The report (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/07/waste-disposal-environment-recycling) that the 'credit crunch' has led to a dramatic fall in prices for waste paper, plastics, metals and bottles should not be used as an argument against recycling. I appreciate that economics (along with the energy costs of re utilising material) are issues (the former excellent prices for UK waste in China were certainly a strong stimulus) but, without recycling, there would still be a need for disposal of masses of material. Burning (presumably with effective carbon capture) to generate energy might be appropriate for some materials and locations but land fill disposal has many short term and long term problems. It seems short-termism to condemn recycling simply because some of the collected materials have to currently (admittedly at a cost) be stored.
Friday, 9 January 2009
Waste Waste
The report (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/07/waste-disposal-environment-recycling) that the 'credit crunch' has led to a dramatic fall in prices for waste paper, plastics, metals and bottles should not be used as an argument against recycling. I appreciate that economics (along with the energy costs of re utilising material) are issues (the former excellent prices for UK waste in China were certainly a strong stimulus) but, without recycling, there would still be a need for disposal of masses of material. Burning (presumably with effective carbon capture) to generate energy might be appropriate for some materials and locations but land fill disposal has many short term and long term problems. It seems short-termism to condemn recycling simply because some of the collected materials have to currently (admittedly at a cost) be stored.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I Can See Clearly Now?
Air pollution is still globally the biggest cause of ill-health and early death in humans. Vehicle emissions are a major cause of air poll...
-
Seagrasses are the only flowering plants growing in marine environments. Seagrass meadows (large accumulations of these plants) provide vit... -
Zonal pricing is a proposed change to the UK energy market. It would result in energy consumers paying less for electricity, if they are ba... -
It's necessary, where possible, to replace diesel and petrol-fueled vehicles by electrical equivalents. Electric vehicles (EVs) don...
2 comments:
for me this story is actually a call to reuse more, rather than recycle. I don't know if it will stimulate reuse amongst the general population though...
Reuse is good. But either way the story seems to have stimulated a spate of "I told you it was all a waste of time" type stories. That seems to me to be a pity.
Post a Comment