Recycling helps to conserve valuable natural resources.

We recycle to get the most out of our resources and to maintain a sustainable relationship between economics and stewardship for our environment.  Besides  deriving the maximum amount of value from a resource, recycling also reduces or prevents emissions to air and water, saves energy and natural resources and reduces greenhouse gas emissions from landfills.

While it is correct to assert that fossil fuels are used in the remanufacture of recycled items, research indicates that overall emissions are lower from recovered materials than from virgin materials. Recycling aluminum cans, for example, saves 95 percent of the energy needed to extract an equal amount of aluminum from bauxite, its virgin source.

A recent Executive Order directs all federal agencies to purchase copier paper with at least 30 percent recycled content. As a result, up to 500,000 fewer trees will be harvested annually for the production of paper, and the remaining trees will absorb 16,000 tons of carbon in a year. Energy used to produce the copier paper will be reduced by 12 percent, and an average reduction of 14 percent in air emissions and greenhouse gases will be achieved. Finally, a 13 percent reduction will occur in both water pollutants and the amount of solid waste requiring disposal.