Why Recycle?

Recycling does take a little bit of effort. Instead of stuffing everything into a trash bag, Connecticut law requires residents to sort their newspaper, glass containers and steel and aluminum cans for a separate collection.

That little extra effort, we believe, pays big dividends:

• Recycling saves natural resources. Turning old newspapers into new paper towels reduces the stress on our forests. Turning old aluminum cans into new ones means less bauxite needs to be mined – and, in addition, recycling aluminum uses only a fraction of the energy needed to process bauxite into new aluminum. And, the more we recycle the less waste we need to put into landfills.
• Recycling provides a renewable fuel. At the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority, we recycle trash by turning it into energy. That means we don’t have to burn fossil fuels such as oil or coal to make electricity. Since CRRA’s fourth trash-to-energy plant came on line in 1992, we’ve saved over 32 million barrels of fuel oil. And, the supply of fossil fuels will eventually run out; humans will always make trash.
• Recycling saves money. Each CRRA member town pays a per-ton fee for accepting its garbage. CRRA charges member towns nothing for recycling. So the more you recycle the less garbage you throw away and the less trash disposal costs your town.

There are so many good reasons to recycle. Maybe the question should be, “why not recycle?”