A new report claims that more than £650 million is being lost by throwing away rubbish instead of recycling it.

Senior waste campaigner at Friends of the Earth, Dr Michael Warhurst recognises that recycling rates across the UK have improved but urged for more action. “Our low recycling rate means that we have to import more expensive resources like aluminium – this is economic madness when they could be recycled here and sold for a profit instead”.

“It’s time we recognised the real value of the materials we throw away every day. We only have one Earth and its resources are finite – making better use of them would save money and help tackle climate change.”

Friends of the Earth explained that approximately 24 million tonnes of recyclable goods are being incinerated or sent to landfill across European countries. The suggest more focus on recycling will significantly reduce carbon emissions and imports.

All this comes at a time when the economy is at a low point, a reset button has been pressed if you will. The old economy collapsed and now we can build and grow green, eco friendly ideas from the ground up.

We can eliminate the concept of waste through design, and that’s what is happening in many new green products now. The next economic boom will be full of efficient, recyclable and low wastage products along with new companies that will pay cash for recycling items like mobile phones and other gadgets.