Foul facts & figures

We all know that recycling is a ‘good thing to do’ but few people understand just how important recycling really is.

 

The facts are startling:

  • Each UK households produce over 30 million tonnes of waste every year.
  • Household waste has increased by 14% since 1995/96.
  • We could fill Lake Windermere with the rubbish produced in the UK in just 8 months.
  • Up to 70% of your average dustbin could be recycled, yet just 26% actually is.
  • In the UK we use around 12.5 billion steel cans every year, or 600 per household, but nearly 10 billion of these still go to landfill.
  • It takes 24 trees to make 6,000 newspapers.
  • Glass is 100% recyclable but will never decompose in landfill.
  • Recycling a single plastic bottle saves enough energy to power a 60w light bulb for 6 hours.