A recent entry in the Freakonomics blog points to an insightful piece originally published in the New York Times in 1996. The article poses the question over the ecomonic and environmental value of the recycling programme in the US, and in New York city in particular.
Like much of the Freakonomics work, it tackles issues that seem self-evident, and actually applies some data to try to figure out the real story. Also, like much of the the Freakonomics work, it finds that these self-evident truths are completely bogus. In this case, the article suggests that the entire recycling industry is both wasteful and unnecessary. A particularly interesting quote relates to the specific issue of paper recycling:
“We’re not running out of wood, so why do we worry so much about recycling paper?” asks Jerry Taylor, the director of natural resource studies at the Cato Institute. “Paper is an agricultural product, made from trees grown specifically for paper production. Acting to conserve trees by recycling paper is like acting to conserve cornstalks by cutting back on corn consumption.”
Two questions strike me: does this analysis still hold water more than 10 years later? Second, has anybody undertaken such an examination of the Irish approach to recycling, given that we’re full swing into the age of the green bin?
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