| GRN Recycle Talk FAQ Answer |
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 98 08:25 WET DST From: FRIEDMAN.FRED@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV (Fred Friedman) Subject: Re: Recycling is costly and bad (no name)
August 5, 1998
There is no shortage of individuals, companies, and journalists who consider recycling to be something between a tremendous boondoggle promoted by scare tactics, and a socially unaffordable cramp on their business or time or individual liberty.
The Wall Street Journal has been running articles saying as much about 2-3 times per year e.g.
- Curbside Recycling Comforts the Soul, But Benefits Are Scant by Jeff Bailey, 1/19/95
- Curbside Recycling Programs Divert Little Trash From Dumps, Study Finds by Jeff Bailey, 10/4/94.
- Small Businesses Grapple with Expense of Saving Earth, by Melissa Lee, 8/4/93.
- Recycling in Seattle Sets National Standard But Is Hitting Snags by Bill Richards, 8/3/93.
- The ABCs of Environmental Myths, by Michael Sanera and Jane Shaw, 9/12/96
The most notorious anti-recycling article appeared in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, Recycling Is Garbage by John Tierney, June 30, 1996 and swiftly evolked a literal flood of responses both in subsequent letters printed in the Times and in rebuttals by e.g. the Environmental Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Fair-minded critiques also have been made, the best of which are:
Issue 13: Municipal Waste: Should Recycling Efforts be Expanded, in ENVIRONMENT: TAKING SIDES ed. by Theodore Goldfarb (1998)
False Economy: The Folly of Demand Side Recycling by Christopher Boerner and Kenneth Chilton in ENVIRONMENT (Magazine), Jan/Feb., 1994.
The Myths of Municipal Solid Waste by Harvey Alter, in SOLID WATE POWER, July/Aug, 1992.
Major Issues Facing Solid Waste Management in the 1990;s by Iraj Zandl, in JOURNAL OF RESOURCE MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY, 12/91.
These should be read carefully, and the dialogues that they created, researched, prior to conclusions being drawn.
- Research Library for RCRA