Skip to main content
NC DEQ logo NC DEQ

Topical Navigation

  • Home
  • Divisions
    Divisions
    • Air Quality
    • Coastal Management
    • Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources
    • Environmental Assistance and Customer Service
    • Environmental Education and Public Affairs
    • Marine Fisheries
    • Mitigation Services
    • Waste Management
    • Water Infrastructure
    • Water Resources
  • Permits & Rules
    Permits & Rules
    • Permit Directory
    • State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA)
    • Express Permitting
    • DEQ Forms
    • Permit Assistance and Guidance
    • Rules & Regulations
    • Enforcement
    • NC DEQ ePayments
    • DEQ Permitting Transformation Program
    • Environmental Application Tracker
    • Pre-Regulatory Landfills Map
    • Title VI Compliance
    • Risk-Based Remediation
  • Outreach & Education
    Outreach & Education
    • N.C. Environmental Education
    • Distance Learning - Environmental Education
    • Environmental Justice
    • Educator Resources
    • Recognition Programs
    • Public Involvement Programs
    • Training
    • Recreation
    • Research
    • Grants
    • Conservation
    • Recycling
  • Energy & Climate
    Energy & Climate
    • Energy Group
    • Climate Change
    • Community Solar
    • Energy Assurance
    • Energy Efficiency and Weatherization
    • Energy Resilience
    • Transportation
    • Workforce Development
    • Offshore Wind Development
  • News
    News
    • Press Releases
    • Public Information Contacts
    • Environmentally Speaking Blog
    • Public Notices & Hearings
    • Events
    • Key Issues
    • DEQ Dashboard
    • Legislative Reports
    • Requesting Public Records
  • About
    About
    • Our Mission
    • Leadership
    • Boards and Commissions
    • Divisions
    • Green Square
    • Contact
    • Work at DEQ
  • NC.GOV
  • AGENCIES
  • JOBS
  • SERVICES
NC DEQ »   About »   Divisions »   Environmental Assistance and Customer Service »   Recycling »   General Recycling Information »   Other Support and Information »   Recycling and Climate Change

Recycling and Climate Change

Reducing waste, recycling and composting are effective ways to decrease the generation of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. They achieve these benefits in two ways:

  1. by helping save energy in the processing of materials for industrial and consumer use, and
  2. by reducing the flow of materials -- especially food and other organic wastes -- into landfills where anaerobic decomposition produces methane.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has provided the WARM Model to help community recycling programs and the public calculate the potential greenhouse gas savings from the reduction, recycling and composting of discarded materials. 

Recycling Materials Saves Energy

Download 11 x 17 <a target="_blank" class="icon-pdf" href="/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=7b4190f0-9c8f-4006-812a-74cd2358ce6a&groupId=38322">[PDF]</a> or <a target="_blank" class="icon-img" href="/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=1a97fa20-8573-4f1b-8af8-e285709696b1&groupId=38322">[JPG]</a>.Every time a new product is made from raw materials, large amounts of energy are consumed. We can think of the role energy plays in the four stages of product development: extraction of raw materials, the manufacture of these materials into products, product use by consumers and product disposal. In most cases, recycling uses less energy, which translates into fewer fossil fuels burned and reduced emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. 

Recycling of metals can be a particularly powerful way to save energy. For example, using recycled aluminum scraps to make aluminum cans takes 95 percent less energy than making aluminum cans from bauxite ore, the raw material used to produce aluminum. Another example is steel - it takes 75 percent less energy to make recycled steel than steel produced from its raw material, iron ore.

Outreach Materials

  • Recycling Saves Energy Social Media Toolkit
  • Recycling Saves Energy (11 x 17 Poster) PDF or JPG
  • Composting and the Environment (11 x 17 Poster) PDF or JPG
  • Waste and Its Link to Greenhouse Gas Emissions (11 x 17 Poster) PDF or JPG

References and Links

  • NCDEQ Energy and Climate
  • EPA Climate Change Research

Other Support and Information

  • Market Disruptions
  • Recycling and Climate Change
  • Waste Assessments

Share this page:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

How can we make this page better for you?

Back to top

Contact Us

Physical Address
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
217 West Jones Street
Raleigh, NC 27603 Map It
877-623-6748

Mailing Addresses

Work for Us

  • Job Opportunities at DEQ
  • For State Employees
  • DEQ Intranet

Twitter Feed

Tweets by NC DEQ

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • DEQ Employee Directory
  • Translation Disclaimer
  • Accessibility
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Open Budget
NC DEQ
https://deq.nc.gov/conservation/recycling/recycling-climate-change