The effect of recycling... More Damage Than Good!

Darksun

Not only this, but studies have shown that recycling is inefficient and causes more environmental damage in many cases than production from fresh raw materials.

Ken68

Collecting and selling the methane from landfills seems a cheaper option, in which case the more rubbish the better.

SusanCarter

When it is said that recycling is worse for the environment, what are they comparing? Are they comparing the impact of for example making a glass bottle from scratch with making a glass bottle from recycled glass? If the stuff is not recycled then it is transported to the landfill site (using fuel) and then fils up the landfill site. What I would like to know is why we can't reuse glass bottles any more? Surely reusing them would be "better" than recycling?

Cardew

SusanCarter wrote:

When it is said that recycling is worse for the environment, what are they comparing? Are they comparing the impact of for example making a glass bottle from scratch with making a glass bottle from recycled glass? If the stuff is not recycled then it is transported to the landfill site (using fuel) and then fils up the landfill site. What I would like to know is why we can't reuse glass bottles any more? Surely reusing them would be "better" than recycling?

That always puzzles me.

In the ‘bad old days’ when nobody recycled anything, and ‘Green’ just meant a colour!, it was standard practice for little boys(hope that’s not sexist) to scrounge bottles to return for the 1p(1d?) deposit; and they were re-used.

My grandparents told me that during the last war every single glass container was re-used.

I assume the empty milk bottles collected daily by the milkman are re-used?

Ken68

My milkman is in league with my tyre garage.

deanos

I remember the "Corola" pop man coming round when i was a kid and my mum giving back the old bottles and they would be reused.