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magazine / mj99
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May/June 1999 issue |
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Out of the trash, into the blue box
We’ve come a long way in reducing and re-using
Map and text by Steven Fick
GARBAGE DAY USED TO
MEAN pitching out old newspapers, bottles and soup cans
with the rest of the trash, but curbside recycling has made it
just as easy to toss that pop can in the blue box as to stuff
it in the garbage can. Back in 1982, only about two percent of
our municipal waste was recycled. Now, 52 percent of Canadian
households have curbside recycling while many others have access
to recycling depots or both. That means less junk is going to
landfills.
With recycling, almost everything old can be new again: most
community recycling programs pick up paper, cans, glass and plastic,
and many recycle Christmas trees, yard waste and large appliances
too. Despite all this, each of us still throws away 18 kilograms
of residential waste daily.
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| Click map to enlarge |
Waste factors
- Recycling uses less energy and non-renewable resources and
emits less air and water pollution compared to producing new
materials.
- Recycling plastic uses only five to ten percent as much energy
as manufacturing new plastic.
- Every tonne of crushed waste glass used saves 1.2 tonnes
of raw materials and 135 litres of oil.
- Every glass bottle recycled saves enough energy to light
a 100-watt bulb for four hours.
- Every tonne of newspaper recycled saves 19 trees and three
cubic metres of landfill space.
- From 1988 to 1996, the volume of cardboard boxes, paper bags
and cartons sent to landfills was cut by 60 percent.
- Every tonne of cans recycled saves 136 tonnes of iron ore
and 3.6 barrels of oil.
- Since 1985, more than 400,000 tonnes of cans have been diverted
from landfill.
- Every aluminum can recycled saves enough energy to power
an average television for 108 minutes.
- Toronto spends $59 per tonne to send blue box materials to
recyclers compared to $87 per tonne to send waste to landfills.
- Recycling creates six times as many jobs as other waste management
options. These jobs include: haulers and sorters of material,
equipment manufacturers, importers and exporters.
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