Recycling is Beautiful

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Accessory 3 ~ Brooch – recycled – Photo 2 of 2

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sterling recycling center

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Trash does not simply get put on a truck every Tuesday morning and disappear. Any product is eventually used up, and must be recycled or disposed of. Solid waste, be it recyclable or not, has its own processing facilities, and is a significant industry. Chemistry and environmental science are not the only methods that can be used to help us deal with solid waste management – we can use economics, the science of resource distribution, to understanding our trash, and help shape our environmental outlook.

Economics is the study of people, companies, and governments interacting in the marketplace to decide how to distribute and use resources. All of these have something to do with what happens to our trash and recyclables. Each has goals, and each goal has its own costs and benefits. Often, what’s good for one group isn’t necessarily good for the others, or for the environment. However, because environmental awareness is a strong part of modern culture, no person or company can ignore the impact of its actions in the way we could a century ago, when many houses had private landfills and hazardous waste was just dumped in the nearest stream.

Our economic analysis of waste starts with disposal goals. Families and households want to get rid of the things they don’t need. Waste management companies, including trash haulers, landfill operators, and recycling plants, all want to make a profit by providing this service. Governments, from your town and county councils up to federal regulatory agencies, want to ensure the safety and satisfaction of their citizens, in the present and future. More specifically, regulators create policies that balance everyone’s goals, making sure that the outcome of any action is best for everyone.

Economists assume that if it were legal, everyone would dump their trash wherever is convenient. Laws exist to protect the environment from this kind of dumping by establishing places to dispose materials and safe practices, which of course cost money to enforce. Traditionally, property taxes pay for the operation of municipal landfills and subsidize trash hauling. Since many places also have recycling programs now, these must also be funded. Governments have many different funding strategies, and you might be surprised to learn how these can affect your behavior.

Paying for waste disposal with property taxes hides the true cost of disposal. There is no incentive for us to pay attention to what we do with our trash or recyclables. By contrast, some cities, like Seattle, have what are called “pay as you throw” programs, where households pay a fee for every bag of trash they put out for curbside collection. This cost covers most or all of the “tipping fee” charged by landfills for trash to be deposited there. Because families have to pay, they are more aware of what they’re throwing out. Cities with pay as you throw programs typically report a 30% decrease in landfilling and a corresponding increase in recycling.

Most recycling programs are subsidized as a public service. We know recycling is good for the environment because it reduces the use of raw materials and pollution associated with manufacturing new containers. However, many households would not recycle if there was significant cost or effort involved. In fact, some households won’t recycle if there is no incentive to do so. In cases where subsidized single stream curbside recycling ensures that the cost and effort of recycling is the same or less then throwing things away, we find that people choose to recycle as much as they can, especially if there is reduced cost or effort involved.

Many other programs create different incentives or fund waste management programs. Producers can be charged an “advance disposal fee” for products with unrecyclable packaging, raising its cost and encouraging consumers to choose recyclable alternatives, as well as providing funding for disposal. Or, under a deposit/refund scheme, a deposit is built into the shelf price of many beverages. Consumers receive a refund of the deposit when they return a container to a recycling center, store, or the manufacturer. In cities and states with beverage container refunds, this doubles as an important source of income for the homeless, and leads to reduced litter as well.

People are notoriously stubborn about changing their habits, even when the change is for their own good. With environmental concern now prevalent in our culture, most people are aware of the benefits of recycling and practice it at some level. However, we still produce almost twice as much waste per person than we did fifty years ago. Effective legislation creates tangible financial incentives that encourage recycling and discourage waste by making their real cost apparent to everyone, rather than hiding it in other taxes. Aligning people’s actions in the short term with what’s good for them in the long term in this way may face opposition, but it encourages us to make responsible decisions. With a fair and creative mix of funding strategies, we can go a long way toward ensuring that we continue to have the resources and healthy environment we need to enjoy healthy and abundant lives for generations to come.

In another article I’d like to cover the pitfalls of Incinerators and so called Waste-to-Energy plants that incentivize burning trash and recyclables in lieu of better zero waste policies.

