Recycling Facts

Currently, more than 50% of paper used in the United States each year is recovered for recycling. In 2005, the amount of recovered paper averaged 346 pounds per person. The recycling process uses 60% less energy than manufacturing paper from virgin timber. Below is the savings realized by using recycled fiber for every ton of paper made:

17 trees 100 gallons of gasoline 10,401 kilowatts of electricity

360 gallons of water 60 pounds of air pollutants 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space

While all paper is recyclable, it's the number one material thrown away. For every 100 pounds of trash discarded, 35 pounds are paper. Packaging accounts for 15% to 20% of landfill space while newspaper consumes about 14%. If all newspaper was recycled, 250 million trees could be saved annually. The average American consumes seven trees per year in paper, wood and other products. This totals approximately two billion trees per year.

In 2003, the paper industry in the United States reached its goal to recover 50% of all paper. By achieving this goal, it successfully recovered 20 million more tons of paper. The industry has set a new goal to recover 55% of used paper by 2012. Today, more than one-third of all recovered paper worldwide occurs in the United States.