Oct./Nov. 1983 RAIN Page 21 dure, and has finally produced some fairly respectable networking software. We look forward to taking our place among the community bulletin boards and the creative uses of Apple's community grants. Sandy Emerson is co-editor of The Journal of Community Communications, Village Design, P.O. Box 996, Berkeley, CA 94701. Recycling by Judy Roumpf and Jerry Powell The idealism of Earth Day is still evident in many voluntary recycling efforts, but recycling will also continue to expand as a mainstream business. The movement to recycle consumer goods has made great strides since its rekindling in the volunteer efforts of Earth Day activists. Although not yet as institutionalized as industrial waste recovery (the activities of scrap metal processors, for example), residential waste recycling has taken on a professional approach. While citizen groups and nonprofit organizations are still instrumental in providing recycling services in many communities, a growing number of businesses operate post-consumer waste recycling programs in the United States. In addition to the neighborhood donation recycling centers, facilities that buy recyclable commodities directly from citizens are popular. And even more noteworthy are the nearly 400 programs developed since 1972 to collect materials at the curb in residential areas. These accomplishments may be best reflected in the response of industry to such recycling developments. Industries have expanded their use of secondary (recyclable) materials in the manufacture of goods. There are presently eight paper mills in North America that recycle old newspapers into newsprint, five of which have been built in the last eight years. Used glass containers are now incorporated into new jars and bottles at 100 U.S. glass plants. And more impressive, 50 percent of allaluminum beverage cans are now recycled, compared to less than 10 percent a decade ago. A closer look at the successes in recycling gives a brief history of the past decade and provides a basis for predicting the future. A notable achievement has been the adoption of beverage container deposit laws in nine states. Starting in the small states of Oregon and Vermont, bottle and can deposits have significantly boosted container recycling for 20 percent of this nation's population, including the residents of Michigan, New York, and Massachusetts. Even in states where citizen initiatives or lobbying for such laws have failed, the efforts have spurred industry action to increase recycling. The high recycling rate for aluminum cans serves as a model for reclamation of other commodities. The 50 percent rate not only exceeds expectations, but stretches what even just a few years ago industry officials thought was achievable. In order to recoup the 96 percent energy savings of recycling cans, the aluminum companies have launched aggressive promotional campaigns along with providing convenient facilities and high prices for the light metal. Although the latter two factors—available facilities and good prices—aid citizen recycling efforts, they are also crucial to for-profit operations. We can all expound on the significant objectives of recycling—conservation of energy and resources—but the nuts and bolts of recycling is the collection, processing, and transport of materials to manufacturers willing to use the secondary resources. The proximity of markets that pay a fair price greatly enhances recycling opportunities in a specific area. Given these farts, the expansion of markets takes on more importance. Throughout the decade, recycling operators have become more professional and sophisticated. They have expanded their services to meet public needs and have improved the efficiency of their operations through investments in buildings, processing equipment, and vehicles. While small recycling firms have developed their programs, the personnel have in many cases actively participated in local solid waste management planning. This continued community involvement has been another recycling success. Convenience is a key to getting more people to recycle, and the most accessible recycling programs collect material right at the citizen's home. Curbside recycling collection programs are operated throughout the U.S. and Canada and range from those that only handle newspaper to ones that handle waste paper, glass, cans, cardboard boxes, motor oil, and compostable organics. Such programs not only increase the citizen participation and recovery rates in recycling, they serve to strengthen the link of recycling to traditional waste management practices. Integral to the successes in recycling is the now- common public perception that wastes (particularly hazardous wastes) are a problem. Despite this growing awareness, a failure in recycling has been the inability of many public officials and much of the electorate to analyze our wasteful behavior, as seen in the defeat of some container deposit legislation. In addition, contemporary remedial actions to deal with the waste problem have been ineffectively developed. An often-advanced "solution" is resource recovery from wastes, or the processing and burning of garbage to produce energy. This over-engineered.
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