1. Recycling conserves natural resources
- Recycling paper and wood saves trees and forests. Yes you can plant new trees, but you can’t replace virgin rainforest or ancient woodlands once they’re lost.
- Recycling plastic means creating less new plastic, which is definitely a good thing, especially as it’s usually made from fossil fuel hydrocarbons.
2. Recycling protects ecosystems and wildlife
Recycling reduces the need to grow, harvest or extract new raw materials from the Earth.
3. Recycling protects people
Forest communities can find themselves evicted as a result of the search for cheap timber. Rivers can be damned, or polluted by manufacturing waste, which harms local people.
4. Recycling saves energy
Making products from recycled materials requires less energy than making them from new raw materials.
5. Recycling cuts climate-changing carbon emissions
Reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere is vital for stopping disastrous climate change.
How to recycle and upcycle 