|
 |
|
|
|
When It Comes to Recycling -- Money Makes the Difference |
|
|
|
Written On: November 26, 2004 |
|
|
|
Washington is the nation’s recycling trendsetter. That’s good news because business and residents now reuse 38 percent of what normally would go to the landfill, while the rest of the country averages a little over a quarter.
Part of our success is due to a 1989 state law that established a goal of recycling half our waste. Setting goals and providing incentives works. Banning plastic containers and other packaging is not the way to curb the flow of garbage. It is all about money, because one person’s waste is truly another’s treasure.
While some may be disappointed that we have slipped from our peak 40 percent recycling level in 1995, we should keep in mind that today we have a larger population using many more disposable products. Still, we can do better.
Recycling works best when there are markets for used goods and products.
For example, our state has a thriving compost business because lawn, tree and garden wastes are now separated, processed, and sold for flower beds and vegetable patches. It pays for homeowners to segregate their lawn clippings and compost makers, and garden stores make a profit from each bag sold to gardeners.
Today, many northwest paper mills are processing as much used newspaper, cardboard and office stationery as freshly chipped trees.
People routinely collect aluminum beer and pop cans and exchange them for spending money. The higher the price for cans, the more that are recycled. It’s all about money.
That isn’t to say all is rosy with recycling because there are many challenges. For example, finding markets for the volume of plastics is a challenge—at least for now. But as the price of crude oil skyrockets, it becomes more economical to melt plastic beverage bottles and convert them into railroad ties, picnic tables, and even fencing.
Our biggest challenge is finding ways to recycle televisions, cell phones, computers and monitors. Washington has been a leader in this effort, as well, through its “Computers for Kids” program—a pilot project the Association of Washington Business helped to establish with the state corrections department and school system. However, the program was quickly overloaded with discarded computers, so after much debate and consternation, the 2004 Legislature charged the public and private partners to come up with ways to provide incentives to recycle.
Washington’s lawmakers finally decided the punitive approach taken by California to hold manufacturers accountable for spent electronic gear would not work. Again, it is all about ways consumers can save a dollar, and entrepreneurs can make a profit developing recycled products.
|
|
|
|
