Australia – recycling offsets car emissions

For every bin full of paper and cardboard put out to be recycled each fortnight, households are offsetting 90.4 kilograms of carbon dioxide a year, a report on recycling trends has found.



Sydney Morning Herald reports that it‘‘s the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by driving a car 7200 kilometres, the survey by the Waste Management Association and SITA Environmental Solutions said.



If every household in Australia recycled a full 240-litre wheelie bin of paper each fortnight, they would collectively save more than 18.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere annually.



And by recycling a wheelie bin of mixed items such as glass, plastic and paper, 3.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide would not be produced each year, offsetting the equivalent of the emissions produced by 860,000 cars during the same period.



"Recycling effectively offsets those car emissions," NSW president of the Waste Management Association of Australia Mike Ritchie said.



"Household recycling is one key element of reducing greenhouse gas emissions."



He said businesses need to do more to improve their recycling efforts.



Only 11 per cent of office paper is recycled.



"We recycle well at home but business recycling rates are very low. It is time for more businesses to work to increase their recycling rates.



"Recycling is one of the most practical and effective things an individual or family can do to reduce their greenhouse gas footprint." Adding it up



Recycling a 240-litre bin of mixed items saves the equivalent emissions from:



§ Driving a car 60 kilometres



§ Watching 95 hours of LCD TV



§ Using a 60-watt light bulb for 305 hours