It’s a common question when it comes to recycling: If I have to rinse my recyclables, am I really saving water? The short answer is yes. The long answer is that reusing materials, even when they’re rinsed, takes far less water than sourcing virgin (or unused) materials. If you’re still not convinced, let’s break down the impact of your recycling habits.
How Much Water It Takes to Rinse
First, let’s reset on how much water it really takes to rinse your recyclables. There is a common misconception that recyclables must be spotless – this is not the case. Rather than scrubbing your recyclables until they are pristine, most can simply be dumped, rinsed briefly with water, and put in the recycling bin once dry. If you turn your sink faucet on for six seconds or less for each recyclable, you will use less than a quarter gallon of water to rinse (.22 gallons) on the high end.
Paper
While paper products are seldom rinsed before being tossed in the recycling cart, the impact of recycling these items should not be overlooked. Manufacturing paper products from raw materials requires a significant amount of water. From processing lumber into a pulp to purifying the materials, one pound of virgin paper requires more than 11 gallons of water to produce. In contrast, one pound of recycled paper takes less than half the amount of water at roughly five gallons (Environmental Paper Network). Additionally, while one ton of virgin paper requires about 24 trees, recycled paper does not require any new trees.
Plastic bottle being rinsed in a kitchen sink
Source: Getty Images
Plastic Bottles & Jars
As they are often used for food and drink products and require a quick rinse, plastic recyclables give rise to the question of whether recycling saves water. Producing one pound of virgin plastic (roughly 23 plastic water bottles) requires 22 gallons of water, whereas recycled plastic requires only two-thirds of a gallon of water to produce the same quantity (Pinnpack Plastic Recycling). Even with your rinsing factored in for a sticky drink, each recycled plastic bottle would only require a quarter of a gallon to produce, which is 75% less than if the same item was made from raw materials.
Metal Cans
Soda fanatics can rest assured that recycling their cans is doing wonders to save water. Creation of a single pound of virgin aluminum for cans requires about 16 gallons of water, while recycled aluminum uses up to 40% less, or under 10 gallons (Okon Recycling). Once again, even with a wash, that’s significant water savings! For someone who drinks one soda per day, recycling their cans saves nearly 170 gallons of water in a month. Aluminum cans can be recycled indefinitely, so make sure they end up in your recycling cart every time!
Glass Bottles & Jars
From a beer bottle to a pasta jar, glass is another prevalent recyclable that commonly requires a quick rinse before recycling. Although glass does not have the direct calculation for water conservation like paper, plastic, and metal, it does still result in a significant decrease in water requirements. When recycled glass is used, it requires 34% less energy to produce than creating the glass from raw limestone, sand, and soda ash due to lower heat thresholds (Glass Packaging Institute). As energy creation is a water-intensive process, this alone results in reduced water usage. Additionally, recycling glass results in a 50% reduction in water pollution as opposed to creating glass from raw materials.
Woman putting a plastic jug into a WM recycling cart
Source: WM (formerly Waste Management)
It’s safe to say that recycling certainly does save water, and a lot of it! Give those recyclables a quick rinse and toss them in your cart, and you can feel good about your impact on conserving our planet’s resources. If you’re still not sure about what is clean enough for recycling, reach out to our team for further assistance.
For more information, contact the Environmental Services Department at enviro@thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov or 281-210-3800.