In November, The New York Times Reported that the “Environmental Protection Agency proposed that incinerator operators around the country be required to reduce the amount of garbage they burn by 25 percent by recycling it instead.” However, that was the November of 1989 and the recycling movement was set upon on all sides by levels of reluctance and resistance that we would be shocked to witness today. Back then, the EPA saw the plan as a method of cutting emissions of substances that are toxic, lower ash in landfills, and “promote its goal of reducing the nation’s garbage by 25% by 1992!” Well, we’ve come a long way since then and the push to recycle has met many of its goals. Take the incinerator industry for instance. One of the staunchest opponents of recycling years ago has been drastically pushed to the background, and recycling is at the forefront of our minds– causing businesses to go green and individuals to do all they can to make a positive impact.
Just as there were vocal proponents of recycling 20 years ago, pressure to recycle has increased today and while there was profit in not recycling back then– there is profit in recycling today. Presented with that very fact — that there’s actually profit in recycling– many businesses are confused, assuming recycling to simply be a selfless volunteer effort taken to make an impact. While all of that is true– recycling is selfless and it makes an impact, it doesn’t have to have to be hard and it can even be profitable.
When getting rid of garbage means burning it, just think of all the opportunities that literally go up in smoke. Lost is all the paper, plastic, metal, and more that could potentially be used to create more products with recycled materials. Not only is that waste actually wasted, but any benefit the businesses involved could have realized is also gone. The provider of recycled plastic doesn’t save money with recycling that’s more efficient than waste hauling or incinerating and the business actually using the recycled plastic is forced to use virgin plastic—drastically impacting the consumption of natural resources and the creation of harmful emissions.

