ReCommunity, Delaware’s recycling partner, announced the overall impact of local recycling efforts for 2012.
You can download a copy of the report at http://www.recommunity.com/asr for comparisons equating the amount of recycled material to the amount of trees and oil saved, jobs created and other information.
The report indicated more than 100 jobs were created, thanks to the recycling efforts.
Delaware passed a recycling law that requires refuse haulers to offer recycling containers. This came after the state continued to rank low in its recycling rate and costs of adding landfill space were rising sharply.
“Earth Day marks a perfect opportunity for us to showcase our commitment to forward-thinking communities in Delaware,” says James Devlin, ReCommunity CEO, “and to celebrate the community’s efforts to reposition waste as a strategic resource instead of a growing liability.”
Highlights
• Delaware residents helped produced 55,700 tons of recyclable materials in 2012. Within all those tons, we found the following facts.
What’s contained in 55,700 tons of recyclable material in Delaware?
• 31,665,682 aluminum cans or enough aluminum to build 7 jumbo jet airliners
• 144,721, 384 plastic bottles or the equivalent of saving 2,579,393 gallons of oil
• 8,047,624,352 sheets of paper or the equivalent of 678,631 trees
• 46,759,012 glass bottles or enough energy to power 11,209 computers for a week
What’s the economic impact of recovering 55,700 tons of recyclable materials?
• 111 jobs created
Additional environmental impacts of recovering 55,700 tons of recycled materials:
• 161,645 metric tons of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gases prevented, which equates to removing 29,605 cars from the road annually
• 71,614 cubic yards of landfill space saved, which equates to 6,034 Olympic-sized swimming pools filled with garbage
“By definition, sustainability is all-encompassing, including environmental, economic and social benefits to Delaware,” says Michael Parkowski, chief of business and governmental services for the Delaware Solid Waste Authority. “Our recycling efforts have enabled us to save valuable landfill space, create new jobs, and reduce our carbon footprint.”
ReCommunity, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is a recycling and recovery company that is focused on dramatically reducing the volume of landfilled waste. The company aims to lead a Recovery Revolution by repositioning waste as a strategic community resource instead of a growing liability. The company has 36 facilities in 13 states.
