Economic benefits of recycling

Do you ever wonder about the economic sense of recycling? Most of us are aware of the environmental benefits, but how does recycling work in financial terms?

Well, rest assured that by recycling your household waste you are saving on the cost to the UK taxpayer as well as providing a boost to the important worldwide recycling industry.

Take a ton of recyclable materials, such as glass, cans or paper. If that ton is put out for recycling, it costs your London borough around £21 to process it. That material then works its way back into industry to be used again (and again…).

WRAP research tells us your borough has to pay more like £53 if that same ton of materials is thrown out and sent to landfill instead. From April, landfill tax will go up again by £8 per ton, bringing the average landfill cost to £61. That's a £40 difference in cost, for every single ton.

Furthermore, EU directives means London boroughs would be hit with fines from 2010 if they fail to achieve new recycling targets.

Recent statistics released by WRAP report that the value of materials saved from landfill and recycled instead has topped one billion pounds over the last five years.

In times of economic uncertainty, it's another great reason to starve your bin.

(Statistics compiled by WRAP.)