Environmental Benefits Fact Sheet on Recycling¹ in Rhode Island: An Overview for 2005²

© 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 Rhode Island, 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 Rhode Island.  This Fact Sheet summarizes some of the results from the Calculator specific to Rhode Island.

Rhode Island 2005

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

Rhode Island’s municipal and commercial recycling programs collected and supplied 486,969 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 Rhode Island recycling.

Rhode Island recycling reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 274,615 metric tons of carbon equivalents (MTCE)³ in a one year period.  This is equivalent to approximately  194% of all industrial MTCE emissions generated from fossil fuel combustion in Rhode Island and 8% 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 88,991 MTCE per year.

• Rhode Island’s recycling saved energy.

Rhode Island’s recycling saved a total of 14,495,409 Million BTUs of energy, equal to   58% of all energy used by industry in Rhode Island.  This is equivalent to 116,674,431 gallons of gasoline.  It represents the amount of energy that would be required to power 139,647 homes for one year in Rhode Island.  Curbside recycling alone saved 1,910,769 Million BTUs of energy.

• Rhode Island’s recycling conserved natural resources.

By recycling 134 tons of scrap metal in FY 2005, Rhode Island’s recycling efforts reduced the need for virgin materials, including 8 tons of limestone, 168 tons of iron ore, and 94 tons of coal. Recycling 55,538 tons of all types of paper saved 183,275 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 Rhode Island 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.