• In 1999, recycling and composting activities prevented about 64 million tons of material from ending up in landfills and incinerators. Today, this country recycles 28 percent of its waste, a rate that has almost doubled during the past 15 years. [EPA. Recycling. Internet. http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/recycle.htm.]
  
• While recycling has grown in general, recycling of specific materials has grown even more drastically: 42 percent of all paper, 40 percent of all plastic soft drink bottles, 55 percent of all aluminum beer and soft drink cans, 57 percent of all steel packaging, and 52 percent of all major appliances are now recycled. [EPA. Recycling. Internet. http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/recycle.htm.]
  
• Twenty years ago, only one curbside recycling program existed in the United States, which collected several materials at the curb. By 1998, 9,000 curbside programs and 12,000 recyclable drop-off centers had sprouted up across the nation. As of 1999, 480 materials recovery facilities had been established to process the collected materials. [EPA. Recycling. Internet. http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/recycle.htm.]
  
• Motor oil never wears out, it just gets dirty. Oil can be recycled, re-refined and used again, reducing our reliance on imported oil. [NIH. Did You Know? Amazing Recycling Factoids. Internet. http://www.nih.gov/od/ors/ds/recycle/facts.htm.]
  
• Recycling one glass bottle saves enough electricity to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours. [NIH. Did You Know? Amazing Recycling Factoids. Internet. http://www.nih.gov/od/ors/ds/recycle/facts.htm.]
  
• Every ton of paper recycled saves more than 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space . [Paperrecycles.org. Paper & the Environment. Internet. http://www.paperrecycles.org/paper_environment/index.html.] 

For More Information:
Remarkable Recycling Facts (City of Clearwater, FL) 
American Forest and Paper Association