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Recycling is a great way for people to make impacts on the environment. Recycling can help save resources, insteading of taking new materials from the earth. Also, every material takes energy to make, and by recycling materials we can save energy. Making aluminum cans from recycled materials saves 90-97 percent of energy than making it from raw materials. Recycling glass saves about 30 percent of energy and recycling paper saves 44 percent of energy. Using less energy helps reduce greenhouse gas emission, which helps reduce climate change.

One important area in recycling is batteries and electronic waste. 7 Billion dollars are wasted each year from discarded batteries; and not even 5% of lithium-ion batteries are recycled. Americans throw away 3 billion batteries every year. Batteries should not be thrown in the regular trash and sent to the landfill, instead they should be discarded separately. They can contain harmful substances like lead and mercury that can leach into the ground, and eventually even our drinking water. Recycling batteries also reduces carbon dioxide pollution. Other electronic products need to be recycled as well. Only 12.5 % of e-waste is recycled by Americans, and for every one million cell phones that are recycled, 35,274 pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold and 33 pounds of palladium can be recovered. There is currently no federal legislation mandating recycling batteries, and California is the only state that has widespread battery recycling claws in place. Even still, many batteries and electronics end up in the landfill. Making sure that your batteries and electronics end up in the proper waste streams is important for our planet’s health.

Around one third of California’s 39 million tons of waste that ended up in landfills could have been composted. Composting helps recycle organic materials that otherwise are wasted. Composting helps reduce the amount of greenhouse gases, like methane, which would be released from organic waste if they ended up in landfills. Composting also enriches the soil and sequesters carbon dioxide. Additionally, compost can help replace synthetic chemical fertilizer. To learn how to start composting at home, visit this link: https://www.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home

There are more ways for individuals to help the environment. To save electricity, use energy-efficient light bulbs, such as LEDs (Light Emitting diodes) or CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps), instead of incandescent light bulbs. Turning off appliances when not using them also saves energy. Public transportation, walking, or riding a bike are more environmentally friendly than taking cars, but carpooling is also a good way to reduce pollution. Saving energy can also help save you money.

Everyone can help make significant positive impacts on the environment. See below for some infographics about recycling and other environmental issues.

10/15/2021 Study: Recycled Lithium Batteries as Good as Newly Mined Cathodes made with novel direct-recycling beat commercial materials: https://spectrum.ieee.org/recycled-batteries-good-as-newly-mined

10/15/2022 : America Desperately Needs To Invest More In Battery Recycling : https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/America-Desperately-Needs-To-Invest-More-In-Battery-Recycling.html

Find more interesting recycling stories in the news at https://batteriesnews.com/category/recycling/