Ryan Grindel, Candace Snover and Keith Hopkins
1-20-1997 Position Paper P.I.G.
The topic of recycling has been around for almost thirty years. It was realized that simply "throwing" our problems out the window and into the landfill wasn't a permanent solution. Slowly we have tried to upgrade our process of recycling, reusing and reducing. Though the question remains. Do we do enough for recycling? How much longer can we wait to act until we are buried under our own trash. The time has come to bring recycling into the global spotlight.
On April 22, 1970 the first Earth Day was celebrated. First of many
it kicked off a major Earth movement. That same year President Nixon passed
the Environmental Protection Act. Complementing it six years later was
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The Recovery Act regulated
disposal and treatment of solid waste. Prior to this, trash was either
incinerated, burned in an open dump or landfilled. Seventeen years after
this law was passed recycling still hadn't picked up immensely. 75% of
trash still went to landfills, 13% was incinerated and only a meager 12%
was recycled. That was in the year 1993, only four years ago. Of course
a nation wide comparison doesn't truly do justice to waste disposal because
of
concentration of people and exporting of waste. However on a local comparison
the statistics are very similar. In 1993 16 thousand tons of garbage were
produced in Tioga County and only 4 thousand tons were recycled. Three
years later in 1996 our production of trash went up to about 17 thousand
tons while we still only recycled 4 thousand tons of it. With statistics
like these it is not a matter that requires much thought. Landfill space
is constantly being used up; and even the most advanced incinerators still
pollute the air, one option stands. Prices on natural resources are escalating
and their abundance is dropping, one option remains. What kind of future
will we leave for our children, one option stands.
Before we go into discussion of recycling some ground rules need to
be laid. To many its just a simple lack of the right knowledge. Lets start
out with plastics first. Everyone knows about the numbers on the bottoms
of plastic containers. But one thing you may not know is that if those
numbers are combined in a plastic melt it could ruin the whole product.
A common mistake is trying to recycle a jug and its cap together. More
often than not a jugs lid will be of a different number than its container.
Next time you're putting ketchup on your French fries just check the numbers
out. Glass is very much like plastic, but much harder to contaminate. The
two main categories of glass are clear and colored; this of course doesn't
include mirrors and light bulbs. Due to the heat required to melt glass,
labels may be left on bottles though metal
necks may not. And last but not least perhaps the most abundant and easiest
of these materials, paper. Most of the paper we throw away is recyclable.
Office paper, junk mail (including staples and plastic windows), tissue
boxes, newspaper and phone books are all recyclable. There are some exceptions
to certain paper products. Greasy paper plates and bags, pizza boxes and
any type of sanitary product must be disposed of in some other way. In
1993 approximately 41% garbage going to landfills was some form of paper.
The simplest item to recycle and yet it still plagues us. Steps need to
be taken to curb these figures, not only for paper, plastic and glass but
for all our waste.
We realize that the world will not change overnight by us just sleeping on the problem. It will take much energy to confront the problem of recycling. What it mainly comes down to is what you as an individual will do. We also recognize that some people will never realize this fact and will continue on their ordinary path. It is a matter of starting at this level, the grassroots level and working up. Change comes slow, and with a head start now, perhaps our children and our children's children will recycle as a part of every day life.
Recycling helps out the environment immensely. There are so many benefits of recycling, that they are tough to list all in one paper. Lets take plastics for example. These products, if not recycled can take ten centuries to decompose into harmless waste products. But if you take that plastic bottle and recycle it, you reuse the same material and transform it into another plastic bottle of the same or better quality. Take the example of the Dupont plant in New Johnsville, Tennessee; these people have been pumping titanium dioxide, iron chloride and hydrochloric acid into an underground limestone formation (1). Since the late 1960s they have been pumping up to 900,000 gallons a day of that mixture. Even though EPA officials said that this formation meets the definition of an "underground source of drinking water." (1). These compounds are now able to be recycled. In fact, these could have been stored for later recycling, but were not. Now this towns water supply could be contaminated with the residents not even knowing it. Now the issue of tires; about 186.4 million tons were sent to landfills in 1992 and only about 16.9 million tons were recycled (2). The rest were either exported or burned for energy.
It only makes sense to recycle and clean up our planet. Another good thing about recycling is that it is getting easier to do and is also catching on around the country. In the first BIOCYCLE survey in 1988, in which about 1,000 curbside programs, 700 yard trimmings facilities and 8,000 landfills were identified nationwide. Curbside programs have since risen 597%, yard trimmings and compost facilities about 391%, and landfills dropped by nearly 55% in seven years (3). This shows that people are taking notice to the environment and are starting to clean it up. In 1994 curbside recycling programs totaled 7,265, that's up nine percent from 1993. Now curbside programs serve nearly 108 million people which is about 41% of the U.S. population (3). Take around here for example. In many of the area stores that employ students it is common practice to recycle. Giant markets has a cardboard bailer right in the back room which takes only seconds to throw old boxes in. This can also be done right at home by washing out recyclable bottles and jugs then throwing them in your big red bin.
