Dylan Holbrook 3/21/13

Is Recycling Plastic Good Stewardship or Bad Business? Choosing to throw your empty water bottle into the recycle bin displays moral

stewardship and crosses over the typical businessman’s scheme to make a quick buck.

Some people throw their aluminum soda cans into the trash even when there is a recycle

bin right beside it. This is not because they choose to, but rather because they have not

been educated in the importance and simplicity of recycling. Many do not know any

better, but recycling can be an effortless instinct that is on par with washing our hands

before we eat or brushing our teeth when we wake up. The future of our children and

grandchildren becomes harder with every recyclable product thrown inconsiderately into

the trash. Recycling should never be treated as a means of instant results or clever extra

business cash-ins. It is not a technique to produce pocket change, but instead an active

process and movement that will continue to triumph through ethical responsibility and

never stop.

Editor of MSW Management magazine John Trotti wrote an article titled “Why

Let Stewardship Get in the Way of a Quick Buck?” back in 2008. In this article he

questioned the formidability of recycling and the stewardship that comes along with it.

The concerns that Trotti brought up were insignificant to the whole picture and critical

future in recycling, but rather his struggles to make sense in finding immediate results.

He wants instant gratification with what he decides to do with recyclable materials (or a

quick buck). If he wants recycling to help a company’s bottom line go up 10% for the

next quarter then he’s out of luck, because that is not how it works. There is no

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unmistakable preference that makes recycling the immediate solution to all of our

problems.

Trotti acts almost as though there should be a perfect option, for recycling to be

phenomenal for the environment, profits, and flawless in every manufacturing way so

that there are no cons in the process at all. He should realize that recycling is not 100%

faultless, like just about everything in life. The recycling process produces a tiny bit of

waste, so what. It’s the comparison of that to being completely unenvironmentally

friendly and using virgin materials, which use almost 80% more energy and non-

renewable resources than recycled materials. It’s like choosing to either get hit by a

remote controlled car or a real car. The toy car may leave a bad bump on your leg when it

hits you, so it’s not a completely perfect choice technically, but common sense dictates

how it’s much better than the other possible option.

Vice President of the products division of the American Chemistry Council

Sharon Kneiss responded to Trotti’s article with one of her own titled “Argument for

Recycling Is Strong”. She countered his concerns with bright facts about the future of

plastics and stated that “above all, we are working to increase the collection of plastic

through greater consumer education and awareness of recycling opportunities. We hope

you will join us as we continue this industry’s proud history of innovation by removing

the remaining barriers to achieving our true recycling potential. Plastic is too valuable a

resource to waste” (Kneiss 293). Recycling is not going to cause gas prices to go down

50 cents in a week’s time. It is more willingly something that is crucial to our upcoming

generations being able to have any future whatsoever.

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The world needs recycling to become better off economically. We need these

resources and they are too important to waste like Kneiss said. Items like furniture should

not become rare in households, but without reusing materials the prices of these products

will skyrocket due to the amplified shortages. Trotti still admits in his article that “on the

positive side of the ledger, we are diverting a far higher percentage of our wastes away

from our landfills, and we have seen a growing acceptance to the use of recycled

materials in a variety of products” (Trotti 291). The recycling industry also creates

countless jobs for hard working Americans and communities around the globe. Not only

are these people now able to feed their families and make ends meet, but the hard work

they are putting into the industry is creating innovation for our lives. Everything from the

chemistry of making our towns cleaner to advancing the production of materials

represents results in the evolution and enthusiasm of recycling.

As of the year 2000 in Ohio alone, 100,000 jobs were devoted to the business of

recycling. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources made the statement themselves

that “every time you recycle, it also supports the many companies and employees doing

this important work” (“Benefit of Recycling”, Ohio Department of Natural Resources).

Landfills and incinerators provide substantially fewer jobs. Landfills are actually a huge

deal in our country. If we decide not to recycle at all, our cities may as well be giant,

disgusting landfills by the end of our lifetimes. Zero waste advocator Eco-Cycle says that

landfilling is not a sustainable planning approach and that “landfills are the largest source

of human-caused methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more powerful than carbon

dioxide. The EPA admits all landfill liners will eventually leak and their toxic leachate, or

garbage juice, can seep into and contaminate soil and groundwater supplies” (“The Facts

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on Why Recycling Makes Sense for You and Your Community”, Eco-Cycle). All of that

space can be used for much greater inspirations. Just like the saying “we are what we

eat”, our environment is how we treat it, and disregarding these landfills or recycling in

general hinders every person and business involved.

Recycling saves natural resources and lowers the toxic pollution in natural areas.

The process of reusing products slows the depletion of non-renewable resources like

metal and oil. Recycling even saves energy in an incredibly efficient manner. Aluminum

that is recycled saves 95% more energy versus virgin aluminum. We do not want to end

up relying on virgin materials that will run out of stock quickly throughout the world.

Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to power a computer for three hours.

Just think of the support this creates for future generations. We cannot forget about these

materials for any reason. The amount of energy and pollution reduction involved in

choosing to recycling plastics is an overall vital concept, it does not matter what area of

the world we are talking about.

There is a reason why recycling is regarded as a great initiative to take part in. If it

were not a solid suggestion, it would not be urged to be taught and shared amongst

everyone to the extent that it is today. The same way in how most people consider

exercise to be beneficial to their health, most consider recycling as healthy to the

environment, economy, and citizens around them. The movement is not a fad that has

come and gone after a year’s time. It is a proven model that has generated results in

numerous formats. It’s only a greedy way of looking at the world if one wants to worry

about making money from environmental problems, similar to the negative outlook on

others horribly selling insurance for high profits or items on the black market. Best of all,

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recycling is easy. It is something that you do not have to go out of your way at all to take

part in. Just like how it is an instinct to not leave our dirty plates on the table after eating

for example, not putting recyclables in the trash barrel should be taught as a natural

instinct at a young age. Educating through the power of stewardship is so simple, yet

remarkably valuable.

Works Cited

"Benefit of Recycling." Why Recycle. ODNR Division of Recycling and Litter

Prevention, 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.

<http://ohiodnr.com/Home/why/tabid/9402/Default.aspx>.

“The Facts on Why Recycling Makes Sense for You and Your Community.” Eco-Cycle.

(2006): n. pag. 2006. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.

<http://www.ecocycle.org/files/pdfs/why_recycle_%20brochure.pdf>.

Kneiss, Sharon. “Argument for Recycling Is Strong.” MSW Management. November-

December, 2008. Rpt. in The Structure of Argument. Annette T. Rottenberg and

Donna H. Winchell. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. Print. 292-293.

Trotti, John. “Why Let Stewardship Get in the Way of a Quick Buck?” MSW

Management. September, 2008. Rpt. in The Structure of Argument. Annette T.

Rottenberg and Donna H. Winchell. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011.

Print. 290-291.