Why Recycle?

To understand why recycling is so important, one must consider the entire life cycle of a product.  Typically virgin materials are extracted from the earth, manufactured and processed into products, shipped to points of sale, purchased, used, and then discarded.  This is known as a "cradle-to-grave" life cycle, as virgin materials are born into products that ultimately are discarded into landfills at the end of their lives.

By recycling a product, we often achieve significant waste and energy savings and other environmental benefits from not having to extract and process virgin materials.  When we recycle, we create "cradle-to-cradle" life cycles instead of "cradle-to-grave" life cycles, keeping materials out of landfills.  This is known as "closing the loop".

How much waste is generated when we make products? A National Academy of Engineering report by Robert Ayres calculated that 94% of the material used in industrial production in the U.S. is thrown away by the time the product is made!  And what happens to the 6% of materials that actually become products?  They are often thrown away after a single use. 

Some of the key reasons to recycle are as follows:

• Energy savings -- The energy required to recycle materials is often less than the energy required to use virgin materials (aluminum uses 5% as much energy to recycle versus mining bauxite ore). And that means....
• Reduced pollution -- As stated above, 94% of the material used in industrial production in the US becomes waste by the time the product is actually made.  By using recycled materials instead of virgin materials, less waste is generated and less energy is consumed. 
• Saved habitat -- There are many impacts associated with extracting virgin materials, be it logging, mining, drilling, etc. By decreasing the demand for these materials in their virgin form, the pace of extraction is slowed and the impacts on species and their habitats are reduced.
• Waste costs money -- Waste disposal is not free.  At Rice, waste is removed from campus and transported to a landfill, which costs money.
• Landfills are limited -- There's only so much capacity in a landfill. By sending less waste to landfills, we can prolong their useful lives.
• Not in my backyard! (NIMBY) -- In this part of the country, we're not necessarily out of space for new landfills.  However, when existing landfills reach their capacity and new landfill sites are proposed, citizens often protest having new landfills built near their homes.  

Last updated: May 5, 2005