| GRN Recycle Talk FAQ Answer |
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 96 10:30 WET From: FRIEDMAN.FRED@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV (Fred Friedman) Subject: Re: Reuse (Lisa Degliantoni)
December 19, 1996
Dear Lisa Degliantoni,
Reuse doesn t need to be as extensively developed - in terms of infrastructure - as does waste reduction, recycling need to be. However, though I believe that is one reason for inattention, there may be more. Such as, how can profits be made off of reuse at any profit-margin worth considering? I think this has been the social history of reuse, even
moreso than of recycling: the social perception of class issues applied to what material resources you have and use; it would doubtless be even worse in other countries.
However, I have to make mention of the fact that Reuse is getting a great deal more attention - particularly in such sectors as auto parts and electronic parts, in 1996 than I have seen in most previous years. I have seen directories of reuse organizations appear at State and local levels, commodity and substance levels. As with recycling in 1989, if you know how to do research,
you can find it. For example, US EPA Region 5 inititated a publication What Can I Do With These Old Computers? which integrated reuse and recycling options. For another example, there have never been so many Waste Exchanges proliferating at State, local, regional, and industry levels as there now are.
You are correct about the step-child appearance. It is modifying.