[GRRN] PAYT and recycled content

Amy Perlmutter (amyp@chelseacenter.org)
Fri, 08 Oct 1999 17:56:17 -0400


I don't understand your response, Bill. What does PAYT have to do with
recycled content? It's about the volume or weight of waste disposed of,
not whether that waste has recycled content. It's a basic polluter pays
approach to solid waste disposal.

>What Jesse fails to mention is that PAYT is an incredibly REGRESSIVE tax
>on the poor, who can ill-afford products that are specially packaged in
>recycled-content packaging. One of the great ironies of the recycling
>movement is that political forces that created government prefernec
>programs put aboslutely zero effort into making sure that recycled content
>products get preference when they are cost competitive. Since there is no
>incentive to lower prices of recycled content packaging--why should
>manufacturers give up a profit the government is creating set-asides
>for?--the cost of recycled content material is often more expensive than
>virgin materials
>

--
>William P. McGowan
>UCSB History/Rincon Recycling
>805-240-3448/805-658-6526-FAX
>kai@umail.ucsb.edu
Amy Perlmutter
Executive Director
Chelsea Center for Recycling and
Economic Development
University of Massachusetts
180 Second Street
Chelsea, MA 02150
617-887-2300/fax 617-887-0399
visit our web site at www.chelseacenter.org