Fun Facts

• Up to 60% of the rubbish that ends up in the dustbin could be recycled.
• The unreleased energy contained in the average dustbin each year could power a television for 5,000 hours.
• The largest lake in the Britain could be filled with rubbish from the UK in 8 months.
• On average, 16% of the money you spend on a product pays for the packaging, which ultimately ends up as rubbish.
• As much as 50% of waste in the average dustbin could be composted.
• Up to 80% of a vehicle can be recycled.
• 9 out of 10 people would recycle more if it were made easier.

Aluminium Facts

• 24 million tonnes of aluminium is produced annually, 51,000 tonnes of which ends up as packaging in the UK.
• If all cans in the UK were recycled, we would need 14 million fewer dustbins
• Aluminium cans can be recycled and ready to use in just 6 weeks.

Glass Facts

• Each UK family uses an average of 500 glass bottles and jars annually.
• The largest glass furnace produces over 1 million glass bottles and jars per day.
• Glass is 100% recyclable and can be used again and again.
• Glass that is thrown away and ends up in landfills will never decompose.

Paper Facts

• Recycled paper produces 73% less air pollution than if it was made from raw materials.
• 12.5 million tonnes of paper and cardboard are used annually in the UK.
• The average person in the UK gets through 38kg of newspapers per year.
• It takes 24 trees to make 1 ton of newspaper.

Plastic Facts

• 275,000 tonnes of plastic are used each year in the UK, that’s about 15 million bottles per day.
• Most families throw away about 40kg of plastic per year, which could otherwise be recycled.
• The use of plastic in Western Europe is growing about 4% each year.
• Plastic can take up to 500 years to decompose.