UK Recycling Stakes its Claim in Climate Change Debate
09 May 2006
Current UK recycling saves 10-15 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gases a year. This is equivalent to taking 3.5 million cars off the road. By recycling, everyone can make a difference on climate change.
UK recycling currently saves between 10-15 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gases per year compared to other waste management options, equivalent to about 10% of the greenhouse gases emitted by UK households, according to WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme).
“What is so striking about these figures is that they demonstrate, for the first time, the positive contribution that recycling can make to tackling climate change – equivalent to taking a staggering 3.5 million cars off the road,” says Jennie Price, WRAP’s Chief Executive.
The greenhouse gas savings are based on current levels of UK recycling for glass, paper and cardboard, plastics, aluminium and steel, and have been calculated using data from a major international review study published today by WRAP. Entitled Environmental Benefits of Recycling:
an international review of life cycle comparisons for key materials in the UK recycling sector, the study also demonstrates that recycling our waste is better for the environment than burning or burying it. This is in line with current Government policy, which puts waste reduction and recycling at the heart of its strategy for diverting rubbish away from landfill.
The most comprehensive assessment ever undertaken, the study has reviewed and analysed the best Life Cycle Analysis studies from around the world which have evaluated the environmental impacts of recycling compared to incineration or landfilling for seven of the most commonly recycled materials.
“More and more people are becoming aware of just how serious an issue climate change is, and are looking for ways to make a positive contribution to tackling it,” says Jennie Price. “Recycling will obviously not cure the problem on its own, but this research shows it is a simple, everyday way in which everyone can make a difference.”
“What is so striking about these figures is that they demonstrate, for the first time, the positive contribution that recycling can make to tackling climate change – equivalent to taking a staggering 3.5 million cars off the road,” says Jennie Price, WRAP’s Chief Executive.
The greenhouse gas savings are based on current levels of UK recycling for glass, paper and cardboard, plastics, aluminium and steel, and have been calculated using data from a major international review study published today by WRAP. Entitled Environmental Benefits of Recycling:
an international review of life cycle comparisons for key materials in the UK recycling sector, the study also demonstrates that recycling our waste is better for the environment than burning or burying it. This is in line with current Government policy, which puts waste reduction and recycling at the heart of its strategy for diverting rubbish away from landfill.
The most comprehensive assessment ever undertaken, the study has reviewed and analysed the best Life Cycle Analysis studies from around the world which have evaluated the environmental impacts of recycling compared to incineration or landfilling for seven of the most commonly recycled materials.
“More and more people are becoming aware of just how serious an issue climate change is, and are looking for ways to make a positive contribution to tackling it,” says Jennie Price. “Recycling will obviously not cure the problem on its own, but this research shows it is a simple, everyday way in which everyone can make a difference.”
Editor's notes:
- WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme) is a major UK programme established to promote resource efficiency. Its particular focus is on creating stable and efficient markets for recycled materials and products and removing the barriers to waste minimisation, re-use and recycling.
- A not-for-profit company, WRAP is backed by substantial Government funding from Defra and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Working in seven key areas (Construction, Retail, Manufacturing, Organics, Business Growth, Behavioural Change, and Local Authority Support), WRAP’s work focuses on market development and support to drive forward recycling and materials resource efficiency within these sectors, as well as wider communications and awareness activities including Recycle Now, the national multi-media awareness campaign for England.
- Environmental Benefits of Recycling: an international review of life cycle comparisons for key materials in the UK recycling sector has been produced for WRAP by international researchers at the Technical University of Denmark and the EU-funded Danish Topic Centre on Waste, a team that has also worked closely on the development of life-cycle thinking to inform future European waste strategies.
The Danish experts conducted a comprehensive international review of existing life cycle analysis (LCA) projects that have used ISO standard methodologies to evaluate the impact on the environment of managing the key materials commonly recycled (glass, paper/cardboard, plastics, steel, aluminium, wood and aggregates) in different ways – through recycling, incineration or landfill. Organic material for composting will be tackled in a similar study to be commissioned this year.
Several hundred LCAs were reviewed, and rigorous criteria were used to sift these studies down to 55 ‘state-of the-art’ LCAs for detailed review, comprising over 200 scenarios each representing an LCA in its own right.
The research review was edited in the UK by Dr Julian Parfitt, a leading waste and resources policy and research analyst, and Principal Analyst at WRAP. It was peer reviewed by David Fitzsimons of Oakdene Hollins, a leading practitioner in LCA review. - The summary document and full report can be downloaded from the WRAP website (Environmental Benefits of Recycling), which also provides information on all of WRAP’s programmes.
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Dr Julian Parfitt
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Ray Georgeson
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