For years, the phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle” has been spread to understand waste management and encourage protecting the environment. However, recycling and its benefits and drawbacks have been called into question in terms of its efficacy.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the benefits of recycling include “reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills and combustion facilities; conserving natural resources, such as timber, water and minerals; and preventing pollution by reducing the need to collect new raw materials.” The EPA also notes that recycling has economic and community benefits, such as “increasing economic security by tapping a domestic source of materials, supporting American manufacturing and creating jobs in the recycling and manufacturing industries.”
Yet, critics of recycling cite the cost, difficulty, and negative environmental impacts as reasons recycling is not as effective as we may think.
Recycling programs can be expensive due to the need for specialized infrastructure and equipment to collect, transport, and sort recycled items. In many communities, recycling programs declined because, previously, recycled waste was being purchased by China. When China banned imports of foreign recyclable waste in 2018, prices decreased, which negatively impacted recycling profitability in the U.S. Also, distance from metropolitan cities and lack of funding can make recycling more expensive due to the transportation costs.
Contamination is a major issue with recycling. Despite good intentions, some people do not know which materials can actually be recycled. Single-stream recycling, the practice of keeping all recyclables in one bin, is popular, but the process gets stalled when unrecyclable materials are inadvertently added to the mix. According to the National Waste and Recycling Association, “contamination rates in single-stream recycling programs can be as high as 25 percent.” Batches that contain unrecyclable materials are rendered unusable, meaning that they will not be recycled.
The environmental damage recycling can cause is also part of the conversation. Recycling produces air pollution due to the emissions produced by vehicles used to transport recyclable waste and by the energy used in recycling plants. In fact, a study that “focused on a recycling facility in the United Kingdom suggests that anywhere between 6 to 13 percent of the plastic processed could end up being released into water or the air as microplastics.”
A study published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology found that “recycling only reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 2-3 percent, whereas reducing consumption can reduce emissions by up to 20 percent.” So, it appears that reducing consumption is a more effective way of helping the environment.
In all, recycling is not a perfect solution. While it is important to acknowledge that it is still a way to conserve resources and reduce waste, there is definitely room for improvement to increase its effectiveness. Recent technological tools and advancements are being developed to help tackle this issue and further help the environment.
