Lesson 9: Recycling

Objective: To describe general recycling topics including its history and the arguements for and against it.

Goals:

Assignments:

Review: Text - (1st edition, yellow, pp. 10- 17) (2nd edition, blue, pp. 44- 58)

Review: Text Section on Collection of Recyclable Materials (1st edition, yellow, pp. 85- 91) (2nd edition, blue, pp. 80- 85)

Review: Ways to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle Your Plastic Containers

Introduction

Terminology:

Recyclable materials include - construction wastes, tires, aluminum cans, metals, furnishings and clothing, plastics, yard wastes, glass, animal wastes, paper products

United States

Mandated reductions:

Florida

Required a 30% reduction in MSW by 1995, had to be acheived by recycling.

 In 1997, 40% of the waste generated was recycled.

State Rates*

Recycling Rate, % 
Number of States 
0-9 
3 
10-19 
12 
20-29 
18 
30-39 
9 
40-49 
4 
50+ 
2 

*Two states did not have data available
  

U.S. Industrial Advantages

Economics and Recycling

Market History

    Initially, the market resisted expanding

  1. Recession stopped factory expansion and caused production cutback
  2. Export markets were glutted and dried up
  3. Manufacturers of virgin materials decreased price to the same as or less than recycled (glass, paper cheap raw materials)
  4. Environmental movement had reduced packaging, a primary user of recycled paper
  5. Lack of standards/specifications to ensure the quality of recovered material made consumers wary
  6. Federal tax code subsidises use of some virgin materials through tax breaks, most of these tax breaks have been removed.

    Market stimulated

  1. Prices for recovered materials sky-rocketed due to increased demand for finished products with a recovered material content
  2. Industry responded by increasing plant capacities and building new plants
  3. Municipalities responded by increasing the amount of materials collected by existing recycling programs and implementing new ones.
  4. Resulted in the misconception that the purpose of recycling was to generate revenues.

    Market shifted

  1. Lots of finished goods but lessened demand for them. Plants reduced or stopped production. Demand for recovered materials decreased and prices fell.
    1. Paper drop related to: decrease in exports, inexpensive pulp products, tech probs w/ deinking plants, change in government procurement standards, trickle down effect of material already in the system, end-users using less recovered paper in process (newspapers decreased size), greed inflated prices, and increased supply of recovered paper
    2. Plastics drop related to: decrease in virgin and off-spec resin prices, oversupply of recovered plastics, and difficulties in exporting to China (traditionally a large consumer of recovered plastics).
    3. Metals (Al and Cu) drop related to: scandal with a Japanese trading firm which controls copper prices, Al prices fell in conjunction with fall in copper prices.

Supply and Demand

Price of recovered materials is cyclical, international commodity which responds to international market factors, demand & supply is major factor.

Ingredients for a successful recycling program:

  1. Source/supply of recovered material
    1. As well as the ability to process and deliver the recovered material
  2. Recovered materials must be supplied in the quantity and quality desired by processors
  3. Facility to remanufacture recovered materials into a saleable product
  4. Demand for finished product - most important (if there is a demand there will be a supply)

Recycling Will Cost: most programs are subsidized and could not support themselves. But, the $ benefit associated with prolonged landfill life is generally not applied to the balance sheet.

Some feel that only recycling cost effective materials can be justified. If it were cost effective, industry would already be doing it.

Demand Stimulation

  1. Bottle Bill
    1. Grocer or manufacturer must collect reimbursement vs. Advanced Disposal Fee (ADF)
    2. Florida always has Bottle Bill ready
  2. Eliminate government subsidies for mining and logging interest (raw materials)
  3. Force manufacturer to absorb cost of disposal (recycling material then becomes more economical)
  4. Government purchasing policies
  5. Pay as you throw programs which include free recycling
  6. Landfill bans - tires were excluded and now many inovative products are made from them including flexible lane markers, gymnasium flooring, and padding media at play grounds and climbing gyms.
  7. Mandatory recycled materials content
    1. California law requires >10% recycled material content to be labeled as containing recycled material
    2. EPA - Recovered Materials Adivsory Notice (RMAN) on recovered paper
      1. CFR May 29, 1996
      2. Post-consumer fiber vs. Recovered fiber
      3. Newsprint - 20-100% recovered fiber w/ 20-85% post consumer fiber
      4. Corrugated containers made from old corrugated containers (OCC)
        1. <300psi - 25-50% recovered w/ 40-50% post-consumer
        2. >300psi - 25-50% recovered w/ 30% post-consumer
      5. Carrier board - 25-100% recovered w/ 15% post-consumer
      6. Bath tissue - 20-100% recovered w/ 20-60% post-consumer
      7. Paper towels - 40-100% recovered w/ 40-60% post consumer
  8. Labels - accurate and required to indicate recycled (not recyclable)

@ the US EPA Recyling Page:

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Page last updated March 22, 2013 by Dr. McCreanor