Pennsylvanians recycled a record 4.86 million tons of municipal waste in 2005, saving consumers and industries nearly $263 million in disposal waste costs and providing materials to businesses with an estimated market value of $577 million.

In 2004 Pennsylvanians recycled 4.8 million tons.

According to reports filed by Pennsylvania counties for 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available, the state diverted 4.86 million tons of municipal waste from disposal at landfills and waste-to-energy facilities, which continued an upward trend that began with passage of the state’s recycling law in 1988.

Municipal waste includes typical refuse from households, businesses, schools and institutions, as well as industry offices and lunchrooms.

The economic benefit of recycling in 2005 can be calculated, in part, by using published commodity prices for goods, such as steel cans, glass, plastic bottles and corrugated paper.

An analysis of the nearly 1.5 million tons of Pennsylvania’s 2005 recycling materials – with specific and identifiable prices – reveals that those materials were worth $130.3 million.

If the 3.4 million tons of other materials that remain were valued at even half this amount, the total would be $577.4 million. This does not include the estimated value of avoided disposal, which can be calculated as more than $262 million at the estimated statewide average disposal cost of $54 per ton.

The environmental benefits of recycling extend beyond diverting materials from landfills and incinerators.

Pennsylvania recycling saved energy: Pennsylvania’s 2005 recycling efforts saved almost 98 trillion BTUs of energy, enough to power more than 940,000 homes for one year in Pennsylvania, or the equivalent of conserving 786 million gallons of gasoline.

Pennsylvania recycling reduced air and water pollution: Pennsylvania recycling in 2005 eliminated more than 2.5 million metric tons of air emissions, including greenhouse gas emission reductions of 1.9 million metric tons of carbon equivalent -- a savings of approximately 2.4 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in the commonwealth.

Part of the air emissions savings total was 7,731 metric tons of sulfur oxides, an important ingredient in acid rain formation. Nitrogen oxides, a precursor to smog, were reduced by 8,814 metric tons, an amount equal to 5.5 percent of these emissions from Pennsylvania electrical utilities.

Water pollutant reductions totaled nearly 9,000 metric tons.

Recycling in 2005 eliminated more than 2.5 million metric tons of carbon equivalent -- a savings of approximately 3 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in the Commonwealth.

Pennsylvania recycling conserved natural resources: By recycling nearly 1.2 million tons of steel cans, appliances and similar materials, Pennsylvania industries saved 1.5 million tons of iron ore, 829,786 tons of coal and 71,124 tons of limestone. Through recycling newspapers, phone books, office paper, cardboard and mixed paper, the state saved the equivalent of 78 million tree seedlings grown for 10 years.

For more information, visit DEP’s Recycling in PA webpage.

NewsClip: Recycling Push Hopes to Green Up Lancaster County

Link: GreenTreks Network Recycling Resources Webpage

5/4/2007