Recycling Facts
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Recycling and Environmental Facts

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General Recycling

• Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 trees, 2 barrels of oil (enough to run the average car for 1,260 miles), 4,100 kilowatts of energy (enough power for the average home for 6 months), 3.2 cubic yards of landfill space, and 60 pounds of air pollution. Trash to Cash

• About 80% of what Americans throw away is recyclable, yet our recycling rate is just 28%. Environmental Protection Agency

• Recycling creates 6 times as many jobs as landfilling. Colorado Recycles

• The U.S. is 5% of the world's population but uses 25% of its natural resources. Environmental Protection Agency

• In 1988, there were 600 curbside recycling programs in the US. Now there are more than 9,340 programs, over 12,000 drop-off centers, and 480 material recovery facilities to process collected materials. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000

• In 1991, the US recycling rate was 17%. Now it is estimated at 30% (including composting). Environmental Protection Agency, 2000

• The number and availability of recycled products has increased. In 1990, the Recycled Products Guide listed 170 items; today, more than 5,000 recycled content products are available. Environmental Protection Agency, 2003

• From 1967 to 2000, the recycling industry experienced yearly employment growth rates of 8.3 percent. In comparison, total US employment grew 2.1 percent annually in this time. Biocycle, 2003

• Recycling and composting diverted 64 million tons of material from landfills and incinerators in 1999, up from 34 million tons in 1990. EPA, 2000

• Americans represent only 5 percent of the world’s population, but generate 30 percent of the    world’s garbage. America Recycles Day, 2003

• On a national average, American garbage consists of:

          37% paper and paperboard

          5% glass

          8% metals

          11% plastics

          11% food

          12% yard trimmings

          15% other (textiles, rubber, leather, wood...)

  Environmental Protection Agency, 2000

• Landfills are the largest source of anthropogenic methane (CH4) emissions, accounting for 32% of the total US methane emissions. EPA, 2004

• The number of landfills in the US decreased from 8000 in 1989 to 2216 in 2000, despite no  change in total capacity. EPA Draft Report on the Environment, 2002

   

Economics of Recycling

• Recycling collection and processing, and manufacturing with recycled materials employed 952,614 people in 2001, and paid $34 billion in wages. National Recycling Coalition, 2001

• Recycling activities employ more than 2.5% of manufacturing workers. Recycling and remanufacturing activities could account for approximately 1 million manufacturing jobs and more than $100 billion in revenue. White House Task Force on Recycling, 1998

• Percentage of energy saved by using recycled instead of raw materials to manufacture:                  

      40% glass 40% newspaper60% steel 70% plastics

      95% aluminum (75% when recycled back into aluminum beverage cans)

    Natural Resources Defense Council, Aluminum Association

• For every six-pack of soda or beer not recycled, the energy equivalent of one beverage can full of gasoline is squandered. Container Recycling Institute, 2001

• Industrialized countries, such as the US, represent only 20% of the world’s population.

        However, they consume 80% of the world’s resources, 85% of the world’s forest products,

        75% of the world’s energy and produce 75% of the world’s pollution and waste. Trash to

        Cash, 1996

• Total urbanized land in the US increased 47% from 1982-1997, while the population

        increased only 17%. Brookings Institution, 2001

• Today the planet adds 77 million people each year, the equivalent of 10 New York Cities.

        Worldwatch Institute, 2002

• The population grows as much every three days as it did every century, on average, for most

        of the last one-thousand centuries before the Industrial Revolution. Worldwatch Institute,

        1999

• The majority of our energy comes from fossil fuels: oil, natural gas, and coal. Fossil fuels

        formed over millions of years from the fossils or remains of dead animals and plants.

        Because it takes millions of years to “create” more fossil fuels, we call them nonrenewable

        resources. Once we use up all of the current fossil fuels, they are gone to us forever! U. S.

        Department of Energy, 1995

• In 2002, the US consumed nearly 20 million barrels of oil per day, over 3.5 times the second

        largest consumer (China). Energy Information Administration, 2002

• The US consumed over 23% of the world’s natural gas and 20% of the world’s coal in 2001.

