Recycling’s cycles
The slowing global economy has hit virtually every sector, but no one expected it to crumple the recylable market as severely as it has. The value of materials like paper, glass and plastic has fallen about 70 percent in the past few months, according to some estimates. A recent News & Observer story tells of Sonoco Recycling paying freight to send a shipment of metal cans to a smelting plant in Pennsylvania ó just to get rid of them. Sonoco received no payment for the shipment.
The market for recyclables has always had its ups and downs. Even if this “down” is deeper than ever, it should not prompt those who recycle items at home to curb that action. The alternative is to send those items to the county landfill. The quicker that fills up, the sooner taxpayers will have to fund an expansion ó andthe worse off the environment will be. The Economist reports a recent review of 55 separate analyses showed that recycling is better for the environment 83 percent of the time. Longterm benefits make recycling a habit worth keeping.