Recylcing: An Idiot's Quest (beliefs, hell, America, service, organizations)

[yossarian22]

Originally Posted by Ever learning

Where I live, we have seperate dumpsters, for glas,paper plastic and organical Stuff. I think that it´s a very good idea to recycle. However i did find out that hte city does even burn the plastic. So whats the point of seperating the gargage?

There is none. 40% of the non metal recyclables end up in landfills or being burned.

Its better if we just stick em into landfills. Better for the environment and the wallet.

[rojse]

Originally Posted by yossarian22

Did you even read any of my points and base your argument on my thread title? We were on the verge of running out of resources at least 3 times in the past century, yet here we are. We haven't even scraped the surface of the earth's resources.

I did read it.

I do agree that there are more resources under the ground, but there is a point when mining becomes uneconomically viable. I have worked in a coal mine before, and we did not take a large seam out of the ground because it would cost more to get it out, clean it, process it, than what would be made in selling it. In fact, larger mines will just bore straight through thinner coal seams to get to the thick seams.

This also changes as the world coal prices change, and I imagine this would be no different for other resources.

Originally Posted by yossarian22

Correct. For METALS it uses less resources and less energy than mining it form the ground. NOT for plastics or paper or any of the other "recyclables"

Does this mean that you are for recycling metals, then?

There are other reasons to recycle paper or plastics, besides any possible saving in resources and energy. It saves on landfill space, for example. A lot of the processing required for plastics or paper is removed, which could save money. And what about the fossil fuel emissions that are required to obtain plastic or paper? Is there a saving there?

[yossarian22]

Originally Posted by rojse

I did read it.

I do agree that there are more resources under the ground, but there is a point when mining becomes uneconomically viable. I have worked in a coal mine before, and we did not take a large seam out of the ground because it would cost more to get it out, clean it, process it, than what would be made in selling it. In fact, larger mines will just bore straight through thinner coal seams to get to the thick seams.

This also changes as the world coal prices change, and I imagine this would be no different for other resources.

Does this mean that you are for recycling metals, then?

There are other reasons to recycle paper or plastics, besides any possible saving in resources and energy. It saves on landfill space, for example. A lot of the processing required for plastics or paper is removed, which could save money. And what about the fossil fuel emissions that are required to obtain plastic or paper? Is there a saving there?

I am for recycling, just not the current model. Recycling paper and plastic is bad for the environment, and we are nowhere near running low on landfill space. Land fills do not end up as wastelands. Most become parks or golf courses. Recycling metals makes sense, but we were doing it before government subsidies. Cut them out and save 8 billion in tax money. Feed the poor or put it in education or something worthwhile.