        Energy Information Administration, 2003

•  Indoor lighting use is highest during the hours of 9 to 5, even though the light bulb was

        invented to help us see in the dark. University of Colorado Environmental Center, 2003

• It takes less gasoline to restart your car than it does to let it idle for more than a minute. If all

        the cars on US roads had properly inflated tires, it would save an estimated 2 billion gallons

        of gasoline per year and improve your gas mileage 3-7%. University of Colorado

        Environmental Center, 2003

•  If every car carried one more passenger during its daily commute, 32 million gallons of

        gasoline would be saved each day. Natural Resources Defense Council, 2003

• According to the EPA, the typical American household can save about $400 per year in

        energy bills with products that carry the Energy Star label. Natural Resources Defense

        Council, 2003

Steel & Aluminum Recycling

• Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial fleet of airplanes every 3 months. Environmental Defense Fund

• Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to operate a TV for 3 hours. Eco-Cycle

• The energy saved each year by steel recycling is equal to the electrical power used by 18 million homes each year - or enough energy to power the combined residents of Montgomery County, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. for eight years. Steel Recycling Institute

• By the year 2006, all cars made in Europe must be taken back free of charge by their producers, and 80% of the vehicle must be re-used or recycled. European Union End of Life Vehicle Directive, 2000

• There were 26 cars recycled every minute across the US in 2001. Steel Recycling Institute, 2003

• In the US, 52% of all major appliances are recycled. EPA, 1999

• Recycling aluminum saves 90-95% of the energy used to make aluminum from bauxite ore.

      It also saves 95% of the air and water pollution. Windstar Institute

• You can make 20 recycled aluminum cans with the energy it takes to make one new

      aluminum can from bauxite ore. Community Recycling, Belington, Washington

• Replacing one wasted can requires the energy equivalent to light a 100-watt light bulb for 5

      hours or to power the average laptop computer for 11 hours. Container Recycling Institute,

      2001

• In 2000, Americans recycled 55% of aluminum cans. Most of the aluminum recovered from

      the waste stream (cans, foil, pie plates, etc.) is used to manufacture new cans.

      Environmental Protection Agency, 2000

• Fifty-eight percent of steel cans were recycled in 2000. Environmental Protection Agency,

      2000

• Every ton of recycled steel conserves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal, and

      120 pounds of limestone. Steel Recycling Institute, 2003

• The production of one ton of aluminum ingot requires 4-5 tons of bauxite ore. Container

      Recycling Institute, 2001

•  Aluminum can consumption rose to 50.7 billion cans in 2001, while aluminum can waste

      grew 28% between 1990 and 2001. Container Recycling Institute, 2001

• The energy needed to replace all the aluminum cans wasted each year is equivalent to 16

      million barrels of oil—enough to keep a million American cars on the road for a year.

      Container Recycling Institute, 2001

• Aluminum cans comprise only 1.4% of a ton of garbage by weight, but they account for

      14.1% of the greenhouse gas impacts of replacing an average ton of garbage with new

      products made from virgin materials. Container Recycling Institute, 2001

• The mining, processing, and manufacturing necessary to produce aluminum cans are       responsible for large quantities of toxic solid wastes, the widespread destruction of wildlife      habitat, and the displacement hundreds of thousands of indigenous people around the world.

          Container Recycling Institute, 2002

   

Paper Recycling

• Over ½ million trees are saved each year by recycling paper in Boulder County. Eco-Cycle

• If we recycled all of the newspapers printed in the U.S. on a typical Sunday, we would save 550,000 trees--or about 26 million trees per year. California Department of Conservation

• If every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of 1,000 sheet virgin fiber bathroom tissues with 100% recycled ones, we could save: 373,000 trees, 1.48 million cubic feet of landfill space, and 155 million gallons of water. Seventh Generation Co.

• In 2000, recycling prevented 49 million tons of paper products from going into landfills.

  American Forests & Paper Association, 2000

• Recycling 1 ton of paper saves:

      · 17 trees (35’ tall), 2 barrels of oil (enough fuel to run the average car for 1,260

      miles or from Dallas to Los Angeles)

      · 4,100 kilowatts of energy (enough power for the average home for 6 months)

      · 3.2 cubic yards of landfill space (one family-size pickup truck)

      · 60 pounds of air pollution

         Trash to Cash, 1996

• In 2000, 45.4 % of the total paper generated in the US was recycled, up from 28 % in 1990.

