Waste

How waste is contributing to carbon emissions

Carbon emissions in the waste sector include energy consumption and generation for incineration, waste collection vehicles, decomposition in landfills, which are driven by a throw-away-society. 

New products mean:

• raw materials are farmed; new packaging is created from resources taken from areas such as forests,
• an energy intensive process increasing the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere along with other gases,
• products need to be transported which releases carbon.

Reusing or repurposing reduces carbon as this lowers the demand for new materials as well as decreasing landfill waste. 

Recycling materials such as:

• wood and paper save trees from deforestation,
• glass reduces the demand for raw materials,
• plastic reduces the use of fossil fuel hydrocarbons and protects the environment and wildlife,
• metals reduce the mining of finite resources.

See our pages on waste and recycling