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Buying Recycled
What is buying recycled?
Buying recycled is buying products made from recycled materials.
Five Good Reasons to Buy Recycled
1. Buying recycled completes the recycling loop and makes recycling work.
2. Buying recycled reduces the amount of waste disposed of in landfills. The recycled materials are made into new products saving landfill space and reducing the need to build landfills.
3. Buying recycled conserves natural resources. Making new products out of recycled materials instead of raw materials helps build a sustainable future.
4. Buying recycled reduces or eliminates pollution by reducing the need to extract, move and process raw materials. In most cases, making products from recycled materials creates less air pollution, water pollution and waste than making products from raw materials.
5. Buying recycled saves energy. Products usually take less energy to make from recycled materials than raw materials. For example, it takes 95 percent less energy to make aluminum from recycled aluminum than raw materials.
Want to learn more?
For more information on buying recycled and other solid waste issues, please call the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control's Office of Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling at 1-800-768-7348 or visit www.scdhec.gov/recycle.
For more information on buying recycled and related topics, visit the following Web sites.
* www.epa.gov/garbage/buyrec.htm
* www.greenseal.org
* www.environmentaldefense.org/article.cfm?contentid=552