      Environmental Protection Agency, 2000

• One-third of all trees logged are used for paper production. New Leaf Paper, 2001

• The average US citizen uses more than 300 kg of paper annually, and the average Japanese

   citizen uses 250 kg of paper per year. In contrast, people in developing countries use only

   18 kg of paper per year on average. (The United Nations estimates that 30-40 kg of paper is

   the minimum needed to meet basic literacy and communications needs. Worldwatch Institute, 2004

• Producing one ton of paper requires 2-3 times its weight in trees. Newly cut trees account for 55% of the global paper supply, while 38% is from recycled wood-based paper, and the remaining 7% comes from non-tree sources. Worldwatch Institute, 2004

• The pulp and paper industry is the world’s fifth largest industrial consumer of energy and uses more water to produce a ton of product than any other industry. Worldwatch Institute, 2004

• Making paper from recycled content rather than virgin fiber creates 74 percent less air pollution and 35 percent less water pollution, yet the share of total paper fiber coming from recycled material has grown only modestly from 20% in 1921 to 38% today. Worldwatch Institute, 2004

• Environmental Defense estimates that if the entire US catalog industry switched its   publications to just 10 percent recycled content paper, the savings in wood alone would be    enough to stretch a 5 foot high fence across the United States seven times. Worldwatch    Institute, 2004

• The United States produces and uses a third of the world’s paper. Forests in the southeastern US now supply a quarter of the global total. Worldwatch Institute, 2004

• Global paper consumption is expected to double in 15 years. New Leaf Paper, 2001

• In 2000, the US generated 232 million tons of municipal solid waste - an average of 4.5 pounds of waste per person per day. About one third of that refuse is paper and paperboard products. Environmental Protection Agency, 2002

• One year’s worth of America’s holiday cards would fill a football field ten stories high. BRING Recycles, 2003

• The item most frequently encountered in municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills is plain old       paper—on average, it accounts for more than 40 percent of a landfill's contents. Newspapers alone can take up as much as 13 percent of the space in US landfills. EPA, 2003

• Landfill studies have unearthed 35-year-old newspapers that were still legible and 15-year old   onions that were still recognizable. American Plastics Council, 2003

• Ten percent of the average grocery bill pays for packaging. That accounts for more than the    farmer receives. Kansas Department of Health and Environment, 2001

• Forty-three percent of landfilled or incinerated municipal discards, by weight, is packaging  and containers, or disposable products such as paper and plastic plates and cups, diapers, junk mail, trash bags, and tissue paper and towels. EPA, 1998

• Twenty years ago, the average old growth tree harvested from our National Forests was 24    inches in diameter. Today the average is 14.3 inches. City of Boulder Office of Environmental Affairs, 2003

Glass Recycling

• Recycling glass, instead of making it from silica sand, reduces mining waste by 75% and air pollution by 20%. Lehigh County Solid Waste Management, 2003

• Food and beverage containers make up 91% of the glass waste that is generated. In 2000, 26% of all glass food and beverage containers were recycled. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000

• Glass takes more than one million years to decompose in our landfills. California

      Department of Conservation, 2003

   

   

Tire + Electronic Recycling

•  It takes 70% less oil to retread old tires than it does to make new tires. Most retread tires contain 75% recycled material. Tire Retread Information Bureau, 2003

• There are 4-8 pounds of lead in every computer monitor, and there is lead in most of the    solder points in electronic product circuit boards. Between 1997 and 2004, 315 million    computers became obsolete, along with millions of other electronic products. Silicon Valley    Toxics Coalition, 2004

• Within three years, Americans will be throwing away 130 million mobile phones per year,    amounting to 65,000 tons of waste. This waste contains toxic chemicals such as arsenic,    beryllium, copper, lead, cadmium, nickel, and zinc. These chemicals have been linked to cancer and neurological disorders. University of Colorado Recycling, 2003

• A 150 watt personal computer system (CPU, monitor, and printer) uses 1,314 kWh per year  if left on continuously. To generate that much electricity, it takes the energy equivalent of  more than 1000 pounds of coal or 100 gallons of oil.

   Planning for Higher Education  Journal, 2003

   

   

  

Air Quality

• Recycling helps to slow the build-up of greenhouse gases and reduces the pollutants that contribute to acid rain. Worldwatch Institute

• Respiratory disease has increased nearly 50 percent in the last decade.

