Re: [GreenYes] Re: Recycling Glass

[Helen Spiegelman <hspie@telus.net>]

Now Jeff is getting to the heart of this discussion on glass. Half the
content of the thread addresses the question:
"should we stop recycling glass?" , bringing forward
data on the environmental benefits of using old glass to make new glass
products.

The other half of the content of the thread really addresses a different
question: "Should we stop collecting glass in curbside
programs?", bringing forward practical problems that have a
financial impact on municipalities -- as well as a broader environmental
opportunity cost (broken, contaminated glass cannot be used to make new
glass containers).

When we separate these two questions, I find clarity from recognizing
that the answer to #1 is NO and the answer to #2 might well be YES. Some
people on the list had this blinding insight and proposed alternative
ways of collecting glass so it could be recycled. One example was bottle
banks in Europe. Closer to home, we have the example of deposit/return
programs. 

Helen.

At 08:39 AM 03/15/2002 -0800, Jeff Morris wrote:
> the currently collected 
> recyclables should all continue to be collected