Next Saturday is Earth Overshoot Day. On this day, the world's population will have used up all the resources that can be naturally replenished within a year for 2020. Consumers can reduce this consumption by separating their waste correctly. This is because the existing waste management cycles ensure that resources are conserved.
Every year, significantly more resources are extracted from the earth than can grow back naturally in the same amount of time. The International Earth Overshoot Day reminds us of this ("Earth Overshoot Day")whose date is set annually on the initiative of the sustainability organisation Global Footprint Network is calculated.
"Earth Overshoot Day is a vivid reminder of how important it is to use raw materials not just once, but over and over again - in a cycle. Through the Collection, sorting and recycling of packaging the dual systems in Germany make an important contribution to this. However, only recyclable materials from packaging that households collect via their Yellow Bag or Yellow Bin as well as glass and paper containers can remain in the cycle. Everything that ends up in the residual waste is lost from the cycle forever. If you separate your waste carefully, you help to postpone the Earth Overshoot Day even further and to conserve our resources sustainably." Axel Subklew, Spokesperson for the "Waste separation works" campaign
The renowned Öko-Institut in Freiburg has calculated that the recycling of packaging from the Yellow Bag and Yellow Bin, glass and paper, cardboard and carton in Germany around 3.1 million tonnes of CO2-equivalents saved become. The corresponds to the emissions of a city the size of Bonn in the same period.
Call for correct waste separation on Earth Overload Day
By separating their waste correctly, consumers make an important contribution to climate protection. This is because only correctly disposed packaging can be recycled and returned to the cycle. This benefits the environment. For example, every tonne of recycled plastic that is used instead of newly produced plastic is avoided, between 1.5 and 3.2 tonnes of climate-relevant greenhouse gases.
The recycling of paper, cardboard and paperboard also benefits the environment. The production of recycled paper consumes only a third of the energy and around a fifth of the water required to produce virgin fibre paper. And the production of recycled aluminium requires only five percent of the energy needed to produce primary aluminium. Over 15 megawatt hours of electricity are required to produce one tonne of primary aluminium. That's that much, as a two-person household in a single-family house in around five years consumed.
SourceThe dual systems
