What are the total systemic effects of recycling?
April 28th, 2010
I recycle because I want to do anything I can to reduce waste that winds up in a landfill. I have been under the impression all these years that recycling is beneficial for the environment. But I recently learned that, at least in California, we ship our compacted recyclables to China to be made into new products which are then shipped back to the USA. I’m curious about the "life cycle" of a recycled product and the recycling industry’s impact on the environment. Also, are China’s recycling methods and chemicals ok under USA or EU regulations? Economists encouraged to weigh in. Thanks.
Posted in Green Tips
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Tags: chemicals, china, economists, landfill, life cycle, recyclables, recycled product, Recycling
recycling to reduce trash is an important concern since, as the world’s population grows, land for living and food production become more important. that same might be said for land use practices involving golf courses and cemeteries but that’s a path i’ll avoid here.
the real problem with your scenario is that the benefit of manufacturing new products from recycling is a large user of water and electricity and water resources are perhaps the largest environmental concern we face – outside the developed nations – and redundant electrical generation produces a lot of CO2 that contributes to climate change.
the problem isn’t the recycling, it’s all the shipping you describe since the burning of fuels to ship across the pacific and back would easily outweigh the benefits of reduced resource need for manufacturing the recycled products.
concerning china, as another answer points out, environmental laws are still virtually non-existent but that may be turning as they face population growth and their emergence from an undeveloped to a developed country where increased quality of life is supposed to be a large part of growth and development.