tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7910188492873665563.post6313762188373133668..comments2023-07-21T09:17:17.142-07:00Comments on Test 25636: Questioning recyclingPaul Walterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00525444717679391831noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7910188492873665563.post-17317745074575672552007-05-28T10:30:00.000-07:002007-05-28T10:30:00.000-07:00It is a fascinating area, Tom. As a manager involv...It is a fascinating area, Tom. As a manager involved in finanical operations, I too like to see cost/benefit analyses and I would love to see one on this subject. I think the Seattle study might have extended the time to recycle (most people recycle into separate bins in the first place but often these studies involve people sorting rubbish after it has gone into one bin, which is obviously more time consuming). You make an important point, but what about those ocmmunities in China, recently documented in the Guardian Weekend magazine, who are sustained by recycling our rubbish? If it is economic to ship the stuff on a slow boat to China and have lots of industrious Chinese people re-sort it and recycle it, then this would seem to be worth considering in an economic assessment, would it not? Also, a cost/benefit analyses depends often on how wide you make it. When you say that recycling isn't economic you aren't presumably including the economic impact of some of the more cataclysmic forecasts for the impact of global warming. Even if we include some of the impacts already incurred in Africa as recently poignantly described by Archbishop Tutu, surely there is an economic argument broader than the straight-forward "how long does it take a family to chuck things into separate bins?" argument, isn't there?Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00525444717679391831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7910188492873665563.post-32388587179073388932007-05-28T08:41:00.000-07:002007-05-28T08:41:00.000-07:00Tim makes alludes to an important point by mention...Tim makes alludes to an important point by mentioning his time in the scrap metal business.<br><br>It is often claimed that recycling is in fact economically viable and even sensible. Yet this is total nonsense. If there was real value in recycling waste, people would be willing to buy the contents of our bins (as they will buy scrap metal).<br><br>Recycling assuages our horror at the seeming waste, but it makes little economic sense.Liberal Polemichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05002372579024659424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7910188492873665563.post-86630618517606312752007-05-28T05:00:00.000-07:002007-05-28T05:00:00.000-07:00"Any attempt to answer this question which do..."Any attempt to answer this question which does not include our time (a limited resource, I hope you'll agree?) is therefore flawed."<br><br>Agreed Tim, and a good point - the first time I have read it being made. Thank you for your comment.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00525444717679391831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7910188492873665563.post-44201083954273458622007-05-28T02:12:00.000-07:002007-05-28T02:12:00.000-07:00I'm well aware that recycling "can" ...I'm well aware that recycling "can" save money and energy. After all, I've worked in the scrap metal trade where the lesson is obvious. The important question is which products save energy, save resources, by recycling and which don't?<br>Any attempt to answer this question which does not include our time (a limited resource, I hope you'll agree?) is therefore flawed.<br>I would actually love to see a full cost benefit analysis of the value (or not) of recycling.<br>My biggest complaint is that no one seems to have done one, certainly not the Government.Tim Worstallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13161727860817121071noreply@blogger.com