Recycling does make a difference - in the UK, it saves about 10 to 15 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year (the same as taking 3.5 million cars off the road). It also helps to reduce the costs of waste management in Sutton.
You may wonder - does it all really get recycled? Well, yes, it really does. All recyclable waste you put in your green bin and box does get recycled. Paper can be recycled many times. Even after being recycled five or six times, recycled paper can be used to make egg cartons, packaging, loft insulation, paints and even new road surfaces.
Some people think that recycling metal uses more energy than extracting the raw material in the first place. This isn't true. Recycling aluminium cans saves up to 95% of the energy needed to make new cans (which is enough to power a TV for three hours) and reduces the 4 tonnes of waste (created when producing just 1 tonne of aluminium) to no waste at all.
Some people think that recycled glass is worse quality than other glass. This isn't true. There is no loss of quality when recycling glass no matter how many times.