It's great to have some hard numbers on this (although I confess Craig's
information about electric vs fossil energy went over my head).
OK, let me get this straight:
Recycling saves 260 kwh/ton (in the furnace)
Recycling costs 20 kwh/ton (from the curb thru the MRF)
Recycling costs 1 kwh/ton per mile (from the MRF to the furnace)
This means, if you shipped further than 240 miles, the energy savings would
be wiped out. Doesn't it?
There are 64 glass plants in the USA (down from 76 in 1992) -- located in
25 states. There were, last time I looked (1992), only 5 glass plants in
all of Canada. THe way I see it, this puts lots of communities more than
240 miles from the nearest plant.
Helen Spiegelman
3570 West 22nd Avenue
Vancouver, British Columbia
CANADA
604/731-8464
604/731-8463 (fax)