131 sats \ 4 replies \ @Undisciplined 19 Mar \ parent \ on: Senator Warren calls for low interest rates to reactivate green corpses econ
As an economist, recycling always bugged me. If these are valuable inputs, shouldn't someone be paying me to sort them and make them available? Alternatively, why weren't recyclers basically just mining this stuff out of landfills themselves?
As with all this stuff, the market can tell you what is worth doing from a resource use standpoint.
When I was growing up in 70s there was a "can man" who used to come down the street on his bike and dig thru the trash cans and get any aluminum for recycling. To make things easier for him we would put cans on the top.
I was talking with a colleague of mine who was born in Mexico and we got on that subject and he said he had similar in his neighborhood but more extensive. There were multiple people who would specialize in things....aluminum, glass, cardboard, etc.
Economically I have to assume: If its not worth someone coming to get it for free, then its probably not worth recycling.
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I sort of recycle aluminum. I place bags of aluminum cans in my alley for someone to take.
We used to have a big problem with dumpster diving
I only recycle aluminum because making it uses a lot of energy.
I never recycle glass
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We do cardboard as well as aluminum, but that's largely because our local trash collection makes throwing cardboard boxes away difficult.
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If its not worth someone coming to get it for free, then its probably not worth recycling.
Exactly. Of course, there could be weird stupid regulatory hurdles that are getting in the way of a potentially profitable venture, but then the answer would be to repeal those and let the market function.
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