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Eco-Action


Facts and Figures

2005 Recycling Results
In 2005, Milton Academy recycled approximately than 20 tons of paper and 14 tons of commingle and 30 tons of corrugated cardboard.

About Paper Recycling

  • Save Trees: Recycling one ton of paper saves 17 trees.
  • Save Energy: It takes 60% less energy to manufacture paper from recycled stock than from virgin materials. Every ton of recycled paper saves 4,200 killowatts of power.
  • Save Water: Making paper from recycled stock used 15% less water. Recycling one ton of paper saves 7,000 gallons of water.
  • Reduce Garbage: Every ton of paper recycled saves 3 cubic yeards of landfill space.
  • Reduce Air Polution: Every ton of paper recycled keeps 60 points of air pollution out of our environment.
  • Save Money: Recycling saves approximately $100 per ton in ladfill and disposal costs for trash.

About aluminum can recycling

  • recycling aluminium drink cans saves up to 95% of the energy needed to make aluminium from its raw materials.
  • making one aluminium drink can from raw materials uses the same amount of energy that it takes to recycle 20.
  • recycling 1 kg of aluminium saves 8kg of bauxite, 4kg of chemical products and 14 Kilowatts of electricity.
  • the energy saved by recycling 1 aluminium drink can is enough to run a television for three hours.
  • the average person uses 1.3kg of aluminium cans a year - that's about 84 cans.
  • the average household uses 3.2kg of aluminium cans a year - that's about 208 cans.

About glass recycling

  • Glass makes up about 7% of America's municipal solid waste.
  • The U.S. annually produces about 12.5 million tons of glass of which 3.7 million tons is recycled.
  • Most bottles and jars contain about 30% recycled glass.
  • Americans annually dispose of over 28 million glass bottles and jars.
  • About 37% of all glass bottles and jars are now recycled.
  • Glass recycling employs over 30,000 workers in 76 plants in 25 states.
  • Every ton of glass produced from virgin materials produces 27.8 lbs. of air pollution; recycling cuts that amount by over 5 lbs.
  • Overall, glass recycling saves over 25% of the energy necessary to make glass with virgin materials.

About Plastic Recycling

  • More than 20,000 U.S. facilities produce plastic materials, products, and equipment.
  • Plastics make up about 8% of America's Municipal Solid Waste.
  • The U.S. post consumer plastics industry employs over 52,000 workers.
  • Over 1.3 billion pounds of post-consumer plastics are recycled annually in the U.S.
  • The U.S. annually recycles 18% of all of its plastic bottles and containers and 36% of its soft drink bottles.
  • In conventional recycling, sorted plastics are chopped, washed and converted into flakes or pellets that are then processed into new products.
  • Advanced recycling technologies can take plastics back to their original building blocks that are then used to create new products.

About Types of plastics

#1 PET - (polyethylene terephthalate) is clear or slightly tinted and has a high melting point: soft drink bottles, peanut butter and salad dressing jars, sheeting for microwave food trays.

#2 HDPE - (high density polyethylene) - is translucent or colored: milk jugs, juice bottles, water and detergent bottles, margarine tubs, cool whip, bleach bottles, lotion, shampoo, and bubble bath bottles.

#3 Vinyl - PVC (polyvinyl chloride): have a shiny surface and sink in water - vegetable oil and shampoo bottles, laundry detergent containers, cooking oil bottles, window cleaning products, and fresh meat wrappers.

#4 LDPE (low density polyethylene): margarine tubs, mustard, and coffee can lids.

#5 PP (polypropylene): squeezable jelly, syrup bottles, and ketchup bottles.

#6 PS (polystyrene): Styrofoam containers.