And I believe once industry has to pay most recycling costs they’ll get a lot smarter about packaging. Link to post
Amber left this comment:
I agree! Recycling in Ontario is in a sorry state.
It uses a huge amount of resources to process and sort the materials, and this it does so imperfectly that many companies won't accept materials for reuse because they are so contaminated by unwanted items, so that much of it eventually ends up in the landfill anyway, not to mention the fact that a lot of what we throw in the blue box, we don't actually have the facilities to process (like plastic egg cartons), leaving the consumer, mistakenly, feeling like they are doing the good and right thing, while manufacturers continue to pass the buck!
Amber’s comment makes me ask, “What percentage of our blue box contents are turned into new product?”
“Would it be under 10 per cent?”
“Where does the rest go?”
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Over 10 per cent? Can we find out?
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4 comments:
If "industry" has to pay they'll just find a way to pass the cost on to the consumer ya know! You have to find the product that is using the best packaging and vote with you dollars. It's the way the world works, regulating and taxing will not help.
And besides that, the recycling facilities and the city would have more credit in my books if they picked up the recycling from businesses. Where we are was not part of the city in the last annex and we had blue box pick up. Post annex they wouldn't take it. We're not in an industrial area, they truck stops right in front of our building to pick up the house across the streets. When we told them we'd put it next to theirs even the STILL wouldn't take it!
Bill's first point is worth noticing; industry will pass recycling costs along to the consumer.
We'll have the money for the higher price if we don't have to pay for industry's responsibilities.
Then, if industry works the way I think it works, they'll try to reach a price point lower than their competition to attract buyers.
As per my example, more items might be sold in bulk and not in blister paks. It will be far easier for a nail, toy, candy, appliance manufacturer etc.,
to reduce packaging than for me to reduce recycling costs (unless I opt out of the system. How can I do that?).
Win-win for industry and the consumer, simply by putting the responsibility where it belongs.
Thanks for the comment, Bill.
GAH
Hi Gord. I couldn't find specific numbers on how much of our blue box items actually get recycled, or in many cases more accurately, downcycled.
However, there is tons of information about the processing of recyclables and what happens to them.
This is a very good CBC documentary on plastic and recycling. I also found some good articles on recycling here, here, here, and here.
No doubt that's just scratching the surface. I didn't post anything about how the current economic crisis is wreaking havoc on the recycling industry and much material will likely end up in the landfill because there is simply no viable market for it.
It's a complex situation indeed.
Personally, I'm inclined to stick to my own 3 Rs. Refuse, reduce, reuse. Recycling shouldn't be a license to consume.
Cheers!
Amber
Hi Amber,
Thanks for your comment with links to several interesting articles. The CBC program is worth mentioning in a post, and many good arguments, raised within the articles, give me much to think about.
Leslie Garrett, former running companion, now author, wrote a book called The Virtuous Consumer (see Read This, side margin) and said, "The greenest products are the ones you don't buy."
Definitely true.
Cheers,
GAH
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