Lesson 6: Waste Reduction and
Recycling
Objective: To describe general recycling and reductior topics including its history
and the arguments for and against it.
Goals:

Discuss industrial advantages associated with recycling and
reduction.


Explain the economic history of recycling in the US.
Explain what is required to have a successful recycling program
and how it can be achieved.

Discuss arguments for and against recycling.
Introduction
Terminology:
Reduction - reduction in generation
o
reduction in amount of material
o
increase the lifetime
o
eliminate the need
Reuse - No transformation
Recycle - Use of the material as a source raw material, involves physical
transformation
Recovery - Process to recover useful material from mixed waste (energy is
an example)
Recyclable materials include - construction wastes, tires, aluminum cans,
metals, furnishings and clothing, plastics, yard wastes, glass, animal
wastes, paper products
United States
Mandated reductions:



25% by 1995 (was met)
30% by 2000 (was met)
35% by 2005
Waste Reduction and Recovery Rate (US MSW – 1998)
Waste Generation (before Reduction/Recovery)
Waste Reduced
Waste Recycled
Waste Composted
WTE
Total Reduced/Recovered
Million tons
287
55
53
17
34
159
%
19
18
5.9
12
55
Economics and Recycling
Market History
Initially, the market resisted expanding
o
o
o
o
o
o
Recession stopped factory expansion and caused production cutback
Export markets were glutted and dried up
Manufacturers of virgin materials decreased price to the same as or less
than recycled (glass, paper cheap raw materials)
Environmental movement had reduced packaging, a primary user of
recycled paper
Lack of standards/specifications to ensure the quality of recovered
material made consumers wary
Federal tax code subsidies use of some virgin materials through tax breaks,
most of these tax breaks have been removed.
Market stimulated
o
o
o
o
Prices for recovered materials sky-rocketed due to increased demand for
finished products with a recovered material content
Industry responded by increasing plant capacities and building new plants
Municipalities responded by increasing the amount of materials collected
by existing recycling programs and implementing new ones.
Resulted in the misconception that the purpose of recycling was to
generate revenues.
Market shifted
o
Lots of finished goods but lessened demand for them. Plants reduced or
stopped production. Demand for recovered materials decreased and prices
fell.



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
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).
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.
Obstacles to Recycling
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Location of wastes
Uncertainty of supply
Administrative and institutional constraints
Legal restrictions
Uncertain markets
Technical challenges to recycling
Changes in materials (i.e. light weighting)
Too many items in waste
Supply and Demand
Price of recovered materials is cyclical, international commodity that responds to
international market factors, demand & supply is major factor.
o
o
o
o
o
o
Supply and demand
1. Availability of recycled materials exceeding demand thus supply
has a low price
Cost of collection and processing of recyclables offset by
 Revenues, un-reliable due to market forces and demand cycles
 Avoided costs, collection and disposal
Mandatory programs are often not supported by regulations and incentives
to help create/develop market
Geographic distance between source and consumer drives costs up
In some cases materials have been separated for recovery and were then
landfilled or incinerated due to a lack of demand
In 1991, recycled aluminum prices were forced down significantly due to
the Soviet Union dumping bauxite on the international market to get hard
currency.
Ingredients for a successful recycling program:
o Source/supply of recovered material as well as the ability to process and
deliver the recovered material
o Recovered materials must be supplied in the quantity and quality desired
by processors
o Facility to remanufacture recovered materials into a saleable product
o Demand for finished product - most important (if there is a demand there
will be a supply)
Note: 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.
SWANA Recommendations to Increase Reduction/Recovery
o Encourage more extensive product stewardship by product designers,
manufacturers retailers, and consumers
o Expand efforts by federal, state, and provincial governments to develop
markets for recycled materials and recovered energy
o Provide financial incentives for investments in recycling, composting and
the use of recovered materials
o Include WTE and conversion technologies in renewable portfolio
standards and green power programs
o Encourage the recovery and use of landfill gas by reinstating federal tax
credits and through renewable portfolio standards and green power
programs
o Support technology transfer and research efforts that have the potential to
increase waste recovery rates
Major Recyclables
o Paper U.S. reached a 50.3 percent paper recovery rate in 2003. This
shows progress in the recycling sector, as the recovery goal for 2012 was
55%. Although the U.S. recovered 50 million tons of paper, allowing 37
percent of all paper products to be created from recycled paper, the
recovery market still faces major obstacles. Contamination issues due to
single stream collection systems and increasing demand overseas are just
two of the issues paper recovery is facing as
o It has been recently reported that the recovery rates for aluminum cans has
dropped to 44% in 2003 (lowest since 1980). More than one trillion cans
have been thrown in the trash since 1972
o Plastic bottle recycling has dropped to 35.6%
o Glass bottle recycling has dropped to 19.1%.
Page last updated July 2004 by Dr. Reinhart