by: Avalee Jenkins    

        Many Americans have become familiar with the recycling trend in the past few decades, but few really know what recycling is, if it is in fact beneficial to the environment, and how cost efficient recycling actually is.  To understand the impact that recycling has on our world, it is important to know what recycling is, the alleged myths of recycling, and also the believed benefits of recycling.  

       What is recycling? Recycling refers to converting everyday garbage and trash into reusable materials.  Common recycled items include paper, plastics, aluminum, cardboard and some metals.  The main goals of recycling are to reduce the amount of waste filling our landfills and also reduce the fresh production of new materials and the pollution that would create.   According to the National Recycling Coalition, the average American discards 4.6 pounds of trash each day, adding to the overflow of landfills.  The NRC urges Americans to recycle at home in order to “significantly lower carbon emissions associated with extracting virgin materials, manufacturing products and waste disposal” (NRC).  Recycling alone is not significant enough to make a considerable impact on the environment, and experts agree it is important to incorporate the other two aspects represented in the recycling symbol.  The symbol for recycling is represented by three arrows forming the shape of a triangle, each arrow representing a different component of recycling. Commonly referred to as the “3 R’s”, the popular symbol stands for Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  The Environmental Protection Agency encourages these three activities over just recycling, because when used together the 3 R’s are able to “save natural resources and reduce the need for landfills” (EPA).   Many of the experts against recycling do not incorporate the other two aspects of ‘going green’ into their analyses, leaving reducing and reusing raw materials out of their equations.  

There are many myths surrounding the idea of recycling, including myths about economic benefits, landfill space, natural resource use and the effect that recycling has on the environment.  Many people refuse to buy into the idea of recycling, and continue to believe that ‘going green’ and recycling is just a popular fad.  In Daniel Benjamin’s article on EcoWorld, he explains how “recycling is not always the environmentally correct choice” and that “it costs more the recycle these (raw materials) than bury that used and manufacture the new from scratch” (Benjamin).   Benjamin explains in the beginning of his article that it would be more cost efficient to the American people to “mine the landfills and recycle them all at once” if we were to run out of resources, as  “it would be easier and cheaper than perpetual recycling” (Benjamin).  In a separate article “Recycling Myths” Lawrence Reed addresses the common American fear that not recycling will lead to an overflow of landfills.  Reed comments that “Entrepreneurs know how to construct landfills now that pose absolutely no hazard to the environment, and anyone who has flown over almost any state knows there is plenty of land for this purpose, but ‘nay saying’ regulators have almost closed down this efficient waste management option.  Another common belief among Americans is the need to recycle to conserve natural resources like metals and trees.  Reed addresses this idea when he notes “most of the trees that are planted in America are planted with the intent of eventually harvesting them to make things like paper” (Reed). He continues that is Americans “used less paper, there would be fewer trees planted” (Reed).  Benjamin also writes that “available stocks of most natural resources are growing rather than shrinking, but the reason is not recycling… but thanks to innovation” (Benjamin).   A similar argument against recycling is that the energy and oil used by the garbage trucks to pick up curbside recyclables and deliver them to the processing facility is more detrimental towards the environment than just throwing the recyclables away.   A study by Popular Mechanics states that picking up recyclables “eats up about 50 to 60 percent of the budget of a typical curbside recycling program” (Hutchison).   Although there are many arguments against recycling, claiming the damages outweigh the benefits, in the end through reducing, reusing, recycling, there is a positive impact on the environment.

There are many benefits to recycling, both economical and environmental.  The recycling industry creates 4 jobs for every 1 job created by the waste disposal industry, while at the same tie creating  $37 billion in annual payrolls (Recycling Revolution).  Environmentally, recycling can help reduce our dependency on international oil.  The Filter For Good Campaign sponsored by Brita Water Filters and Nalgene explains this phenomenon in reference to recycling plastics when they report that of the 50 billion water bottles used in the last year, 38 billion were returned to a landfill.  Those 38 billion water bottles are the equivalent to 912 million gallons of oil (Filter For Good).  Aluminum is the most recycled product in the United States, which is important as a standard aluminum can takes over 500 years to biodegrade.  On the positive side however, aluminum can be recycled continuously without any negative effects on the quality of the can, and can also be restocked as a new can in 60 days or less.  Here in Athens-Clarke County, the Solid Waste Department collects recyclables from approximately 9,912 residential customers (ACC).  The Recycling Division offers recycling pick up for some locations, recyclable drop off locations, and information on how to create your own composting pile.  The University of Georgia also has its own Go Green Initiative called “Go Green at UGA” with “the intent to provide the best outcomes for the human environment and the natural environment both now and into the indefinite future” (UGA Go Green).   Some of the goals listed on their website includes “using environmentally sounds work practices, improving indoor air quality, reduce emissions, and decreasing the campus’s overall waste stream,” just to name a few.  Under the UGA Go Green Campaign is the UGA recycles program, which offers educational information on where and how to recycle on campus.  Though there are many arguments against recycling, there are just as many if not more in favor of recycling and the economic and environmental benefits it has on America.

After understanding just what recycling is, and how there are many parts to recycling and ‘going green’, it is easy to see that recycling is ultimately beneficial towards the environment.  Although there may be economical set backs, it pays in the present and future to recycle.  Locally, Athens-Clarke County and the University of Georgia have created recycling programs to help encourage citizens and students alike to recycle. 

Sources:

Athens-Clarke County Solid Waste Department. Reduce-Reuse-Recycle. 21 April 2009.

            http://www.acc-recycle.org/

Benjamin, Daniel. “Recycling Myths: Smothered in Garbage vs. More Landfill Capacity

            Than Ever.” 15 November 2003.  EcoWorld. 21 April 2009.             http://www.ecoworld.com/features/2003/11/15/recycling-myths/

Environmental Protection Agency. 22 April 2009.  www.epa.gov

Filer for Good. “Learn the Facts.” 20 April 2009.              http://www.filterforgood.com/learn_the_facts.php

Go Green UGA.  22 April 2009.  http://gogreen.uga.edu/about.html

Hutchison, Alex. “Recycling Myths: PM Debunks 5 Half Truths about Recycling.”  10             Novemeber 2008.  Popular Mechanics.  25 April 2009.              http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/earth/4290631.html

National Recycling Coalition.  27 April 2009.  http://www.nrc-recycle.org/aboutnrc.aspx

Recycling Revolution. 22 April 2009. http://www.recycling-revolution.com/

Reed, Lawrence. “Recycling Myths.” The Freeman Ideas on Liberty. March 1995. 

            Volume 45. http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/recycling-myths/