BY NOW, almost everyone acknowledges global warming and climate change are real, from the world's most eminent scientists to political leaders on both sides of the aisle.

But what is not so widely known is that recycling can be an important weapon in the fight against global warming - and how easy it is for all of us to play a role in that fight.

Recycling reduces greenhouse gas emissions from landfill, can reduce deforestation, saves energy and produces more energy-efficient products.

These benefits cannot only be largely achieved with existing technology and infrastructure, but the community already knows how it can participate.

As one American scientist recently put it: "Reducing global emissions is as simple as putting recyclables on the curb."

Or, as the Australian Government's Climate Clever campaign states:

"Recycle whenever you can." That's why my company, Pratt Industries USA, announced a $US1 billion ($A1.13 billion) commitment to invest in projects that confront the challenges of global warming at former US president Bill Clinton's Global Initiative meeting in New York City last week.

To some extent, it was business as usual for us. The investments we announced were planned as part of our long-term strategy.

But the Clinton Global Initiative gave us an opportunity we would never have had otherwise to help raise awareness of recycling's powerful effect through the world media coverage of the conference. It was a platform to reach as many people and leaders as possible.

Why is recycling such a key weapon? According to many studies, such as the Stern report released last year by the British Government, deforestation and landfill account for about 25 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions every year.

Recycling has multiple tools in its arsenal to greatly reduce that figure. It reduces deforestation and emissions from landfill and it captures embodied energy.

Globally, landfill accounts for double the carbon dioxide emissions of the worldwide aviation sector. Surely it makes sense for us to focus at least as much on reducing the negative impact of landfill as we do on curtailing the effects of air travel.

The Australian Greenhouse Office and the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change acknowledge that paper in landfill degrades and creates greenhouse gas that even the best landfill capture system cannot fully control.

As a paper recycling company, every US ton of paper Pratt USA diverts from landfill prevents 1.2 US tons of greenhouse gas emissions. So every two tons we prevent going to landfill is equivalent to taking one car off the road for a year.

We recycle 720,000 tons a year in the US, so that's like taking 360,000 cars off the road for a year - 18 per cent of the cars registered in New York City or 35 per cent of those registered in Beijing.

The ratios are the same in Australia, where our sister company, Visy Recycling, collects more than a million tones of waste paper and cardboard annually for recycling. Most of this is processed in Visy's own recycling mills and converted in to corrugated packaging. For other materials, such as glass, aluminum, steel and plastics, the greenhouse effects are in capturing embodied energy. For example, making aluminum from used drink cans uses 95 per cent less energy than making 100 per cent virgin aluminum. 

In greenhouse terms, that means every tone of aluminum recycled saves about 18 tones of carbon dioxide (equivalent).

That's why we're trying to build a movement in the US and Australia that says to politicians and citizens that recycling is an important weapon against climate change.

It's something everyone can do. It's a gateway issue, like the hybrid car.

Unfortunately, recognition has been slow, especially in the US. For instance, New York City leaders recently came out with a call to action designed to make the Big Apple the most eco-friendly big city in the world by 2030.

They list 127 initiatives - but there is not one mention of recycling.

So we've launched a public relations campaign to make New Yorkers more aware.

We've been showing TV ads with Muhammad Ali and actress Alicia Silverstone extolling the virtues of recycling and every sanitation truck in the city is now emblazoned with our company slogan: "If you can tear it, we can take it." We've also teamed up with publisher Time Inc in an effort to increase magazine recycling in New York and elsewhere.

Overall in the US, just half of the waste paper is recycled - the rest goes in to landfill.

I have challenged the American paper industry not to settle for the 55 per cent goal it has set itself, but to emulate Japan, where paper recycling is already at 70 per cent

My company can play a leading role. We own and operate two recycling mills in the US - one just outside Atlanta, the other in New York City - and we are in the process of building our third, in Shreveport, Louisiana.

But we're doing more than recycling paper.

We're also looking at alternative fuel sources and are building a $US50 million waste-to-energy gasifier at our Atlanta mill to generate nine megawatts of electricity, which will further reduce our emissions by about 75,000 tones a year. Similar projects are planned in Australia.

The Atlanta gasifier will be fuelled by wood waste, carpet scraps and mill sludge that would otherwise go to landfill.

Here are some things I believe policymakers and average citizens should do:

We should buy 100 per cent recycled packaging - laminates cannot be recycled - and other recycled-content goods whenever possible.

We must champion the rise of recycling rates.

We must get our recycling message across to schools, so that our children learn a valuable lesson at an early age.

Carbon-trading schemes and policies in Australia and the US should recognize the benefits of landfill diversion and avoid deforestation as an abatement and carbon offset.

I propose a British-style Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme, which is effectively a cap-and-trade system for landfill.

Governments should support energy-from-waste programs as a means of not only of reducing carbon emissions but of reducing energy costs .

More than 40 years ago, US president John Kennedy said: "The supreme challenge of our times is the vulnerability of our planet."

He was referring to nuclear war. Well, the threat may have changed, but the vulnerability has not.

Anthony Pratt is chairman and Chief Executive of Pratt Industries USA.