways that recycling influences the amount of pollution in the environment.

Paper and Trees

• One ton of paper takes 17 trees to produce and takes up an 8 cubic foot space in a landfill, according to Oberlin College. Just one tree filters 60 pounds of pollution from the air annually. Recycling paper eliminates the need for these trees to be cut down, which helps improve the quality of our air. Since trees use carbon dioxide, there are less greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, which reduces the risk of global warming. This also saves room in landfills and lessens the amount of land pollution made by landfills.

Air Pollution

• Other common recyclables, such as aluminum, glass and plastic, have a big impact on the environment when they are recycled. For example, Oberlin states that air pollution related to aluminum production is cut by 95 percent when recycled aluminum cans are used. One of the main by-products of aluminum production is sulfur dioxide, which is an ingredient in acid rain.

Water Pollution

• Many hazardous substances are dumped into waters during the mining and manufacturing process. Paper mills use chlorine to bleach wood pulp when making paper. Chlorine, when released in the water, is toxic to aquatic life. Acid mine drainage, which is the heavy metal runoff from the mining and refining of metals, such as aluminum, iron to make steel, copper and tin contains elements that lead, mercury and cadmium. These metals are toxic to humans and animals alike, causing neurological damage and impaired brain function. They build up to toxic levels even when ingested in small doses and bioaccumulate from one species to another, so that larger animals higher up in the food chain that humans consume, such as tuna, carry toxic levels.

Fossil Fuels

• The production of energy typically requires the use of fossil fuels, such as coal. The burning of coal produces large amounts of air pollution. To prevent this, some power plants use scrubbers to remove pollutants from smokestacks before they enter the air. However, many power plants dump the wastewater and sludge by-product from the scrubbing process into local waterways, increasing water pollution. Recycled materials require far less energy to convert into a usable form than it takes to produce virgin material, resulting in less pollution from energy production.

Trash

• A great deal of trash ends up directly in waterways and in soil from improper disposal. Trash and hazardous waste washes into stormdrains, where it directly enters waterways. Animals and fish choke on and ensnare themselves in the trash. Oil and household chemicals affect the amount of light and oxygen that enter the water, throwing off the ecosystem balance in aquatic environments. Solvents, bleaches, oils and other chemicals enter into soils after being poured onto the ground, where they pollute the soil and leach into groundwater. According to Pinellas County, Florida Recycling Department, between 70 percent and 80 percent of all trash is recyclable, so recycling would minimize the negative impact from the improper disposal of trash.