Our Landfills are Filling Up with Recyclable Materials

Admin • July 13, 2021

Over 2,000 landfills are open in the United States, which has made this country an uglier place. While they’re often well camouflaged, the negative issues surrounding them haven’t gone away. Under all the makeup that has been put over landfills are toxins, greenhouse gases, and leachate — all of which are serious threats to our planet. If we want to protect it for future generations, we need to have a more proactive recycling plan — whether it’s in your office, community, or home.

Recycling Concept Corpus Christi — Gregory, TX — Dawson's Recycling & Disposal, Inc.

It’s a simple activity that would allow you to do your part in protecting the environment. Most people have good intentions when it comes to recycling, 62% of Americans are worried that “lack of knowledge” will cause them to do something wrong. Most of these concerns come from the absence of information about recycling as well as a misunderstanding about what can and can’t be recycled.

Approximately 22% of Americans don’t have enough information about recycling, and 18% will admit that they don’t have a clue about what can be recycled. Not having the right recycling practices can lead to contamination, which may reduce the value of recyclable materials. A non-recyclable item (such as a messy plastic bag with food residue) can contaminate an entire set of recyclable materials and will force a waste disposal company to put them in a landfill.

Important Facts About Recycling in the United States

Here are some important facts about recycling in the United States:

Nine-tenths of all the solid waste in the United States doesn’t get recycled.
Landfills are among the biggest contributors to soil pollution, while approximately 80% of what gets buried can be recycled.
While 75% of America’s waste can be recycled, we only recycle about 30% of it.
9 out of 10 people said they would recycle if it were “easier.”
The United States throws away $11.4 billion worth of recyclable containers and packaging every single year.
It takes 500 years for an average-sized plastic water bottle to fully decompose.
The amount of plastic film and wrap that’s produced in a single year is enough to shrink-wrap the entire State of Texas.
Glass bottles take 4,000 years to decompose.
Americans use 65 billion aluminum soda cans every single year.
In only three months, enough aluminum cans are thrown out in the United States to rebuild all of our commercial air fleets.
There’s no limit to the number of times you can recycle an aluminum can.
Like aluminum, glass can be recycled repeatedly without experiencing a loss in purity or quality.
After recycling, you can repurpose an aluminum can within a 60-day period.
Recycling just two aluminum cans can save the same amount of energy that it takes to run a PC for a single workday.
You can make 20 new cans from recycled materials with the same amount of energy that it takes to make a brand new one.