Recycling Process Animation

Rrecycling is pretty simple, as the animation shows. Products that we consume everyday can be recycled if we will only take the time to dispose of them properly. Don't take the easy way out and just toss your trash in the trashcan. Chances are, your trash can be recycled into a new material instead of lying uselessly in a landfill somewhere...

Does Recycling Actually Save Resources?

Of course.

Some critics claim that using less of one source only means that you use more of another. This is actually true, but critics will use this fact to state that recycling then does nothing. They believe that the resources saved by recycling are used anyway throughout the recycling process. While this is somewhat correct, that assertion is not well-founded because it does not look at the situation closely enough. Recycling uses resources to drive trucks and operate machinery, but these resources are nothing compared to the amount needed to extract virgin materials and create new materials.

Some resources will have to be used to recycle- there is no getting around that. To declare that recycling is useless for this reason, though, is absurd. Recycling not only uses far less natural resources than using brand new materials, it also prevents reusable, valuable materials from just sitting in a landfill somewhere.

Is Recycling Worth the Effort?

Some people will argue that the costs of recycling outweigh the benefits. In 1996, New York Times columnist John Tierney wrote a controversial post, "Recycling is Garbage". He claimed, “Mandatory recycling programs...offer mainly short-term benefits to a few groups -- politicians, public relations consultants, environmental organizations and waste handling corporations -- while diverting money from genuine social and environmental problems. Recycling may be the most wasteful activity in modern America…”

I disagree with Teirney's claim, though they're are many who would agree with him today that recycling is more expensive than trash disposal. However, when analyzed correctly, recycling programs are, in fact, cost-effective. For example, a typical recycling program can cost $50-$150 per ton of trash whereas a typical trash disposal program can cost $70-$200.

Cities need to establish improved recyling programs and not shy away from the costs. Yes, the costs should be analyzed just as any other expense, but recycling is beneficial and econmical in an immediate sense and in the long-term.