Waste Facts

Below are listed some interesting facts and figures relating to waste and recycling.

1. The volume of household waste produced in one hour would fill the Albert Hall.
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3. The volume of household waste produce in one day would fill Trafalgar Square right to the top of Nelson's Column.
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5. Producing an aluminium can from recycled material takes one twentieth of the energy needed to produce a can from raw materials. This energy would be enough to operate a television set for three hours.
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7. The energy recovered from the incineration of two tyres can provide electricity for one household for one day.
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9. The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle will light a 100- watt bulb for four hours.
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11. On average a milk bottle is used twenty times.
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13. It takes seventeen trees to produce one tonne of virgin paper.
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15. Over nine million disposable nappies are used in Britain every day, accounting for 4% of household waste.
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17. A plastic bottle represents the equivalent of 1/7th of acar mile in the terms of energy.
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19. During the Second World War the railings around many properties and parks were removed and recycled into munitions. Those around St. Paul's Cathedral were believed to have been turned into a tank.
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21. A spider wastes nothing. Its web contains a protein, so as it climbs back up a strand it eats it, recycling as it goes.
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23. Three tonnes of municipal solid waste have approximately the same energy value as one tonne of coal.
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25. A 0.3 litre yoghurt pot contains enough energy to keep a light bulb burning for one hour.
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27. In a landfill site it may take as long as 20 years for a plastic bag to decompose; 50 years for a tin can; 1,000,000 years for a glass bottle; anddisposable nappies 500 years.
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29. The U.K. uses about 12 billion cans each year. If placed end to end they would stretch to the moon and back