Recycling Facts

Based on statistics from the U.S. Geological Survey in 2002: Sixty billion, one hundred eighty six million pounds of silica sand was strip mined for use in US water filtration in that year alone.
The Great Lakes Region is the third largest supplier of silica sand.
According to EPA statistics – the U.S. produced 12,470 tons of glass in 2003 with a recovery rate of 19%
Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100 watt light bulb for 4 hours or operate a television for 3 hours.
Producing glass from virgin materials requires 30% more energy than producing it from crushed used glass. Producing glass from virgin materials requires 30% more energy than producing it from crushed used glass.
It takes approximately 1 million years for a glass bottle to break down in a land fill.
In the U.S. today, only 34% of all glass containers are recycled.
Glass never wears out-it can be recycled forever.
Glass containers save 9 gallons of fuel (oil) for every ton of glass recycled.