  City of Boulder Office of Environmental Affairs, 2003

• US carbon emissions rose 18.1% between 1990 and 2000. US emissions stand at more than    double the second leading emitter (China), and amount to 5 tons per capita per year.    Worldwatch Institute, 2002

• Production of CFCs dropped 87% from 1989 to 1997. Worldwatch Institute, 2002

• More than 133 million people lived in areas where monitored air quality in 2001 was unhealthy because of high levels of at least one criteria air pollutant. EPA Draft Report on the Environment, 2002

• Natural visibility in the western US is 124-186 miles. Pollution levels during 1999 dropped  average visibility to 50 miles. EPA Draft Report on the Environment, 2002

• Ultraviolet (UV) radiation levels have increased 6-14 percent in both hemispheres since the  1980’s, due to thinning of the ozone level. Environmental Defense Fund, 2003

• Operating a commercial leaf blower for one half hour produces the hydrocarbon equivalent of driving a new 1999-2000 light duty vehicle at 30 mph for more than 2 round trips between Denver and New York City. California Environmental Protection Agency, 2000

Water Resources

• About 86 percent of US landfills are currently leaking toxic materials into lakes, streams,

            and aquifers. Once groundwater is contaminated, it is extremely expensive and difficult,

            to clean it up. EPA, 2003

• One percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by fresh water. The majority of terrestrial    animals, including humans, depend on this 1% for survival. Worldwatch Magazine, 1995

• A faucet that drips once each second can waste over 8 gallons of water per day and over 3,150    gallons per year. American Water Works Association, 2003

• Most acid rain comes from emissions of sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxide from industrial or    transportation sources. These turn into sulfuric acid and nitric acid in the atmosphere. These    acids are deposited into the soil, lakes, and rivers when it rains. EPA, 2004

• Acid rain causes the acidity levels of rivers and lakes to become too high. When this happens, fish cannot reproduce and soon die out. Acid rain also causes heavy metals to enter the tissue of fish, making them toxic for human consumption. Sierra Club, 1990

• Acid rain damages forests, soil quality, statues, and buildings. Eco-Cycle, 2004

• Rain that is 10 to 40 times as acidic as normal rainfall has been occurring frequently in parts of New England and New York. Wellford, Wegman, Knulwich, and Hoff

• Roughly 10% of streams and 20% of drinking wells in farming areas exceed federal drinking water standards for nitrate. EPA Draft Report on the Environment, 2002

• Six percent of community water systems do not meet all health-based standards in 2002. EPA Draft Report on the Environment, 2002

• In the US, 15% of river miles, 33% of lake acreage, and 100% of the Great Lakes and their  connecting waters are under fish consumption advisories. EPA, 2003

• Twenty states have fish consumption advisories on 100% of their lake acreage; 18 states have 100% of their river acreage under fish consumption advisories. EPA, 2003

• Watering non-lawn areas with drip irrigation rather than sprinkler heads can reduce water use up to 70 percent. City of Boulder Planning and Public Works, 2003

• Water-conserving fixtures installed in US households in 1998 alone save 44 million gallons of water every day, resulting in total dollar-value savings of more than $33.6 million per year. American Water Works Association, 2003

• It takes about 4,776 gallons of water to raise a Christmas tree. American Water Works    Association, 2003

• On average, 50 to 70 percent of home water is used outdoors for watering lawns and gardens. American Water Works Association, 2003

• Daily indoor per capita water use in the typical single-family home with no water-conserving    fixtures is 74 gallons. American Water Works Association, 2003

• If all US households installed water-saving features, water use could decrease by 30 percent, saving an estimated 5.4 billion gallons per day. This would result in dollar-volume savings of $11.3 million per day or more than $4 billion per year. American Water Works Association, 2003

• Global water consumption is doubling every 20 years, twice the rate of population growth.    Environmental Defense Fund, 2003

• Americans tap into 341 billion gallons of the US freshwater resources every day. Of the amount withdrawn, only 1% is used for drinking. About 41% is used for agriculture, 39% for hydroelectric power, 6% for industrial use, and 6% is used for household purposes.

  American Water Works Association, 2003

• On average only 2.3% of wastewater is reused. In areas of the country where reuse is required or mandated, 20-25% of an area’s water budget is recycled water.

  American Water Works Association, 2003

• Urban stormwater runoff is the largest source of impairment in US coastal waters and the    second largest source of water pollution in US estuaries.

