Recycling is about more than assuaging the guilt that comes from rampant consumerism. There are real reasons it still makes sense, despite the recent collapse in the commodities market for recycled material. Like all industries, it too will recover. But in the meantime, why should recycling still be a priority?

This National Geographic article “Recycling: The Big Picture,” gives a quick overview of recycling benefits. And this article by Popular Mechanics, “Recycling Myths,” debunks the argument that curbside recycling increases pollution from the additional recycling trucks: 

It takes 10.4 million Btu to manufacture products from a ton of recyclables, compared to 23.3 million Btu for virgin materials. In contrast, the total energy for collecting, hauling and processing a ton of recyclables adds up to just 0.9 million Btu. The bottom line: We don’t need to worry that recycling trucks are doing more harm than good.

Even with the shrinking demand for recycled materials in the world marketplace, there are markets right here in Georgia for our collected recycled materials.

Consider:

–One-third of all the PET plastic, including beverage containers, recovered in North America is used by Georgia’s carpet industry. Mohawk Industries in Summerville, GA is one of the largest end users of PET in the nation.

–Georgia is the second largest pulp and paper producing state in the nation, with 15 of the state’s mills using recycled fiber in their production—9 of them are 100% recycled end-users.

–Altanta is home to the largest aluminum recycler in the world, Novelis, who recently relocated its North American headquarters to Atlanta. Aluminum cans are processed at their facility in Greensboro, GA. (Georgia Recycling Coalition)

The Economist magazine has recently cranked out a couple meaty articles on recycling: “Round and Round it Goes.” And “Talking Rubbish” ends with this paragraph that has particular resonance here in Chatham County:

by and large, waste is being better managed than it was. The industry that deals with it is becoming more efficient, the technologies are getting more effective and the pollution it causes is being controlled more tightly. In some places less waste is being created in the first place. But progress is slow because the politicians who are trying to influence what we discard and what we keep often make a mess of it.