Climate change: Can recycling really help?
Video report by ITV News Science Correspondent Alok Jha
Around 87 per cent of people in the UK believe recycling is one of the best ways to help save the environment, an ITV News poll has found.
Ahead of next week's climate change summit in Paris, ITV News went behind the scenes at a recycling plant to see what happens to rubbish after it has been separated out.
Once taken away, the recycling is taken to a sorting plant, which uses high-tech machinery to separate the different kinds of rubbish out, with a laser to scan what it is made of.
The plant can then extract materials from the recycled goods and use them in the manufacture of new products.
Not only does this mean less has to be dug out from the ground, but it also uses less energy in the process.
In the survey, people also rated more tree-planting, an increased use of renewable energy and reducing the use of cars as some of the mose effective methods of tackling global warming.
'Effective' ratings
88% - Planting more trees
87% - Recycling
85% - Increasing use of renewable energy
85% - Improving housing insulation
76% - Reducing use of cars
75% - Using energy saving lightbulbs
73% - Reducing the use of coal
72% - Having reusable carrier bags
70% - Paperless bills
68% - Cycling more