Flutterby™! : The truth about recycling

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The truth about recycling

2007-06-08 04:06:22.01269+00 by Dan Lyke 1 comments

Economist.com: The Truth About Recycling. I was actually surprised, while recycling isn't yet self-sustaining outside of densely populated port areas, it's not as much of a money-loser as I would have guessed:

By the early 1990s so many American cities had established recycling programmes that the resulting glut of materials caused the market price for kerbside recyclables to fall from around $50 per ton to about $30, says Dr Morris, who has been tracking prices for recyclables in the Pacific Northwest since the mid-1980s. As with all commodities, costs for recyclables fluctuate. But the average price for kerbside materials has since slowly increased to about $90 per ton.

[ related topics: Economics ]

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#Comment Re: made: 2007-06-08 17:27:47.859833+00 by: ebradway

Boulder's Eco-Cycle has been providing cost-effective recycling since the 70s. It puts as much effort into education as it does collecting recyclable waste. The trick is that Eco-Cycle manages the disposal of hazardous materials and maintains juicy contracts for that service. It also helps that businesses in Boulder County tend to be more aware of when waste happens to be hazardous (like batteries or electronics).