Recycling Essay Examples

Recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash and turning them into new products.

Human recycling dates back to ancient times. While the first recorded instance of paper recycling can be dated to 1031 in Japan, ancient cultures commonly reused everyday items long before this – mainly due to lack of resources and lengthy manufacturing processes.

There are 3 main types of recycling: primary, secondary and tertiary and also classified based on material.

Reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators.
Conserves natural resources such as timber, water and minerals.
Increases economic security by tapping a domestic source of materials.
Prevents pollution by reducing the need to collect new raw materials.
Saves energy.

The average person generates over 4 pounds of trash every day and about 1.5 tons of solid waste per year.
Recycling a single plastic bottle will save enough energy to power a lightbulb for three hours or more.
Recycling five plastic bottles creates enough insulating fibre to fill a ski jacket.
Enough energy is saved each year by recycling steel to supply Los Angeles with electricity for almost 10 years.
Recycling one ton of paper saves 17 trees.
It takes 70% less energy to recycle paper than it does to make it new from raw materials.