Why Recycle?
- It saves energy and resources. To make a can from recycled aluminium, for example, uses 95% less energy than making it from new - and that means much less greenhouse gasses. It can take as little as six weeks to turn the things you recycle into a new product.
- It will save you money. Each year York residents produce about 100,000 tonnes of rubbish. This figure is growing by about 3% a year. By 2025 it's estimated there will be twice as much waste to deal with. Most of that is recyclable or compostable but currently goes into landfill instead! Space in landfill sites is running out. Unless York reduces the amount of landfill, it will face big fines. Council tax bills would have to rise. Also, landfill sites are a huge environmental burden: they emit CO2 and methane - a greenhouse gas 23 times as powerful as CO2 - and produce toxic leachate that may seep into groundwater.
- It is free and easy! Most households in York get a free fortnightly or weekly recycling service either from the City of York Council or us. A lot of materials which do not get collected on the kerbside can be either taken to charity shops for reuse or to one of the three Household Recycling Sites.