Our landfills are almost at full capacity and there don’t seem to be plans to build new ones, but by recycling, we can save up to three cubic metres of landfill space per tonne. That’s one reason to recycle.
When you choose to recycle, you lessen the burden on our landfills, reduce transport costs for local municipalities, contribute to less pollution and litter, and actively create a healthier, greener, and cleaner world that can be enjoyed for generations to come. Not only that, but recycling creates economic empowerment opportunities and employment – almost 100,000 jobs according to Recycle Paper ZA.
The truth is that many items can be used multiple times over. Take paper as an example. Paper can be recycled at least seven times. To keep the paper cycle going this many times, new wood fibre from new timber is needed and the subsequent plantation trees grown for this purpose help absorb carbon dioxide from and release oxygen into the atmosphere. The trees, and thus the paper and wood products, store this carbon as solid matter and so by recycling paper, we can ensure that this carbon is kept out of the atmosphere for longer. The alternative is for used paper to rot amongst other rubbish and emit gases, like methane and carbon dioxide.
And that’s just paper. Think about the positive effect that you could have on the environment if you were to recycle other items.