The Business of Recycling and Garbage
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-02-21/business-recycling-and-garbage
Americans generate some two hundred and fifty million tons of waste every year. Our options are to bury, burn or recycle it. Over half of it is buried in landfills, often after being transported across states lines. This is in part why garbage is a seventy billion dollar industry. Recycling is about a third of that business. It’s been praised as a huge environmental success, in the U.S. more people recycle than vote. But it has also recently come under criticism for economic reasons and for environmental issues over e-waste, among other things. Diane and her panel of experts discuss finding better ways to manage our garbage.
Guests
Bruce Parker
president & CEO of National Solid Wastes Management Association, a trade association representing for-profit waste and recycling companies in North America.
Samantha MacBride
Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, author of "Recycling Reconsidered: the Present Failure and Future Promise of Environmental Action in the United States."
Allen Hershkowitz
senior scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council
Program Highlights
Americans generate lots of garbage, almost four and a half pounds per person, per day. Over half goes to the nation's 2400 landfills, some is incinerated, and roughly one-third is recycled. Diane and guests talked about how we handle trash today.
Recycling "Woefully Underdeveloped In The U.S."
"Recycling is woefully underdeveloped in the United States. For municipal waste we recycle about a third of our garbage...I've written books on garbage management in Japan and Europe and I've been there studying it. They recycle twice as much - at least twice as much of the waste than we do," Hershkowitz said. These areas have better policies and limit the amount of trash that can go in to landfills, he said, unlike here in the U.S.
The Influence Of Federal Policies
Federal policies have allowed states to send trash across their own lines and into other states, Parker said. "Up until 1976, there were thousands of these small open dumps throughout the United States. We've all seen them growing up. They had no sanitary protection, no environmental protection, it was during the time when people burned leaves for example out in the streets, which you can't do anymore," he said. "When you're living in a really dense area like the northeast and the central part of the United States where they don't have a lot of land density, or politically they can't put up a waste energy plant, they have to send it someplace, and therefore, they're sending it to different countries," he said.
Curbside Collection Problems
McBride emphasized that the value of glass is destroyed when it is included in co-mingled curbside collections. "It is going to be going to very low end uses as aggregate or road base. And there's absolutely no reason why glass could not be treated differently, either separately collected or better yet routed back for refill using a strong deposit system such as they have in Europe," she said.
The U.S. Is Doing "Many Good Things"
Despite all the problems with recycling and waste management, Parker pointed out that he believes the U.S. is doing many good things in the area. The issue of electronics waste is a particularly contentious one. "This is a complex question and there certainly are documented abuses in e-waste handling in developing countries, but I would also like to point out that there are e-waste recyclers in the U.S. who are working with reputable recyclers and refurbishers in countries like Ghana and also South America and trying to route exported e-waste to responsible processing, often not involving recycling, but refurbishment so that these items can be actually reused in the country of import," MacBride said.
You can read the full transcript here.
Comments
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"The Business of Recycling and Garbage"
I am delightedly surprised by Diane's new found stance on the Obama administration!.
Is recycling in the US economicallly feasible?
Instead of taxing products like paper bags, why not ban them?
Why not require manufacturers to make products with resuable parts?
I'm 30, and remember my excitement when my neighborhood started curbside recycling when I was around 10. Today, nothing breaks my heart like seeing an adolescent tossing a plastic bottle into the trash.
Even that is progress - most people used to just throw them out the window (many still do).
Great Topic, Thank you. If you get into composting, as a new composter, I'd like to find out about the reality of picking up a lung fungus from the pile.
Is there a way to add color or increase the size of the recycling symbols usually located at the bottom of a glass or plastic container? If these symbols were located in a prominent location on the package perhaps it would raise recycling awareness. I struggle to find those symbols to be sure it can be recycled. We can only recycle #1 and #2 in our area.
As your guest said, we limit what we recycle. Why are so many containers made with 4, 5 or 6, when they can't be recycled, (in some areas)? I have heard if you throw the wrong numbers in a recycling container, the whole bunch will be contaminated. Is that true?
Good topic, we need more of it. Thanks, Diane!
Elizabeth, Long Island, NY
Thanks for this discussion about much needed recycling.
Can you please clarify how much of recycling is in fact "down cycling"?
Also, I would love to hear some exploration of the "cradle to cradle" (rather than cradle to grave) industrial manufacturing model described by William McDonough.
