Let’s face it: We humans produce a whole lot of waste. Even if we’re quite environmentally conscious, it’s really hard to completely eliminate trash from our daily lives. So, whether it’s food waste, glass bottles, scrap metals or paper, finding a way to deal with all of this garbage is of the utmost importance. At Huston Patterson we take sustainability very seriously and try to make sure we are recycling everything that we possibly can.
So, what Is recycling exactly?
Simply put, recycling is the process of taking trash and turning it into a new product. When an item gets recycled, its raw materials are used to create something entirely different. This helps minimize the amount of garbage that ends up in landfills and reduces the amount of raw materials that we need to extract from the Earth to produce new items.
What are the benefits of recycling?
By recycling, we can prevent pollution and protect the environment. In addition, the facts about waste and recycling show that it helps us preserve natural resources, such as water, timber, and minerals, and save energy. Recycling can also have a positive effect on national economies since it provides a domestic source of materials and creates jobs.
Check out these Fun Facts about the two largest items we recycle here at Huston Patterson, Paper and Aluminum. Both are used in mass quantities in the Printing and Packaging industries.
Paper:
● Recycling one ton of paper saves about 17 trees and 7,000 gallons of water.
● Furthermore, air pollution created during paper production can be reduced by 73% if papers are produced from recycled materials instead of using raw sources.
● Each year, the US discards paper equivalent to 1 billion trees.
Aluminum:
● Producing one aluminum can from raw materials is equal to producing 20 cans from recycled materials.
● That means, for every ton of aluminum recycled, around 14,000 kWh of energy and 1,663 gallons of oil are saved.
● Using recycled copper saves up to 90% of energy compared to using raw copper ore.
What is even more exciting to me is the impact that Huston Patterson has specifically made. In 2020 we recycled 4,048,960 lbs of paper material and 63,326 lbs of high-end aluminum!!!
Huston Patterson helped save:
● 10,750 Trees
● 104,845 Gallons of Oil
● 1,457,552 Hours of Electricity
● 3,241,699 Gallons of Water
Those facts astound me! I am so proud that we can be part of the solution.
More fun facts:
● 900,000,000 trees are cut down to provide raw materials for American paper and pulp mills.
● 45.97 million tons of paper and paperboard were recycled.
● 32.1 million tons of corrugated boxes were recycled.
● Only 34% of Americans recycle in their homes.66.5% of all recycled goods in America is paper.
● On average, every American produces 1,609 lbs of garbage a year.
● The USA does not make it in the top 15 countries who recycle.
Special thanks so Midwest Fiber Recycling for their support over the past 20 years!
For more tips from me, Tonya Kowa-Morelli, and the Real People of HP, explore our additional blogs and videos, or contact us directly at Huston Patterson.
Serious About Sustainability
