Where is Georgia in the Recycle Game?
Reduce. Recycle. Reuse.
Follow us on our series ‘Let’s Talk Recycling.’ Recycling is a large part of a sustainable future and something we can all take part in as a community.
Recycling is a large part of a sustainable living environment for the future. We, as individuals, do our part in our home and community but may not think of it as big business. Recycling is not only big business, but it is good business.
Georgia is putting to use the model of circular economy. Circular economy concentrates on lessening the amount of waste and air pollution with repair, reduce, reuse, and recycling. Emphasizing the restoration of natural systems and generating conditions for the regeneration of ecosystems will leverage the process of efficient waste management. Sustainability and recycling are crucial components in Georgia’s energy ecosystem.
One-third of all plastic beverage containers recycled in the nation are sent to northwest Georgia with most of the product being turned into carpet. Novelis is the world’s largest recycler of aluminum and leading producer of flat rolled aluminum. The company is headquartered in Buckhead and has a facility located in Greensboro. They formed the Recycle for Good program and partnered with groups like CHaRM to collect recyclable aluminum. One third of all PET (polyethylene terephthalate #1) plastic bottles generated in the country are used in the multiple carpet mills in north Georgia. Georgia has five glass manufacturers that use recycled glass for their products, Owens Illinois is in metro ATL. The state’s paper industry recycles almost 8% of all paper consumed in the nation.
Different consumer products produced by over 120 Georgia businesses use recovered materials. The Georgia Center for Innovation supplies valuable sustainability and recycling research to business. Georgia Recycling Coalition #RecycleRightGA: lets sort this out campaign focuses on statewide education increasing recycling, educating to decrease contamination, and ensure manufacturers have the recovered materials needed. In fact, the Coalition is having its 32nd Annual Conference October 22-25, 2023. The focus is on successes, challenges, and a path for growing and sustaining recycling in Georgia. We are doing great and paving the way but there is always room to do more.
Georgians annually dispose an estimated:
- 9 million tons of paper
- 1 million tons of plastic
- 360,000 tons of metal
- 240,000 tons of glass
If Georgians were to recycle just 1.7 million tons of the above combined, it would conserve 4% of the total energy consumed annually within the state or the equivalent of the transportation energy consumed by over 100,000 Georgians over a year. It would also conserve over 7 million barrels of oil calculated at an annual savings of $700 million. The reduction represents over a billion dollars a year in potential market value.
It may seem like things are not changing but over the last 20 years there has been growth. We have seen a 40% growth in the amount of recycled and composted materials. More than 70% of the US has curbside recycling with more than 9,800 programs. More than 200 communities’ compost. The statistic that inspires me the most is recycling facilities outnumber landfills 2-1.
Keep up the progress and innovation Georgia. The path is taking us to a cleaner, more thoughtful future.