Thank you, Diane and guests, and producers.
Though Recycling is touted as the paradigm of the everyday environmentalist, Recycling is NOT actually sustainable! There's a HUGE amount of energy expenditure associated with recycling products -- the energy it takes to break down and reprocess the material. Plus the carbon footprint to transport it is very large as well. Recycling is 'Less Bad' than putting it in the landfills or burning it for energy, but it is by no means truly Sustainable!
We need to take a step back here, look at our consumptive process, and the 'cycle' that we are beginning as soon as a new product is created. Much of this comes down to better design of materials, products, and packaging, so that such elements can be reused or 'up-cycled' - meaning the elements quality is reused and improved without energy/material loss. There is also much to be done about re-educating how we perceive/value material, and re-designing political/physical infrastructure for material processes.
See William McDonough's work on 'Up-cycling'
I would love to hear comments about the PBS Independent Lens film "Garbage Dreams." It was about a village of Coptic Christians who collected the garbage of Cairo and made their livings recycling 80% of what was collected. They seemed to have already solved much more of this problem than here and so relevant to this discussion. Do any of the guests know how the villagers are doing now?
If we mandate an increase in recycling rates as we do cafe standards for automobiles we can actually raise our national rate from 32% to 60% and create 2 million new DOMESTIC jobs.
The value of what we are throwing away each year is over 6.5 billion dollars, not counting the cost of the disposal itself!!
Mike
Northeast Resource Recovery Association
Epsom ,N.H.
It's good to hear that one third of municipal waste is being recycled. But here in St. Louis part of the recycling stream includes city street trees are are being unnecessarily cut down and turned into compost by a private company that is profitting from the city's Forestry practices, which are akin to a commercial logging operation.
I am from Iowa and now live in NC. I was shocked when I moved to NC that there is no bottle deposit . I grew up in IA where even a 5 cent deposit encouraged us to recycle. Plus people would pick up bottles from litterbugs to turn in to the local redemption center for the money. I really don't understand what is that different about NC...or any state for that matter...that similar deposit systems are not enacted.
Beyond the discussion of recycling trash is the equally important issue of recycling electronics like computers. Project Reboot, a local organization in Rockville, Md., is one of only a handful of local non-profits that accept donated computers and monitors to refurbish and distribute to low income families. Working with Microsoft, Project Reboot refurbished and distributed over 2,500 computers last year alone. Take a look at our website, www.ProjectReboot.org, for more information on how to become a donor, how to become a recipient and for directions to our warehouse.
We are trying to expand our network of businesses and organizations that partner with us to recycle computers and related equipment. Give us a call or send an email if you would like to discuss how your organization's contribution can change lives.
Starting July 1, 2011 -The Vermont E-Cycles program is a great model for financing the proper recycling of electronic waste. Any manufacturer that sells electronic products in Vermont has to agree to pay its fair share of the proper recycling processing of all electronic waste. The Original Equipment Manufacturers submit their gross sales figures for the year and then are charged their % of the total sales. The residents can bring the material in for free and the total cost of the collection and processing in an R-2 or E-Stewards program is paid for based on their % basis.
In the late 1990s there was an aggressive program to limit the paper used on new cd music disks. A good example of the over-hyped special interest 'enviro-odd-balls' who fog the atmosphere with trivia. One purchase of a refrigerator contains more paper than all the cd boxes one would ever buy. There was no campaign to limit appliance boxes. Meanwhile our oceans and rivers are clogged with plastic waste.
What I posted to my FB status: "92.5FM how culture makes the difference in recycling levels. Those cultures that recycle will survive peak oil/resources. Those that don't - won't."
I'd like to hear MORE exploration of how some of these cultures including Seattle, San Fran as well as Germany and Japan (so its not a *countRy* issue) have come to these values and ACTED upon them.
Also ... how can those of us who want to survive peak resources either get our local town to become a "transition town" when the normies just don't want to hear it ... or MOVE to a culture that is more likely to survive.
I have tried using petitions to get my governor to use the stimulus money to create MORE M.R.F.s I have not been successful. I tried to create MERF this TURF. NRDC can you help? I was inspired by this show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvd8ekI6Ma4
My email is aicram62@yahoo.com
My name is Marcia Everett I'm in the Green Party
It's all about shared responsibility.
Just this weekend I entered a major electronic chain store to inquire if they could recycle a bag of old batteries I had collected. The staff looked at me confused and said they couldn't help me.
