For the average household, it can be difficult to get an idea how important recycling really is. When you’re simply looking at the daily refuse you yourself generate, it might not amount to all that much. But when you consider the collective waste being generated by millions of homes across the UK, it’s an entirely different story.

Recent years have seen recycling rates in Great Britain increase reassuringly.  The problem being that while recycling rates are heading in the right direction, the population is also swelling like never before. We’re all doing our bit to contribute to the cause, but we’re also producing more rubbish than at any other point in recent history.

On the plus side, more of what we’re throwing out is being recycled than ever before. It’s not a case of everything simply making its way to a landfill – recycling standards have never been better. Still, there’s always room for improvement and the better we understand the big picture, the more likely we are to take it seriously.

So with this in mind, what follows are a few of our favourite facts and figures about the general state of everyday recycling in the United Kingdom:

  • On average, every home in the United Kingdom produces approximately one tonne of waste per year. That’s about the same weight as a compact car.
  • Waste production across the United Kingdom has been increasing steadily at around 3% per year. This may not sound huge, but it nonetheless means that in 25 years, we will be producing double the amount of waste as today.
  • While recycling standards may be heading in the right direction, incredible amounts of waste are still sent to UK landfill sites.Somewhere in the region of 18 million tonnes per year.
  • A recent study found that the average individual in Britain discards their own body weight in everyday waste every six weeks.
  • The current collective recycling rate in the United Kingdom falls somewhere around the 45% mark. Decent, but significantly behind the likes of Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland where it’s closer to 60% of all waste.
  • The amount of energy that is saved by recycling one tin can power a TV for 180 minutes.
  • A computer can be powered for half an hour by the energy saved by recycling just one glass bottle.
  • As for paper, it takes approximately 70% less energy to recycle existing paper as it does to make new paper from fresh materials.
  • A recycling rate of 45% is okay, but not when considering the fact that around 80% of all everyday waste could be recycled or put to use in some way.

So as you can see, there’s still a fair way to go for the UK’s recycling rate.  Here at Take My Scrap Car, we can at least promise the most responsible, accessible and rewarding approach to car scrapping and recycling.

For more information or to arrange collection of your scrap vehicle, contact a member of the team at Take My Scrap Car today!