Recycling: Is It Just a Bunch of Garbage

Recycling: Is it Just a Bunch of Garbage
Americans produce 4.34 pounds of garbage per person per day (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2010). Most people just bring garbage to the curb and just forget about it. Local governments employ numerous ways to remove a growing amount of garbage. The most common way is to ship it off to a landfill and bury it. Another way that has been gaining popularity is recycling. Communities have been struggling with waste removal for generations, raising the question, which option makes more financial sense: landfills or recycling. Even though it is cheaper to use a landfill, recycling is beneficial because ultimately it can save communities money and recycling helps expand the life of growing landfills.
Recycling has been a part of Americans vocabulary since the early 1900’s. As stated in the article The truth about recycling (2007), recycling became even more prevalent during the Great Depression when recyclable materials were reused in order to survive economic hardships. Also during World War II recycling became a patriotic duty when the government asked all citizens to help in the war effort by recycling scrap metal. During the 1970’s the first residential curbside recycling programs began showing up. These programs were introduced because many environmental groups began seeing an increase in public garbage production, with no increase in recyclable items. However, even with making recycling more accessible to the average consumer, it still took another 20 years for the idea of recycling to take hold. As seen in the article A Brief History of Recycling: A Story of Trash and Treasure by Allison Elliot, in 1987 the Mobro 4000 barge was loaded up with garbage in New York City and was set to travel to North Carolina to offload the trash. When the barge reached North Carolina it was not allowed to offload. The barge was then sent to Belize, where it was refused once again to pass on its rotting cargo. With nowhere else to go the barge returned to New York City, where the trash was incinerated at huge costs to the city. This blunder caused a nationwide debate, which is often seen as the catalyst that brought changes to the attitude of many Americans about the importance of recycling.
Recycling has come a long way in America, but unfortunately there is still a long way to go. One of the finest examples of how recycling can benefit a community is seen in San Francisco, California. As mentioned in the article Recology: Its game plan is in its name (2009) by Jim Johnson, Recology Inc., formerly known as Norcal Waste Systems Inc., boasts the highest recycle percentages in the country. Almost half of what is brought to the Recology waste treatment plant is recycled. As shown in the article The Story of Zero Waste (2011), Recology is the sole provider of waste disposal in the San Francisco area and has made it easier and more accessible for consumers to recycle. This is accomplished by having one container only for recyclable goods. Consumers are nowadays freed of the responsibility to separate glass, from paper, from metal, etc. Given that Recology has unburdened people from this tedious chore, many people have found recycling to be a simple and uncomplicated task to accomplish. Also the Department of the Environment (SF Environment) has helped pass several policies that further give incentives to consumers to recycle. One such policy is the pay-as-you-throw plan. This simple plan charges consumers a fee for picking up and discarding any un-recyclable material, whereas any material that is recyclable or able to be composted is taken away free of charge. This easy to follow policy makes people more aware of what can be thrown out and what can be recycled. With the combined efforts of Recology and the SF Environment, it has turned San Francisco into the benchmark for recycling in the United States.
However, even with Recology having such high recycling figures, there are still problems with the business model. As stated in the article Garbage in, garbage way out (2011) by Will Kane, the most glaring predicament that Recology faces is the removal of trash that cannot be recycled. Recology currently has a contract with the city of Wheatland, which is more than 132 miles away. This contract allows the company to transport by train all garbage that cannot be recycled. This has caused a commotion in the city of Wheatland because the landfill in Wheatland will currently fill up faster with all of the trash Recology brings in from San Francisco.
One of the worst cities in America for recycling is Las Vegas, Nevada. As mentioned in the article Sin and its consequences (2005) Las Vegas has a poor attitude about recycling because the city does not mandate recycling. No curbside recycling program is offered to many Las Vegas residents and pick-up for trash is twice a week. The landfill in Las Vegas currently still has more than 100 years of life left in it. Consequently, many residents believe recycling is unnecessary. The landfill just outside of Las Vegas has not changed the disposal of garbage in decades. As stated in the article Mountains of garbage: Southern Nevada landfill is nation’s largest (2009) by Stephanie Tavares, 24 hours a day garbage trucks from every part of the Las Vegas valley arrive at the landfill to dump trash. These trucks pull up to the current dump zone and tip up the back of the truck, where the garbage is deposited onto the ground. The next step is modified bulldozers with giant eight-foot tall spiked wheels, chop and compress the newly dumped trash. Finally, about once a week a team of bulldozers spread a layer of dirt six inches thick over the entire area, where the trash can be dumped once more. This approach to waste management is severely outdated because not only is it harmful to the environment, the cost to run the landfill is substantial.
Better and more efficient ways to run a landfill exist, such as the landfill located in Layton, Utah. The article Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District (2009) describes the landfill as “using state-of-the-art methods to process, recycle, reduce, and reuse our garbage.” Within the article numerous ways of how garbage can be turned into revenue are also explained. The landfill receives approximately 714 tons of garbage per day. When the garbage arrives at the landfill it is separated into two categories green waste (yard clippings) and solid waste (combustible material). The green waste is taken to a facility located within the landfill, where it is grinded up into fine compost that is then sold to the public. The solid waste is taken to an incinerator, which is located just down the street from the landfill. The incinerator burns all of the garbage, which in turn creates a great deal of heat. The waste management company uses this heat to create steam and electricity that not only continues to power the landfill and incinerator, it sells the excess electricity to the local Air Force base. The ash left over from the incinerator is loaded into a truck where a giant magnet is passed over it taking out any metal to be recycled. Once all of the metal is removed the ash it is taken to the landfill where it is used to cover the garbage in the landfill. Finally, pipes are installed throughout the landfill that captures any methane gas produced by the rotting garbage in the landfill. The methane gas is burned to create even more electricity that helps create even more income.
Even though this landfill is one of the most efficient and profitable landfill in country, Utah still has mixed attitudes about recycling. As shown in the article Recycling Grows in Utah (2009) by Joseph M. Dougherty Utah only recycles 2.7% of all garbage generated within the state. The reason given for such low numbers is that there is no state mandate for recycling. However, many people in the state think recycling programs should be more widely available, and given the choice the public would recycle more.
In conclusion, as with most complex questions, there is no simple answer. Using current recycling techniques, it costs communities a substantial amount of money to recycle and the recycling plants still wind up throwing away half of what they bring in. Also with landfills filling up at an alarming rate, the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Even though it can cost communities more money to recycle, developing a well-organized recycling program helps keep pressure off growing landfills. Furthermore, with the need of landfills still apparent, investing money into new and more efficient landfills also can be a wise investment into Americas waste removal future.

