What If We Stopped Recycling Altogether?

Or, Joining The Dark Side?

In this, my forth article in my series, Recycling Isn't Green, I ask you to ponder the question, what if we stopped recycling altogether?

I bring this up because of an article titled, National Recycling Agenda: Follow the Money by Patty Moore of Moore Recycling in which Patty suggests the following 3 points:

1. Implement a national funding mechanism for recycling infrastructure & operations.
2. Expand collection opportunities beyond curbside: specifically retail oriented drop-off program.
3. Ban compostable organic and recyclable materials from the landfill.

While I escentially agree with Patty's points the jaded old man in me really doesn't believe it can happen-- that is, unless you and I make it happen. And to make it happen I suggest we all simply stop using our recycling containers and start placing all our recyclables in our trash cans.

What would be the end result of such an action on the part of all the residents of a single city?

For starters the prices of post-consumer recyclables would increase as the filling of landfills increased and as the filling of landfills increased that city would be forced to pay higher tipping fees at the landfill.

Then, just as the landfill cost increased, the revenue from recycling nothing but the low hanging fruit of recycling-- the SOP in most municipal recycling programs-- would begin to fall dramatically. And ultimately that one city would be forced to adopt single stream waste management so that they could recover their income from the post consumer recyclables they sell.

After all, if you're forced to mine your landfill then you might as well recycle everything you dig up.

Continue reading One Recycling Day At A Time.