Sources:
“The Cost of Reducing Municipal Solid Waste” by Karen Palmer, et al. Produced for Resources for the Future. www.rff.org/documents/RFF-DP-96-35.pdf

“The Economics of Municipal Solid Waste” by David Beede and David Bloom. Abstract available at http://wbro.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/10/2/113

Americans generated a total of 333 million tons of municipal solid waste in 2009. (Municipal solid waste, MSW for short, is the official term for anything that households throw away or recycle.) That’s an average of four and a half pounds of solid waste per person per day. Keep in mind that this estimate may be on the little high side, since it includes things like refrigerators that we don’t throw out every day. But still, I bet you didn’t think everything you threw out added up to so much.

Where does all this waste come from? According to the report, 31% is packaging. Nondurable goods, things like newspapers, are 23%; 18% is durable goods — items like clothing. Yard waste and food scraps are each 13%.

Nationally, 33% of our waste is “recovered” — in other words, recycled. However, while some communities are recovering around 60% of their MSW, others still lack access to even basic recycling programs. Also, economics sometimes dictates what gets recycled; some communities won’t pay for recycling centers because dumping in a landfill is cheaper.

Economics and technology have a lot to do with what gets recycled and what doesn’t. 55% of paper, including packaging, office paper, and newspaper, is recycled. Paper retains much of its durability through the recycling process, and requires minimal addition of raw materials. By contrast, only 7% of plastic is recycled. The recycling process consumes a great amount of energy, releases green house gases, and is more expensive than manufacturing new plastic from petroleum.

So what do these numbers say about the state of our waste management? Have we made any progress?

The amount of trash that goes into landfills today is actually very slightly lower than it was in the 1960s, when there was no municipal recycling. So with all our advances in recycling, we’ve really only made up for increased consumption since World War II. Going further than this may be much more difficult, since all the easily recyclable materials are being recycled, at least in areas where recycling is available. Expanding the network of recycling centers is one solution. Additional local laws, such as bottle bills and pay-as-you-throw programs, can create large gains in recycling when implemented, even in areas that already have conventional recycling programs. If we truly want to do something about our country’s ever expanding landfills, we can’t just choose between a few simple alternatives — we must use every tool at our disposal.

Learn more about these tools in the next article, The Economics of Trash.

Source:
EPA – Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2008 (PDF): available at http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/msw99.htm

Waste In Australia
In order to get a handle on the contributions that are made by the food packaging industry when it comes to waste in Australia, it helps to have a basic understanding of the numbers. Approximately 2.2 million tonnes of food waste is produced in this country each year. Were it not for food packaging suppliers, it would be considerably more. Each family in Australia generates about 400 kilograms of waste per year. These numbers definitely put Australia’s role in waste production into perspective.

Why Reducing Waste Is Important
Most people realise that reducing waste is an important way to help save the planet. Australia’s greenhouse emissions could be reduced by up to three percent through the reduction of the organic waste found in food. Additionally, reducing the waste could help reduce the size of landfills around the country. Unquestionably, waste reduction is extremely important – and the Australian food and beverage packaging industries are doing as much as they can to help.

What Is Saved Through Recycling?
Recycling is a core part of the food packaging industry’s philosophy. Considering all of the good that is accomplished by every household that recycles, it’s plain to see why this industry places such an emphasis on it. For every household that actively recycles, enough energy is saved to run a 40-watt light globe for about 72 hours. Over 90 litres of water are saved per week through such efforts, and about 3.6 kilograms of solid waste are saved per week as well. Every little bit definitely helps, which is why food packaging suppliers make sure to do their own part.

How Packaging’s Been Reduced
As more and more emphasis is placed on waste reduction, the Australian food and beverage packaging industry have adapted numerous changes in order to help. For instance, the soft drink industry – which once required about 453 grams of packaging to distribute and manufacturing a single litre of soft drink – has cut back considerably. Today, that industry only requires about 150 grams per litre of soft drink; that marks a 67% reduction, which isn’t an inconsiderable sum. The waste reduction in Australia should accelerate significantly as more changes take place within the industry.

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In your typical spray bottle, at least 1/10 of the liquid product is left swishing around in the bottom unable to be used because the bottle is designed in a way that makes the liquid inaccessible when the level gets low enough. This adds significantly to the amount of waste that gets tossed into the landfill. Unfortunately many consumers still purchase chemical cleaners and don’t recycle their bottles after use. This costs consumers money and adds harmful leachate to the landfill.