References
Bryant, J., Drew, K., Haley, R., & Macy, J. (2011, August). The story of zero waste. Retrieved from http://www.recology.com/press_room/articles/pdf/2011/Story_of_Zero_Waste.pdf
Clearfield City. (2009, August 3). Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District. Retrieved from http://www.clearfieldcity.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=620&Itemid=130
Dougherty, J. M. (2009, February 2). Recycling grows in Utah. Retrieved from http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705282073/Recycling-grows-in-Utah.html
Elliot, A. (2008-2009). A brief history of recycling: a story of trash and treasure. Retrieved from http://www.deltacountyrecycling/recycling-articles/a-brief-history-of-recycling-a-story-of-trash-and-treasure/
Johnson, J. (2009, November 23). Recology: Its game plan is in its name. Waste & Recycling News, 15(15), 12.
Kane, W. (2011, July 27). Garbage in, garbage way out. San Francisco Chronicle, 0(10/1/2007 to present), C1.
Miller, R. G. (2006, December). The ins and outs of recycling programs. Science Scope, 30(4), 16-21.
Tavares, S. (2009, December 7). Mountains of garbage: Southern Nevada landfill is nation 's largest. Retrieved from http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/dec/07/mountains-garbage/
The truth about recycling. (2007, June 9). Economist, 383(8532), 22-26.
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2010, December). Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2009. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/municipal/pubs/msw2009-fs.pdf

References: Bryant, J., Drew, K., Haley, R., & Macy, J. (2011, August). The story of zero waste. Retrieved from http://www.recology.com/press_room/articles/pdf/2011/Story_of_Zero_Waste.pdf Clearfield City. (2009, August 3). Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District. Retrieved from http://www.clearfieldcity.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=620&Itemid=130 Dougherty, J. M. (2009, February 2). Recycling grows in Utah. Retrieved from http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705282073/Recycling-grows-in-Utah.html Elliot, A. (2008-2009). A brief history of recycling: a story of trash and treasure. Retrieved from http://www.deltacountyrecycling/recycling-articles/a-brief-history-of-recycling-a-story-of-trash-and-treasure/ Johnson, J. (2009, November 23). Recology: Its game plan is in its name. Waste & Recycling News, 15(15), 12. Kane, W. (2011, July 27). Garbage in, garbage way out. San Francisco Chronicle, 0(10/1/2007 to present), C1. Miller, R. G. (2006, December). The ins and outs of recycling programs. Science Scope, 30(4), 16-21. Tavares, S. (2009, December 7). Mountains of garbage: Southern Nevada landfill is nation 's largest. Retrieved from http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/dec/07/mountains-garbage/ The truth about recycling. (2007, June 9). Economist, 383(8532), 22-26. United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2010, December). Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2009. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/municipal/pubs/msw2009-fs.pdf