Why Recycle?

Why Should We Recycle?

Recycling provides a range of environmental and economic benefits to our community that the alternative landfilling simply does not provide. While recycling does have some environmental impacts, manufacturing with recycled materials saves natural resources, energy and water and reduces pollution.

While we may have three times as much wood available as we did eighty years ago because of tree farms, Americans consume fifteen times more paper products. Without paper recycling, we would need to increase timber harvesting by 80% just to keep up with demand in the next ten years.

According to the most recently published "Nonhazardous Solid Waste Management and Landfill Capacity in Illinois Annual Report" (developed by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency), at 2005 collection rates we presently have about 19 years of landfill

space left in Illinois which represents an improvement over the 2003 IEPA report which indicated that there would be as little as 12 years of landfill space remaining. This report also indicates that there is a "nearly 38 percent recycling rate in the state."

Research from the IEPA also shows that disposal volumes are increasing over 4 percent per year. In 2005, 51 Illinois landfills accepted more than 52 million cubic yards of solid waste. Locally, Winnebago Reclamation Service of Rockford collects an average of 2,200 tons of waste daily.

In addition, disposal options like landfilling extend the responsibility for and the costs of our waste to future generations. Recycling relieves pressure on dwindling natural resources and places the responsibility on this generation, where it belongs, to be wise stewards of our resources for our children.

Recycling is one of the few environmental actions that every single American can participate in and feel good about. We need to recycle as much as possible because we know it really does make a difference. Our education programs include many aspects of environmental conservation issues including recycling, reuse, source reduction and selective shopping.