Many of our natural resources, like timber and fossil fuels, would deplete at a rapid rate. We might resort to burning our trash, which would produce even more air pollution and could even make the air toxic. Landfills are the third largest contributors of methane gas in the world, which leads to global warming. Landfills would quickly begin to fill, leaving us with few places to put the 250 million tons of trash we produce every year. If that recycling rate were to drastically drop, which is a possibility if recycling plants are forced to shut down, we would see some devastating consequences for our planet and our quality of life. The Environmental Protection Agency reported that in 2013, Americans recycled 34.3% of the materials they used. If materials aren’t being sent out of the plant, they may have to stop accepting recyclables altogether. The reality is, these non-recyclables are making it difficult to utilize any of the recyclable materials that make their way to the plant.
Another reason is what many recycling centers call “wishful recycling:” well-intentioned people throw non-recyclable materials into the bin and think, “they’ll find something to do with it.” For instance, many plastic bags end up at the recycling center, even though they are not recyclable by MSD (they are, however, accepted by most grocery stores!). One of the reasons recyclables contain such a high level of contaminated materials is because recycling bins are often mistakenly used as trash bins. It can be difficult for recycling centers to follow these new rules, so they are relying on members of the community to ensure that the material they put into their blue bags is recyclable material. However, at the beginning of 2018, rigorous new standards were implemented for the level of contamination allowed in recycled materials. Then, most of those recycled materials are sent out of the center to other places. And really, you think, how much difference is one plastic bottle going to make? Where do all those materials even go? Is recycling really that important?Īfter your blue bag is picked up from the curb, it’s transported to Muncie’s local recycling plant to be sorted and baled. You’re faced with a choice: you can hold onto the bottle until you get home and toss it into your blue bag, or you can just throw it in the trash can. At the park, you finish all the water in your plastic bottle and look around for a recycling bin.
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