Recycling Impact Calculator
Discover the environmental impact of your recycling efforts. Calculate CO₂ emissions prevented, energy saved, trees preserved, water conserved, and landfill space diverted from your weekly recycling.
How much CO₂ does recycling actually save?
Recycling significantly reduces CO₂ emissions compared to producing new materials. For every pound recycled: paper saves 3.46 lbs CO₂, aluminum saves 5.82 lbs CO₂, plastic saves 1.76 lbs CO₂, and glass saves 0.59 lbs CO₂. A household recycling 600 lbs/year prevents about 1,700 lbs of CO₂ emissions - equivalent to not driving 2,150 miles. Aluminum recycling has the biggest impact, using 95% less energy than producing new aluminum from ore.
How much energy does recycling save?
Recycling saves substantial energy: aluminum recycling saves 14 kWh per pound (95% less energy than new production), plastic saves 5.2 kWh/lb (88% less), paper saves 4.5 kWh/lb (70% less), and glass saves 0.3 kWh/lb (30% less). A typical household recycling 600 lbs/year saves about 3,200 kWh annually - enough to power a home for 3-4 months. Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for 3 hours.
What environmental benefits does recycling provide?
Recycling provides multiple environmental benefits: prevents CO₂ emissions, conserves energy, saves water (up to 40 gallons per lb of aluminum), reduces landfill space (each cubic yard diverted prevents methane emissions), preserves trees (17 trees saved per ton of paper), and reduces mining/extraction of raw materials. Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, and 3 cubic yards of landfill space. It also reduces air pollution by 74% and water pollution by 35% compared to virgin production.