Ask anyone and they will probably tell you they know and agree that recycling is important. However, ask the average individual exactly why recycling is so important and they might struggle to answer. These days, we are all programmed to accept the fact that recycling is a big deal, but for the most part tend to give the wider subject very little thought.

 Of course, Take My Scrap Car focuses exclusively on one specific type of recycling – the collection and processing of scrap vehicles. Nevertheless, recycling is something that affects each and every person across the United Kingdom and is something everyone needs to play a role in.

So just to help illustrate the importance of it all, here’s a quick rundown of just a few reasons as to exactly why recycling really is such a big deal:

  1. First of all, we are creating far more rubbish than at any other point in human history.
  2. The fact that the average household now has more money than ever before means that more products are being purchased and subsequently leading to more waste.
  3. There are also exponentially more people living in the United Kingdom than before, likewise producing more waste.
  4. And then of course there’s the way in which modern lifestyles are inherently wasteful in their own right. Just think about how much packaging is used and subsequently thrown in the bin, next time you order a fast food meal.
  5. Contrary to popular belief, landfill sites do not make particularly good ‘graves’ for garbage. They might hide it out of the way, but the greenhouse gases and toxic chemicals such sites release really don’t do the environment any favours.
  6. The harvesting and production of raw materials across the board has a devastatingly detrimental impact on habitat for wildlife all over the world.
  7. What’s more, up to 70% more energy is required for the production process when working with raw materials, when compared to recycling existing materials.
  8. To say that we are fast running out of space would be something of an understatement. In fact, the vast majority of landfill sites across the United Kingdom were already at bursting point in 2010.
  9. Being wasteful also results in the wasting of money to a quite ludicrous extent. First-run materials are exponentially more expensive to produce, resulting in more expensive products with zero additional benefits.
  10. Last but not least, it is estimated that any number of industries – including automotive manufacturing – could actually become self-sufficient and perform using nothing but recycled materials, if recycling practices were to be optimised fully.

So as you can see, there’s quite a lot to recycling that more people should probably take into account. It might feel as if wasting the odd tin can or carton here and there doesn’t really make much difference. But then when you think about the billions of people worldwide doing the same…well, it’s a bit of a different story!