Waste and recycling facts and figures

1. UK households produce more than 100 million tonnes of waste each year — a figure that's rising by about 3% per annum.
   
   
2. We Brits currently only recycle about 12 to 14% of household rubbish.
   
   
3. Currently, most waste ends up in landfill sites but the EU Landfill Directive means we must all dramatically reduce the amount of biodegradable waste sent to them. In short, we need to start reusing products and recycling more.
   
   
4. Glass, metal, paper and cardboard, plastic, wood, clothes, food and garden waste can all be recycled.
   
   
5. You don't always have to visit a bottle bank or recycling area — there are many recycling collection services available for a range of household materials. To find out about services in your area, ask your local authority.
   
   
6. In the UK today, we only recycle about 3% of our plastic — but recycling just one plastic bottle would save enough energy to light a 100 watt bulb for up to six hours.
   
   
7. A single recycled aluminium can saves enough energy to run a TV for up to three hours.
   
   
8. If ALL the aluminium cans sold in the UK were recycled, we would need 14 million fewer dustbins for our waste.
   
   
9. Recycling aluminium cans uses only 5% of the power needed to make aluminium cans from raw materials — so 20 recycled cans use the same energy as making one from scratch.
   
   
10. Steel is the world's most recycled packaging material — three out of four cans in the supermarket are made from steel.