See some disturbing figures on recycle rates and volumes of plastic bottles sent to landfills:

• 285,188 tons of PET bottles were wasted in 1986, while 2,076,000 tons were wasted in 2006.
• In 1986, 58,884 tons of HDPE bottles were wasted, and in 2006, 148,283 tons were wasted.

Source: Container Recycling Institute – see website.

Why is This a “Green” Product?
A few drops left in a bottle seem negligible, but when multiplied by millions the chemicals within become significant quantities, as they are thrown into landfills and released when compacted or break down. It is well known that liquid percolating through landfills creates leachate and can leak out of the existing landfill and make its way into the soil and water tables.

See also:

• Facts on Plastic Bottle Recycling
• Facts on Recycling Rates

1. Separate the items you can recycle from those that you cannot recycle. This is the most important tip to follow. By doing this you will not find yourself separating garbage at the end of every week or month. Simply put, all you need is two cans: one for recyclables and one for non recyclables. Does it get any easier than that?

2. Do you know what is recyclable? If not, you need to make a list and post it somewhere that you see everyday. Some of the most common household recyclables include clear glass containers, colored glass containers, aluminum cans, newspapers, cardboard, steel cans, bi-metallic cans, plastics, and office paper. Is there anything else on your mind? If so, check into whether or not it is recyclable before you decide which can it goes in.

3. It is important to know how to recycle in your area. Believe it or not, many people don’t recycle because they don’t know how. No matter where you live, you will be able to recycle via a curbside program or by hauling your items to a center. Either way, the end result is the same.

4. If you have to take your recyclables to a center do so once per month in order to “ease the pain.” Even if you like to recycle you know that it can be difficult to travel to a center on a regular basis. If you schedule ahead and only make one trip things will be much easier on you.

The law may not say that you have to recycle, but as a consumer this is a responsibility that you should take seriously. If you follow the four tips above you will find it easier to organize your recyclables, and ensure that they end up in the right place when all is said and done.

The best way to reduce landfill waste is through recycling. This is only one option to consider, but the more people who do this the better off the world will be. Landfills are filling up all over the country, and it takes hundreds of years for many of the items to break down completely. Not to mention the fact that some materials that are put in the ground can be harmful to not only the planet, but also human beings and animals.

It is a shame that so many people don’t know what can and cannot be recycled. A small list of the most common recyclables include: clear glass containers, colored glass containers, aluminum cans, newspapers, cardboard, steel cans, bi-metallic cans, plastics, and some types of office paper. There are many other items that can and should be recycled, but these are the ones that the majority of people are most familiar with.

Believe it or not, you do not have to go to extremes to reduce landfill waste through recycling. Some states, such as Pennsylvania, offer curbside collection programs. This is not the case throughout the entire state, but many communities take great pride in this type of recycling program. After all, it makes it much easier for everybody to take part.

Don’t have a curbside program in your area? If not, you should consider taking all of your recyclables to a local recycling center.

The best way to reduce landfill waste is through recycling.

The best way to know that your recycling efforts are worthwhile is to deal with a reputable center. For instance, does your area have a collection truck that comes around for recyclables once per week? If so, you want to make sure you leave your items on the curb. This way you can know for sure that you are sending your recyclables to somebody who knows what to do with them.

Of course, not everybody is this lucky. Some people have to search out a recycling center in their area if they want to take advantage. There is nothing wrong with this, but you definitely want to ask what happens to your recyclables after you leave. This will give you peace of mind knowing that your items are going to the right place.

As you know, there are many items you use everyday that can be recycled. They include everything from aluminum cans to newspapers and much more. Take aluminum cans for example. These are among the most common recyclables due to the extreme amount of soda and alcohol that is consumed in the United States. If you opt to recycle your aluminum cans they are sent to the proper center, melted down and then reused in the end.

If an item can be recycled you should find out where to send it, and then do so. Remember, it is better to recycle than for items, such as aluminum cans, to end up in a landfill. It takes quite some time for most recyclables to breakdown in a landfill.

Overall, you should be confident that the items you are recycling are making it to the right place.