Why recycle?

Recycling is one of the best ways to help protect our planet. The amount of waste is currently growing very fast. which is caused by numerous factors. The number of people (waste producers) living on the planet is growing; the standard of living is improving, which means that people buy more products, thus producing more waste; our lifestyle is changing and it is based on consumption.

Product lifecycle in a circular economy

Recycling saves natural resources

When we recycle, used materials turn into new products. When recycled materials are used to produce new products, consumption of natural resources such as water, wood or raw materials decreases. If used materials are not recycled, new products are manufactured from primary sources obtained from the Earth through mining and forestry. Recycling helps save important raw materials and protects natural biotopes for future generations.

Recycling saves energy

Recycling saves energy by eliminating the need to produce materials from scratch. No matter what product you are manufacturing, extraction (acquisition), transport and refining (cleaning) of natural resources require hard work and a lot of time. Using recycled materials instead of primary raw materials simplifies the production process and enables us to produce equal products with lower energy consumption.

Recycling helps protect the environment

Thanks to the energy saved from acquiring primary resources, production of greenhouse gas emissions decreases considerably. It means that recycling has a positive effect on climate change by decreasing greenhouse gas emissions related to the original production process. As much as 40% of municipal waste thrown out in Slovakia may be recycled. When we add bio-degradable waste, recycling can help us get rid of as much as 90% of waste.

Recycling decreases landfilling

When we recycle, recyclable materials are re-processed into new products and the amount of landfilled waste is reduced. In spite of that, there are over 100 legal but as many as almost 6,000 illegal landfills in Slovakia at the moment, unfortunately.