  Environmental Protection Agency, 2000

• Thirty years after the signing of the Clean Water Act, 218 million Americans live within 10    miles of a polluted lake, river, or coastal water. Natural Resources Defense Council, 2002

• More than 4 billion gallons of water get flushed down the toilet every day in the US.    Natural Resources Defense Council, 2003

• The average household uses over 22,000 gallons of water per year just for showers and baths. Center for a New American Dream, 2003

• Wetlands are rich in plant life, which attracts large numbers of animals. Some 5,000 species    of plants, 190 species of amphibians, and 1/3 of all bird species in the US are found in wetlands. Almanac of the Environment, National Audubon Society, 1994

• Eleven percent of the world’s reefs are now regarded as permanently lost; that share may rise    to 40% by 2010. Worldwatch Institute, 2002

• Globally, 58% of coral reefs are imperiled by human activity such as over-fishing, sewage

  runoff, sedimentation, and dredging. Environmental Defense Fund, 2003

• Ninety percent of all large fish have disappeared from the world’s oceans due to the last fifty    years of industrial fishing. Nature, 2003

• Today 505 million people live in countries that are water stressed or water scarce; that    number is expected to reach between 2.4 and 3.4 billion people by 2025. Worldwatch    Institute, 2002

   

   

  

   

   

Rainforest

• Coffee, bananas, rice, tomatoes, corn, potatoes, chocolate, sugar, spices, wicker, rubber,

        vanilla, oranges, lemons, limes and peanuts are some of the products that were discovered

        in tropical rainforests. National Wildlife Federation

• One fourth of all drugs prescribed in the US contain derivatives from tropical forest plants.

        Rainforest Action Group

• We have already destroyed half of the original rainforest. At the current rate of destruction—

        95 acres every minute, we will completely eradicate all rainforests by the year 2050. Earth

        Care Paper Company

• Today, tropical forests supply about 30% of the world’s log exports, 12% of sawn wood

        exports, and 60% of plywood and veneer exports. Worldwatch Institute

• The US imports approximately 800 million pounds of paper annually from Brazil’s forests.

        Earth Care Paper Company

• In tropical forests, it is estimated that 50,000 species become extinct each year. That is 137

        species a day or 6 species an hour. Edward Wilson, 2x Pulitzer Prize winner and Harvard

        Biologist

• The US consumes 33 percent of the world’s timber and paper. World Wildlife Fund and

        World Resources Institute, 1998

•  Less than 1% of the tropical rainforest species that have been identified have been thoroughly

    examined for their chemical compounds. Rainforest Action Network, 2003

• Rainforests cover 2% of the Earth’s surface yet house over half of Earth’s plant and animal

   species. Rainforest Action Network, 2003

• Seventy percent of the plants identified by the National Cancer Institute as useful in cancer

    treatment are only found in the rainforest. Rainforest Action Network, 2003

• Global tropical natural forests declined by nearly 13 million hectares from 1990-1995 only,

   compared to roughly 15 million hectares from 1980-1990. UN Food and Agricultural

    Organization, 1997

• Americans use about 27% of the worldwide commercial wood harvest. Center for a New

   American Dream, 2003

• There are more roads in our National Forests than in the entire US Interstate Highway

   system. National Forest Protection Alliance

• 80% of the world’s large tracts of ancient forests have already been logged. New Leaf

   Paper, 2001

• 76 countries have lost all their original forest cover. New Leaf Paper, 2001

• Seven out of ten biologists believe we are in a mass extinction, the fastest in Earth’s history.

   American Museum of Natural History, 1998

• Some 50% of the world’s flora and fauna could be on the path to becoming extinct within the  next one hundred years. National Geographic, 1998

• A total of 12, 259 species of plants and animals are known to face a high risk of extinction in  the near future, in almost all cases as a result of human activities. This includes 24% (1 in

  4) mammal species and 12% (1 in 8) bird species. World Conservation Union, 2003

• According to a United Nations Environmental Program report, nearly a quarter of the

  world’s mammals face extinction within the next thirty years. BBC News, 2002

• The US leads the world with 29% of the total identified plant species in our country labeled

   as threatened with extinction. The World Conservation Union, 1998

• The current extinction rate is up to 1000 times the background (natural) rate, and could climb

   as high as 10,000 times within the next century. XVI International Botanical Congress, 1999

