Coffs Coast Waste Services - Regional Domestic Waste Collection Service

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Information Hotline: 1800 265 495

Why Recycle?

The average Australian produces about 690kg of waste every year.

Here are six good reasons to recycle:

Recycling conserves natural resources;
Energy conservation - It takes 95 per cent less energy to recycle aluminium than to extract it from bauxite ore;
Cleaner air and water - Processing recycled material in most cases results in the creation of less air and water pollution than that created when using virgin materials;
Recycling saves landfill space - Landfilling degrades valuable land, and we are running out of space to dispose of our waste;
Recycling saves money - recycling is a cost-effective alternative to the consumption of finite resources, and waste disposal costs can decrease for businesses that recycle rather than send all their waste to landfill;
Jobs are created - in the recycling industry!

Research conducted by the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) demonstrates considerable environmental benefits from typical household kerbside recycling:

Greenhouse Gas Savings
A typical household recycling 3.76kg each week avoids about 106kg of CO2 equivalent each year.

This is equivalent to avoiding the greenhouse gas emissions from 50% of the electricity used for household lighting and 40 per cent of the electricity used for cooking.
On a statewide basis, this results in a reduction of 229,000 tonnes per year in CO2 equivalent - the same levels that could be achieved by taking 55,000 cars off the road permanently.

Energy Savings
A typical recycling household saves 928 kilowatt hours of electricity each year.

This is equivalent to 15% of a typical household's energy consumption.
On a statewide basis, this is equivalent to the average annual electricity consumption of about 334,000 households, or about 900,000 people.

Water Savings
A typical recycling household avoids the consumption of 3,073 litres of water each year.

This is equivalent to the average water consumption of one person for 12 days.
Statewide, this is enough water to fill 2,654 olympic swimming pools.

CCWS Information Hotline:
1800 265 495