How Does Recycling Influence Air Pollution?

Landfill Gases

• Air pollution from landfills is decreased because of recycling. A landfills emits a great deal of air pollution in the form of gases as its contents break down. These gases include carbon dioxide, methane, volatile organic compounds, hazardous air pollutants and odorous compounds that are nuisances for nearby residents. Smog, respiratory irritants, central nervous system damage and even cancer have all been related to landfill air pollution. Recycling reduces the use of landfills by using waste to create new products, rather than just throwing it away.

Vehicle Emissions

• Transporting items to be recycled has a negative impact on air pollution. It's been estimated that there are 179,000 waste collection, transfer and recycling trucks in use in America. Of these trucks, over 90 percent run on diesel and the average truck gets 3 miles per gallon, meaning they produce a lot of air pollution and use a lot of fuel. Materials for recycling need to be transported to a processing facility, and this transportation creates more air pollution.

Processing Materials

• Processing recycling materials can have a negative affect on air quality. For instance, a glass recycling plant in Washington state produces more toxic emissions and has more pollution violation fines than any other factory in that region of the country. Additionally, the next three largest polluters in that region are also recycling facilities. Melting, shredding, cutting and breaking down recycling components can be a dirty business that creates dirty air.

Energy Saving

• Recycling saves energy, which positively impacts air quality. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the processes of supplying recycled products to industries (collection, processing and transport) use less energy than those that use virgin materials (extraction, refining, transportation and processing). All of these steps create air pollution -- especially refining and transport. For instance, recycling aluminum cans uses only 5 percent of the energy needed to create aluminum from bauxite. The energy saved by recycling one can is enough to power a 25-watt compact fluorescent light bulb for 14 hours.