Benefits of buying recycled products, and carbon saved 

Physical products use up valuable resources and are responsible for carbon emissions during their manufacture, distribution and disposal. Based on a range of data, we've calculated that the carbon embedded within an average conventional product made from raw materials is approximately 9.73 kg per item. See here for the methodology behind this figure.

Recycled products, which have been made from existing materials, saves a huge amount of fossil fuels and energy in extracting the raw materials, be it through mining, cutting down trees or distilling oil for petroleum-based products. It also saves precious new raw materials from being consumed, and spares the old product from landfill.

Making recycled paper for example can save up to 75% of the energy of making paper from virgin trees, and other materials, like plastics and rubber can save anything up to 90%.

Taking a lower end conservative estimate that recycled products can save around 70% energy compared with making something new, carbon saved is approximately:

0.7 x 9.73 = 6.81 kg per recycled product.