Environmentalists. Every Day. America's Solid Waste Industry

An article in the December 2008 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine examines recycling, asking “Is Recycling Worth It?”. You can read the article here. The article discusses how technological advances pioneered by America’s solid waste industry have made recycling much more efficient and cost effective than it was decades ago. The web version of the article features a diagram showing how a single-stream sorting facility works. The online magazine also includes a list of 5 debunked myths of recycling. These are well-written articles; however, they author bases some of his assumptions on facts that no longer may be true, such as “the cost of raw materials has skyrocketed” and “few fear the precipitous plunge that rocked the recycling market in 1995.” In fact, as the global economy has weakened, commodity prices (including those of recycled materials) have fallen precipitously. American recyclers are motivated to continue increasing recycling, but the current economic situation poses serious challenges.

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