Environmental Benefits Fact Sheet on Recycling¹ in Pennsylvannia: An Overview for 2004²

© September 2006

Introduction

Most people are aware that recycling decreases reliance on landfills, incinerators and waste-to-energy facilities.  This waste reduction strategy is also critical for protecting the global environment.  By reducing the need for "virgin" resources extracted from forests, oil reserves, and mines, we use less energy, reduce greenhouse gases, water pollution, and conserve natural resources.

Reducing energy use decreases greenhouse gas emissions because the majority of consumed energy in the United States relies on fossil fuels (i.e., gasoline, diesel, natural gas and coal).  Fossil fuels are the most significant source of carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions.  Energy conservation also minimizes the need for energy development and production, which are also responsible for significant environmental impacts.

Recycling also keeps materials out of landfills, incinerators and waste-to-energy facilities, where water and air contamination can result from leachate, air emissions, and ash residue.

By contrast, the steps required to supply recycled materials to industry (i.e., collection, processing and transportation) uses less energy than the steps in supplying virgin materials (i.e., extraction, refining, processing, and transportation). The majority of the energy savings associated with the use of recycled content materials in manufacturing is the result of avoided processing, because recycled materials have already been processed at least once.  

NERC’s Environmental Benefits Calculator generates estimates of the environmental benefits of Pennsylvania, based on the tonnages of materials that were recycled, landfilled, or incinerated (includes waste-to-energy).  The Calculator is based on per ton figures of the estimated energy use and emissions from several lifecycle analysis studies.  The Calculator tailors the results to the amount of materials recycled; as well as the current mix of landfilling, incineration/waste-to-energy in Pennsylvania.  This Fact Sheet summarizes some of the results from the Calculator specific to Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania 2004

• Pennsylvania’s recycling provided industry with an environmentally preferable source of materials.

Pennsylvania’s municipal and commercial recycling programs collected and supplied 4,747,333 tons of scrap commodities such as paper, glass, metals, plastics, wood, computers, and construction & demolition (C&D) materials for use in the production of new products.

• Greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by Pennsylvania recycling.

Pennsylvania recycling reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 2,746,715 metric tons of carbon equivalents (MTCE)³ in a one year period.  This is equivalent to approximately   22% of all industrial MTCE emissions generated from fossil fuel combustion in Pennsylvania and 3% of greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxides (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). Curbside recycling alone accounted for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 1,289,527 MTCE per year.

• Pennsylvania’s recycling saved energy.

Pennsylvania’s recycling saved a total of 103,787,281 Million BTUs of energy, equal to    8% of all energy used by industry in Pennsylvania.  This is equivalent to 835,390,153 gallons of gasoline.  It represents the amount of energy that would be required to power 999,877 homes for one year in Pennsylvania.  Curbside recycling alone saved 28,733,025 Million BTUs of energy.

• Pennsylvania’s recycling conserved natural resources.

By recycling 956,269 tons of scrap metal and glass in 2004, Pennsylvania’s recycling efforts reduced the need for virgin materials, including 63,007 tons of limestone, 1,137,529 tons of iron ore, 637,016 tons of coal, 28,757 tons of sand, 9,070 tons of soda ash, and 3,539 tons of feldspar.  Recycling 1,135,202 tons of newspapers, phone books, office paper, textbooks, magazines and cardboard in 2004, Pennsylvania resulting in forest carbon sequestration benefits equal to 81,954,899 tree seedlings grown for 10 years. Recycling 1,348,547 tons of all types of paper saved 4,450,205 cubic yards of landfill space.

All data reported in this Fact Sheet was calculated from the NERC Environmental Benefits Calculator, 2004.  For more detail about the specific environmental benefits attributable to source reduction, reuse, and recycling in New York and for NERC’s free downloadable Calculator, see www.nerc.org.

1 Recycling is defined as the use of scrap or waste material used in place of virgin inputs in the manufacturing process.  When a Calculator user indicates that they are “recycling” they are referring to the act of setting the scrap or waste material aside for use in the manufacturing process. Furthermore, when Calculator users indicate that they are "recycling" materials like yard trimmings, food scraps, mixed organics, etc, U.S. EPA calculates the benefit of composting.   

2The most recent data provided by the state environmental agency.

3 Metric tons of carbon equivalent (MTCE) is a unit of measurement that expresses the heat-trapping effects of various greenhouse gas emissions.  Another unit of measure sometimes used is metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2).  Source: U.S. EPA (2004) User’s Guide for WARM: Calculating Greenhouse Gas Emissions with the WAste Reduction Model.  Available at: http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/
ActionsWasteWARMUsersGuide.html.