As Costs Skyrocket, More U.S. Cities Stop Recycling

New York Times ^ | March 16, 2019 | Michael Corkery

[j. earl carter]

Just recycle metals. The rest is carbon. Putting it in a dump is good for the environment.

Oddly, the recycling dumpsters where I live don't allow metals (other than aluminum cans). It is truly absurd.

[Cecily]

Reduce and reuse is correct. My office still buys styrofoam coffee cups, and people at work use them all the time even though we have many, many clean coffee mugs and glasses for water and cold drinks, and the dishwasher cleans everything at the end of every day. Why buy styrofoam cups, and why do people use them?

[Vlad The Inhaler]

To paraphrase Eric Hoffer:

“Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.”

Recycling completed the transition and became a racket some time ago.

[hinckley buzzard]

Recycling makes sense in an economy of scarce commodities. It was widespread during WW II, with scrap paper drives, metals, even lard being collected and used in the war effort.

In a post-scarcity economy it makes no economic sense.

[JoeFromSidney]

Yes, I recall gathering rubber, steel, and other materials that could be r-used for the war effort. I wonder, though, how much of what I rounded up and turned in actually got recycled, and how much went into the landfill because t wasn't economical to reprocess it.