CAN I REALLY DIFFERENCE MAKE A BY RECYCLING?

Recycling is not a silver bullet that will halt climate breakdown. Not even close. Its potential impact - a saving of around 11 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) over 30 years if the whole world recycles more than 80 per cent of its municipal waste - is dwarfed by the amount of greenhouse gases currently released by fossil fuels and industry: 36.8 gigatonnes in 2022 alone.

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Today, recycling in the UK saves an estimated 18 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions each year - the equivalent of pulling 5 million cars off the road. That may sound promising, but it's only a 2,000th of the CO₂ emissions currently generated each year by fossil fuels and industry, and roughly a 200th of that generated by agriculture or the global fashion industry.

These numbers are disheartening. So what's a well-meaning person to do?

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

First, don't give up on recycling; it's easy to do and it helps reduce landfill and slow the rate at which we extract Earth's resources.