The more Georgians recycle, the more our economy grows. Georgians literally throw away millions of dollars worth of goods each year that could be recycled. $250 million a year, to be exact. And we spend another $90 million dollars each year in the disposal process.

Georgia’s paper industry, which uses all of the paper that Georgians recycle and imports even more from other states, is an example of how recycling benefits Georgia’s economy. This industry employs 25,000 people and has an annual payroll of $1 billion. SP Newsprint, for example, which prints the Atlanta Journal Constitution, needs 800,000 tons of recycled paper to supply its Dublin plant. Georgia Mills, another paper recycler, consumed over 2.7 million tons of recycled paper in 2003. Because Georgians throw 322 million tons of newspapers, worth $25 million, into landfills each year, these companies must continue to buy significant amounts of recycled paper from other states. If we recycle more in our own state, these dollars will stay in Georgia.

We also throw away $76 million worth of plastic and $60 million worth of aluminum, which could otherwise be used in North Georgia’s carpet mills. These mills consume 1/3 of all the recycled clear plastic bottles in the country.

Next time you start to throw away a plastic bottle, cup, or container, or would like to throw away the newspaper, think how much better our economy and environment would be if you didn’t! Keeping millions of tons of recyclables out of landfills and supplying Georgia businesses with raw materials for their products will help both Georgia’s environment and economy.