Initially born as the good samaritan environmentalist's brainchild, recycling now smacks of a lot of hard cash
AFTER years of being called a mere "dogooder" activity, recycling has turned
into a profitable industry for cities
across the US, according to the information provided by a new study.
Only two years ago, one of the few
good reasons cities could find for bearing the expense of recycling was saving
on landfill space. Now, the recycling
programmes they are sponsoring, have
turned into veritable "cashcows" for
municipal revenues, John Young of
World Watch, a Washington-based research organisation, report
Excerpts from Young's report have
been published in the July-August issue
of the us Information Service's Science
Update.
Starting in 1994, prices for recy-
Clables have mount@d impressively.
New York now expects to earn us $20-
25 million annually from the sale of the
newspapers it collects when, it was pay-
ing US $56 million to get rid of them just
in 1993.
Similarly, at the beginning of 1994,
Madison(Wisconsin) was paying out us
$13 socaw of recyclables, and it now
howst us S23 per tonne. It saves
an additional US $40 for every tonne not put into a local landscape young.
Speculation is rife on what caused
The change of tide in recyclables. Young
See the answer in the tripling that has
od to the 'production of goods
bum recycled paper, metal and
products since the past year or
WaskIing on the product. Old
&L which languished at almost
1991, has jumped 2,200
value, Young observes.
Alluminium beverage can prices
increased two-fold, and recycled glass
prices rose by 80 M cent.
Young attitudes this price upturn
primarily so the ethical concerns of
consumers and the government at
oot and federal levels.
14 he recycled paper, for
how boosted considerably by
lawcumv Order from the
OnAwmeestration. requiring that
kAwwrament documents be
Fm pet :ent recycled paper
by 1995, and 30 per cent recycled paper
by 1999.
States across the us have albo
legislated the use of recycled producis.
Thirteen states now require newspapers in their areas to include set
amounts of recycled newsprint. Fifteen
others have contracted with newspapers to increase their recoveredpaper content.
In 1988, New York State created the
Office Of Recycling Market Development to help strengthen industries that
use recycled materials. It furnishes
financing, technical assistance and market information to selected industries.
Eighteen other states reportedly are following a similar course.
Yet, governmental efforts bav& not
acted alone to generate the increase in
demand for recycled products.
Economic expansion in North America,
Europe and Japan has created
greater demand for consumer products,
which has pushed up prices for
recyclables.
When asked whether an economic
downturn would wreck the market for
recyclables, Young said in an interview
that there would be harm, but that fundamental changes in several industries
will ensure that demand for recyclables
will outlast short-term economic
fluctuations. For example, the us paper
industry has largely retooled its facilities
to benefit from the mountain of
recycled paper collected in recent years,
he said.
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