• In 19 of the 25 biodiversity hot spots on the planet, population is growing on average at a rate    1.8% higher than the worldwide average. Worldwatch Institute, 2002 

• Due to human impacts, the world loses 7% of its topsoil every ten years. It takes 1,000 years

  to produce one inch of topsoil. Almanac of the Environment, National Audubon Society, 1994

• The rate of soil formation is so slow that it is essentially nonrenewable in human life spans. Worldwatch Institute, 1995

• There are billions of microorganisms in one teaspoon of soil. Soil is alive! Almanac of the

   Environment, National Audubon Society, 1994

• Today, soil is eroding faster than it is being formed. Erosion is being caused by agricultural

   practices that remove plant cover, overgrazing, poor logging practices and off-road

   vehicles. Almanac of the Environment, National Audubon Society, 1994

   

   

Plastic Recycling

• The overall recycling rate for plastics is fairly small—9%. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000

• A 1999 survey by the Solid Waste Coordinators of Kentucky found that 54% of all collected litter consisted of beverage containers, carriers, bottle caps, and pull-tabs. Container Recycling Institute, 2001

• The nation’s 10 deposit states achieve an average container recycling rate of 72%, versus  29% in the 40 non-deposit states. Container Recycling Institute, 2001

• In Michigan, the only state with a dime deposit, the redemption rate is 95%. Container    Recycling Institute, 2001

• Over 1.5 billion pounds of post-consumer plastic bottles were recycled during 1999, accounting for 22 percent (by weight) of all plastic bottles produced in the US. American Plastics Council, 2000

• Post-consumer plastic bottle recycling has increased dramatically over the last ten years, from 234 million pounds in 1989 to over 1.5 billion pounds in 1999. American Plastics Council, 2000

• Even though approximately one-half of beverage containers are recycled annually,  Americans trash more than 270 million beer and soft drink bottles every day. Container Recycling Institute, 2001

• Plastics’ share of packaging has grown faster than any other material since the 1960’s. More    than 46 types of plastic are in common use. Worldwatch Institute

• Each American throws away an average of 100 polystyrene cups each year, and the expected lifetime of each cup is over 500 years. Green Seal’s Choose Green Report, 1999

• The US threw away 114 billion single use beverage bottles and cans in 1999. American Plastics Council, 2000

• Americans use some 14 billion plastic shopping bags, an average of 425 bags per person.

   ABC News, 2003

Hazardous Chemicals

• Household garbage today contains a growing amount of hazardous wastes including

        batteries, paints, cleaning solvents, automotive supplies, and garden pesticides.

        Worldwatch Institute

• 2. Products are considered hazardous if they have one or more of the following properties:

        flammable/combustible, explosive/reactive, corrosive, or poisonous/toxic. Eco-Cycle, 1996

• The average American home contains more synthetic chemicals today than the average

        chemical plant of 100 years ago. Windstar Foundation

• Hazards associated with aerosols vary greatly. Since aerosol propelled particles are very

        small, they are easily absorbed into the lungs and bloodstream. In addition, many of the

        propellants used in these aerosols, such as butane and propane, are highly flammable.

        California Integrated Waste Management Department, 1994

•  Cleaning products are involved in 11 percent of poisoning exposures in children under six

        years of age. City of Boulder Office of Environmental Affairs, 2003

• 70,000 synthetic chemicals are in production today. Many are suspected to cause cancer or

        other health effects, but only 600 have been adequately tested. City of Boulder Office of

        Environmental Affairs, 2003

• In 2000, US industries released 7 billion pounds of toxic chemicals and chemical compounds

        into our land, air, and water. Only 2.9% of this waste was properly treated as hazardous

        waste. EPA Draft Report on the Environment, 2002

• There are no basic health and environmental data for 71 percent of the most widely used

        chemicals in the US, and less than ten percent of new chemicals reviewed each year under

        premarket notifications have adequate test data on health effects.

         Worldwatch Institute, 2002

• Human activities emit 2,200 tons of mercury per year; only one-seventieth of a teaspoon of

        mercury is needed to pollute a 25-acre lake for one year. Worldwatch Institute, 2002

•  Worldwide some 300-500 million tons of hazardous waste are produced each year, with

        industrialized countries responsible for 80-90 percent of this total. Worldwatch Institute, 2002

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