It is unacceptable that these companies can sell millions of batteries every year, but have no hand in dealing with their correct disposal.
It's all about shared responsibility.
Just this weekend I entered a major electronic chain store to inquire if they could recycle a bag of old batteries I had collected. The staff looked at me confused and said they couldn't help me.
It is unacceptable that these companies can sell millions of batteries every year, but have no hand in dealing with their correct disposal.
The economics of recycling is dependent on geography. To say that the value of glass is this or that cannot be done in general. The amount of fuel, etc (not to mention the costs) that would need to be used to create separate collection systems for glass would wipe out any benefits.
As for overpackaging...the issue is not one of the manufacturer, it's all of our faults as we buy those products.
Bottle bills create their own waste, bureaucracies. Ask your panel member what they did with excess redemptions that no one redeemed....it's a new tax, revenue source in California.
the over packaging of retail items is the result of a long standing partnership between vendors and retailers to contain in - store shrink - in other words, theft. the idea is to make the packaging, as the product is presented on the shelf, difficult to defeat; yes, it does create problems for the consumer after the purchase but this is seen as a small price to pay when viewed against the cost of shiplifting. OBTW - the packaging is only going to get more and more robust. sorry for the bad news -
http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-e-waste
Americans will step up to the plate and do difficult things when they are asked. Someone just needs to be the adult and ask the country to do it! Just like children, if there are low expectations of us, we meet them every time. A serious, public campaign asking volunteer compliance of producers and consumers does not require an "act of congress."
Theft is the reason is there so much over-packaging of small items. If packages are difficult to hide, open, or remove items in the store, theft is reduced and so are customer costs.
What about deliberate sabatoge of the recyclable stream by right-wingers who resent recycling as a detestable liberal project? I've seen evidence of either deliberate fouling of separated collection bins, or of pathetic ignorance.
If we try to "MANDATE" anything the Republicans will fight it on principle.
WE should do things we can do without making new laws.
By the way, I built my university's recycling program (Virginia Commonwealth University) increasing recycling from a bunch of students using their cars to process 38tons in 1992 to 305tons by 1995.
I found culture was THE most important factor in whether an office or building recycled well.
I also found that President Trani at the time did not value recycling at all and when I had to leave as a student worker, the program DIED. Only fully coming back to life under a new president.
So culture of place is vital. Also often the innovators that actually make a program happen can not find acceptance with the various "authorities" and so cannot get decent pay or material/structural support to grow the program as needed to really address the issues.
Therefore: I believe culture of place is the most important factor.
I agree with so much here. One, I want to add, the triangles and numbers in side need to be larger so people with low vision can read them. Too often the triangle with number inside needs close to a magnifying glass to read.
Also, yes, there is too much politics. The Republicans seem to be trying to convince the religious people that anything close to regulation is akin to communism.
We, as a people, are being bought off by people and organizations trying to manipulate our brains.
What about the cost impact to rural areas where recycling plants are far away. For example, most of MT, WY, ND, etc? The energy & costs to recylcle exceed the benefit, and a national law will ignore this. Why not leave this to states?
Tulsa has recently gone through a more than year long process of negotiating a trash hauler contract and how trash is handled. I went to some of the early meetings being held by city councilors to present the idea of "our trash is cash" to promote ideas to make recycling the top priority in making this change. It was clear in those early meetings that elected officials and the public in general had little interest in expanding the city's recycling program from its present token status.
My idea is very basic, but would involve a turn in the way household and commercial refuse is handled. I all it the 5 can refuse disposal system. Home and most offices would have 5 refuse containers. one each for paper, glass, plastic, metal and the last one for everything else (ETE).
This basic separation of our waste at the consumer level would facilitate more detailed separation and recycling by the city or private contractors. I provided lists of virtually every household and office item so it could be easily determined as to which category to put things in.
For example, which of these 5 groups would a dead hair dryer go into? although hair dryers are mostly made of plastic, the most valuable part of them are the electric motor and other metal components. This item is a good example of one which will require more detailed recycling after consumer separation. Having consumers place it with metal recyclables places it in the best place to begin the recycling process.
I understand this type of transition would be difficult for any city to accomplish, requiring bold and short term unpopular political decisions. However, the long term payoff of turning the areas trash into cash will have significant long term benefits on the economy and livability of any municipality making these bold moves.