Many people point to saving landfill space when they talk about recycling.   This is an important issue, to be sure.  But perhaps more important are two other reasons for recycling versus throwing items in the trash: 1) energy savings and 2) reduced impact on natural ecosystems from mining or harvesting virgin materials.

The National Recycling Coalition points out that recycling aluminum to produce new products uses 95% less energy than manufacturing aluminum from virgin materials.  Save energy and

Every time we throw an item in the trash, we are virtually eliminating the possibility that the material in that item will again be put to productive use.  Producers then turn to freshly mined materials and newly cut trees to fill the demand for their manufactured goods, resulting in habitat destruction for many species.  Recycling items allows for much more use to be gained from every pound of iron ore mined, or from every tree cut.