Now what about landfills? As we stated landfills are filling up at a fairly fast rate. In 1993 there were 4,482 operating landfills, but in the following year the number dropped down to 3,558 (3). Most of the current sites will be closing soon due to lack of space. The largest of their kind in New York City is nearly full, then the people will have to turn to recycling or start sleeping on their garbage. Will it be to late to make a difference? If we could implement a recycling program now it would save the New York City site for only non-recyclable materials. Our state instead has now resorted to exporting our garbage, mainly to Pennsylvania. In 1995 we exported an estimated 2.7 million tons of municipal waste to Pennsylvania (4). Pennsylvania already has recycling system integrated into their society. They are able to actually import trash, recycle it and make a pretty good profit doing so. Approximately 39.2% of all municipal solid waste disposed of in Pennsylvania came from out of state sources (4).
One of the most sensible ideas is a concept called a Materials Recycling Facility (MRF). This is a big warehouse the size of a football field. There is a big conveyer belt that runs the length of the building. At one end trash is dumped in, and at the other side goes into a landfill or incinerator. In the middle about 100 workers sift through the trash in search of recyclables. Some of the newer models use magnetic belts and vibrating screens to sift the material instead of workers. MRFs reduce the flow of trash into landfills by 20%. One plant in Placer County, California has exceeded this goal. These operations can turn quite the profit after they have paid their $10,000 monthly electric bill. The machines have a capacity of 700 tons daily, this equates 30,000 30 gallon garbage cans (5). This procedure would remove the task of sorting from the consumer hands, and make it even easier to recycle.
Though with all of these advances in recycling there are still some bad points. In many communities they have put a halt on curbside recycling because it cost more to pick up and process the products than they get from selling them. This was the case in Washington DC in April of 1995. The cost to recycle $3.7 million and all the program brought in was $1 million. This took away from the other municipal causes which were just as worthy; such as reducing smog and cleaning up roadside trash. There are things that could be done to make curbside recycling more efficient though. For instance instead of having two separate collections for garbage and recyclables, they could combine them. The plastic bins could also be improved on. It could be separated into different compartments for paper, plastic, glass and metal. This would make it easier for people to recycle. One main reason why people don't do their part is because its too inconvenient to wash out a peanut butter jar, or a butter container. What city and government officials don't take into consideration is that people are lazy. Most of the time the excuse comes as "Come on one jar isn't going to make a difference." Either the idea of MRFs or easier bins would solve these problems, though it would of course increase taxes.
One bright idea comes from McDonalds, its a program called McRecycle (6). Solving the problem of a raise in taxes and the problem of no market for recyclables McDonalds has created a million dollar operation. If you're an American, you know what McDonalds is, though from now on when you walk into your local Mickey D's you may find something a bit different. The McRecycle program uses recycled materials to renovate older stores and build new ones. One such example was in Albany, NY where a McDonalds restaurant renovated using over 60% recycled materials to do the job. They come in the form of parking lots made of old tires, fencing and curbing made from soft drink bottles, and insulation and furniture made from recycled plastics. Since McDonalds is an independent business the operations do not cost tax payers a cent. In 1990 McRecycle purchased over 60 million dollars in recycled paper products which they use in everyday items in the restaurant. Another added plus to the program is that since it launched off the company has received over 10,000 from other businesses for more information. If you figure that about 600 new McDonalds stores go up every year and nearly 300 are renovated how could it not make an impact. Also figuring in the popularity and Nation wide influence of McDonalds, this is one program you will definitely hear more about in the future.
Some say it should be the governments position to help out. The government actually has been. In some states there have been mandates regulating what goes in landfills, trying to keep out materials that could be reused. Other mandatory laws include the banning of Styrofoam noodles in packaging. Now old shredded newspaper is used to take its place. Disposal taxes are being added to charge the producers the cost it takes to dispose of their product. This move of course discourages manufacturers from making non-recyclable materials. Encouraging the buyers on the other hand is the Reuse Subsidy Policy. This plan rewards companies for using recycled materials by defraying the cost to buy them.
Hearing all of the arguments, opinions and benefits the question still arises, do we do enough for recycling? Do you do enough for recycling? Circumstances are nearly at a state where we will soon have to recycle. Do we wait and let our children grow up with the burden or do we take up the challenge ourselves. This is our planet, it must be you and I willing to change. Do something little around your house, maybe put a little more effort to the curbside programs.
Next time your out in the stores be a good consumer, buy recycled. Not recycling only hurts you; it drives the price of virgin paper products up and also creates waste that has no place to go. By doing nothing the problem will not go away. Even if it is something small your part will make a difference. Recycle today, so tomorrow won't turn to waste.
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