On Recycling

 

Among ecologically conscious people idea of recycling is very popular. They believe that saves the planet and what not and want to recycle as much as possible. Some saw some examples of recycling in Europe and decided to copy without properly understanding how or even why it's done. 

The difference is that in Europe they do it not to save planet but to obtain raw materials for less than it costs to import them from overseas. They only collect certain select materials and they collect them individually without mixing them with any other materials. There are collecting points for paper, glass, metal and plastic. Each of these materials then goes to specialized company who knows what to do with it, they are not collected by garbage collectors. We have similar companies who collect metal scrap and even willing to pay you for the items you give them.

In contrast in Australia all "recyclable" material goes into the same recycle bin. It is then collected by garbage collectors and pass to people who then sort this recyclable rubbish into different categories for further recycling. Sorting rubbish is a very demeaning work. Not only that, but it also defeats the whole economic rationale for recycling by making it too expensive. People who sort rubbish have to be paid, thus adding to the final cost of recycled materials. The final price is too high to make recycling economical under this model as recycled materials are not cheaper than new ones.

Thus, we should do away from single recycling bin and rubbish truck recycling and instead transition towards individual material collection points, each managed by companies who can make economically viable use of the material they collect.